Uncommon Youth: The Gilded Family, Go-Go Life and Gut-Wrenching Kidnapping of J. Paul Getty III

Getty Oil founder J. Paul Getty was one of the richest people in the world, yet he was a legendary miser. In 1973, his 16-year-old grandson and namesake, J. Paul Getty III (1956–2011), was kidnapped in Rome and held for ransom. Hesitant to cough up the money for fear that doing so would encourage the abduction of his other grandchildren, “Old Paul” held out even after the arrival of the severed ear of “Little Paul.” The late Fox (he died in 2012), one of the original reporters on the case, skillfully interweaves the background of the moneyed Getty clan with a blow-by-blow account of the kidnapping and negotiations, complete with transcripts of news articles, letters from the frightened teen, and extensive interviews with the key players, including Little Paul, a club-hopping, dope-smoking rebel at the time of his abduction. Fox’s explication of the sad machinations of one of the world’s most commanding families as it struggles to rescue one of its wayward own serves as a sobering counterpoint to the perceived excess and decadence of the fabulously wealthy. Little Paul’s endorsement of Fox’s manuscript—”That’s how it was”—ensures this will be the definitive take on the tragedy that shaped his life. 8-page b&w photo insert. Agent: Doug Grad, Doug Grad Literary Agency. (May 7)