In Fugitive Days, Ayers tells the real story of the defining events of the radical ’60s. The book is an eyewitness account of a young pacifist who helped found one of the most radical political organizations in U.S. history, and who consequently lived for ten years as a fugitive. In a new era of antiwar activism and suppression of protest, Fugitive Days is more poignant and relevant than ever.
Quotes
“[Ayers’s] memoir is a breath of fresh air in this self-absorbed age. Ayers discusses his reservations about the use of violence to achieve an end to violence (reservations he held then as well), but he is unrepentant in believing that . . . right-minded people have an obligation to resist unjust wars. . . . There are many lessons still to be learned from such narratives. Recommended.”
—David Keymer, Library Journal
“[A] gripping and provocative story . . . What is most remarkable about this dramatic and revelatory personal and social history are the always urgent questions it raises about compassion and freedom, responsibility and community, and the conundrum of how to bring about much-needed change.”
—Booklist, starred review
“A challenging, moving, and troubling account . . . Ayers writes well, lyrically, passionately.”
—Andrea Behr, San Francisco Chronicle
“A memoir that is, in effect, a deeply moving elegy to all those young dreamers who tried to live decently in an indecent world. Ayers provides a tribute to those better angels of ourselves.”
—Studs Terkel, author of Working and The Good War
“With considerable wit, no small amount of remorse, and an anger that smolders still across the decades, Bill Ayers tells the story of his quintessentially American trip through the 1960s. That it is written in a consistently absorbing style with many passages of undiluted brilliance only adds to its appeal.
—Thomas Frank, author of One Market Under God and What’s the Matter with Kansas?
“A gripping account . . . Ayers describes well the deep emotions that inflamed the ’60s.”
—John Patrick Diggins, Los Angeles Times
“This is a precious book, not simply because it offers a gripping personal account of the primal American suspense story of life on the run, but, more important, because it recreates a critical point of view and way of thinking that we seem, even a few decades later, barely able to recall.”
—Scott Turow, author of Ordinary Heroes and Ultimate Punishment
“It’s been a long time since American political culture last leftward . . . Extremists of the left have all but disappeared, while extremists of the right are as common as mushrooms after rain . . . Ayers has a knack for capturing the spirit of his times . . . It’s a fascinating story.”
—Jean Dubail, Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Finally, here is an irresistibly readable book that answers the question, How did a nice suburban boy go from the ordinary pleasures of his class to the Days of Rage and beyond? Bill Ayers not only makes this exalting and painful journey comprehensible, he peoples it with sympathetic family, friends, and lovers, and moves us with his candor.”
—Rosellen Brown, author of Before and After and Half a Heart
“Terrific . . . This memoir rings of hard-learned truth and integrity and is an important contribution to literature on 1960s culture and American radicalism.”
—Publishers Weekly
“What makes Fugitive Days unique is its unsparing detail and its marvelous human coherence and integrity. Bill Ayers’s America and his family background, his education, his political awakening, his anger and involvement, his anguished re-emergence from the shadows: all these are rendered in their truth without a trace of nostalgia or ‘second thinking.’ For anyone who cares about the sorry mess we are in, this book is essential, indeed necessary, reading.”
—Edward W. Said, author of Reflections on Exile and Out of Place
“This remarkable memoir gives us the visceral experience of being on the run. Ayers writes with eloquence and irony. This is one man’s amazingly honest, authentic, and gripping testament—and a helluva story it makes.”
—Phillip Lopate, author of Portrait of My Body
“A wild and painful ride in the savage years of the late sixties. A very good book about a terrifying time in America.”
—Hunter S. Thompson, author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Hell’s Angels
“For anyone who wants to think hard about the social conflagration the Vietnam War produced in the U.S., and more generally about a citizen’s obligations in troubled times, Ayers’s powerful, morally charged account of a life and a society in the political balance is provocative reading.”
—David Farber, Chicago Tribune
Links to purchase:
Beacon: http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?SKU=3277
Find it at a local independent bookstore: http://www.indiebound.org/hybrid?filter0=fugitive+days+activist
Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Fugitive-Days/William-Ayers/e/9780807032770/?itm=1
Bill Ayers 
The funny thing about all this controversy and public outrcry about “domestic terrorist”, bad-ass-radicals-working-to-overthrow-the-american-government thing – which im sure ayers and his wife enjoy very much indeed – is that the weather underground was kids-play compared to what was happening in Europe at the same time. I mean, the weather underground was basically naive hippies with a fetisch for bombs – and not much more than that. If you want to talk about real bad-ass leftwing radical terrorists you should read about RAF, the Red Brigades, the Angry brigade, the second june movement, and so on. That was something for the goverment to be afraid of. The weather underground was not. You are just stroking mr. Ayers ego when you treat him like he was public enemy nr. 1 against the US goverment in the 60s. He was not and thats probarly why he is free right now. That is the real truth.
I don’t get it Bill. How would you feel if someone used violence against institutions that upheld your beliefs? And I don’t mean it in a harassing way. The pendulum swings Bill, it swings.
Anyway, I’m assuming you didn’t use a credit card much when you were on the run.
You want to play down your criminal past as youth sins but you still stick to your inhuman stalinist ideas. You are acting only out of the wish for absolute power. If there had never been fierce opposition to your totalitarian mendacious ideology, America would be the Sovietunion of today.
Dear Professor Ayers, I just saw you on GMA and was so impressed with your intelligence, your restraint in response to ludicrous accusations, and your passion for education and pacifism. It saddens me that we heard your name over and over during the campaign and yet never heard your voice until now. You seem like a wonderful professor and a great activist. I’ll definitely be checking out the book.
Mr Ayers, I too took a stand against the Vietnam War by taking sanctuary in a Catholic Church while stationed aboard the USS Constellation. Spent 60 days in jail but remained on duty in the US Navy. The others took a stand to leave the service. Those of my generation like yourself that took violent action against the US for your political beliefs were abhorant to me then as now with one caveat. I am wiser today than then and your brand of violent rhetoric today is a sham and cowardly at best. Yyou have prospered in the very system that you appear to hate. It is only my opinion but I think you are every bit the coward today that you and your wife were back when you were plotting the bombings within my country. To now wrap yourself in the “era thousands protested the murder of people by our country” to justify your cowardly acts then as now is shameful but not unexpected by your brand of patriotism. You don’t even have the courage to admit your real relationship with Obama, either because you believe it may hurt Obama politically or now like then you are too cowardly to come into the light to be seen for what you are. A product of privilege and the economic system you have propspered and continue to try and take advantage. You truly are immaterial to the discussion this country is having today. Just another hanger on of the past, trying to take advantage of the murders you say were committed by my country but the same system that protects you. Coward. Dan Hoag
you are a POS
Thank you Bill Ayers for your wonderful interview on Good Morning America. It was refreshing to see your honesty in answering the ridiculous line of questioning and media assumptions of who you are and what your past is all about. The “Bill Ayers” story during the political election is such a perfect example of the media creating, feeding and maintaining a fabricated story for the purpose of shocking people.
Bill Ayers speaks what many people think — but won’t say. For the love of yourself and children, reread the article and understand it. Grow up and understand.
Thank you Mr. Ayers. Thank you for laying low throughout this election no matter how many people taunted you and tried to discredit your life work. It shows how much you do care about this country. I am buying fugitive days and just wanted to drop a line to say thank you for all you do!
Indeed, it was a very good book. A recommended read to all.
Great job on ‘Good Morning America’ btw. Finally nice to clear the air, eh?