Squeaky

Though by no means a master criminal, Lynette ""Squeaky"" Fromme has, in her criminal career, managed to violate F. Scott Fitzgerald's axiom that there are no second acts in American lives. For Fromme has captured public attention in two separate and highly publicized crimes: the Manson-Tate slayings and the attempted assassination of President Ford. Law student and first-time author Bravin begins his lively bio of Fromme with a reconstruction of the events of September 4, 1975, the day that Fromme shot at Ford; only then does he trace her path from her suburban youth and teenage years in Westchester, N.Y., and Redondo Beach, Calif., through her time with the Manson family. Bravin does a commendable job describing Fromme's youth, tracking down her high school teachers and classmates and providing a serviceable family portrait of a brutalizing father and a withdrawn mother. Young Fromme, he explains, was held in high regard by her contemporaries for both her writing abilities and her penchant for rebellion. Her route from an emotionally troubled upbringing to her acceptance of Manson's twisted philosophy of love is well delineated. Less clear is what drove her to point a pistol at Ford. Fromme, currently serving a life sentence in the federal prison in Marianna, Fla., didn't want to be interviewed for the book. Trial transcripts dominate the last quarter of the text, and although Bravin's tone suggests that he feels Fromme's sentence for the attempted assassination was excessive, clearer explanations on this and on other scores would have been welcome. Still, Bravin's report, which launches the Buzz Books line, is an excellent attempt to capture an extraordinarily elusive person. Photos not seen by PW. First serial to Buzz magazine; author tour. (June)