zayddohrn.com – Writer

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***NATIONAL BESTSELLER*** New York Times and New Yorker “Best Books of 2026 (so far)”
Longlisted for the National Book Award

“A searing memoir… a meticulously researched history of an explosive time as well as a deeply felt, intimate portrait of a very unusual family… beautifully written… Definitive.”
— Dana Spiotta, The New York Times

"[A] remarkable new history and memoir… an unsettling portrait of the idealism of one Chicago family."
― Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune

“Direct, searching, confessional… tragic and poetically appropriate: [Dohrn's] writing is both an act of filial piety, sharing and thereby extending his mother’s work, and a ‘natural way to transform my inheritance.’ The work of making sense of her revolution is now his.”
— Jordan Kisner, The New York Times Magazine

“Sweeping… Ambitious… both warm and penetrating... Ayers Dohrn’s memoir contributes to a better history of the ’60s, one that can supply healthier lessons for those seeking to combat the current administration’s wars at home and abroad.”
— Michael Koncewicz, Jacobin

“This incredible memoir starts off at about hundred miles an hour and rarely lets up, telling the tender and breathless story of life on the run in America when your mom is on the FBI’s most wanted list.”
— Lit Hub

DANGEROUS, DIRTY, VIOLENT, AND YOUNG
W.W. Norton (US) and Vintage (UK)

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“Poses timely questions about how to resist political madness without losing one’s own moral compass… not simply a history of the Weathermen. It is the intimate story of a family and the toll that revolutionary politics took on its children.”
— Alice O’Keeffe, The Times (UK)

“Filled with nuggets of counter-culture history [and] compelling, episodic momentum… Dohrn’s intimate narration and reflections on his liminal childhood… underscores the parallels between the triggers for his parents’ activism and our own times.”
— Peter Carty, The Guardian (UK)

“A well written, dramatic and detailed text that sheds historical light on the US-based movements for civil rights and against the war on Vietnam…. Most interestingly, though, Dangerous, Dirty, Violent and Young is an intensely personal and unusual story recounting as it does a childhood spent in a family on the run from the state and its police.”
— Steve Andrew, Morning Star (UK)

“Powerful, well-written and candid… Drawing on his family's legacy of revolutionary optimism, Ayers Dohrn probes questions about radicalism, the shifting tactics of resistance and the universal challenge of fighting for a better world.”
— Bill Nevins, Green Left (UK)

“Perceptive, fascinating.”
— Ron Capshaw, Quillette (Aus)

DANGEROUS, DIRTY, VIOLENT, AND YOUNG
W.W. Norton (US) and Vintage (UK)

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“More than just a great beach read (which it also is, literally)… it is not just history to view on the page. It says so much to our MAGA moment… Told with cinematic depth [and filled] with horror and hope — in equal measure.”
— Frida Berrigan, Portside

“Opens up an enduring set of questions. What is worth fighting for? And who should be prepared to fight, when they have obligations to care for family? Is fighting for a better world also a fight for one’s children?”
—Kristen Martin, The New Republic

“I love Zayd Ayers Dohrn’s new book Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young, and want radicals, revolutionaries and renegades everywhere to dive into it and discover its treasures, from the brilliant title to the exhilarating ending and with remarkable stops in-between… Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young will occupy a special space in my library and in my heart.”
— Jonah Raskin, CounterPunch

“A frank and fascinating chronicle… Dohrn goes into great detail about the Weather Underground’s history as a militant leftist organization, but anchors the account in his intimate experiences… A powerful blend of personal and political history.”
— Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

“A richly layered story that blends investigative rigor with emotional depth... The result is a beautifully written, deeply humane memoir, quietly devastating in its refusal of easy answers.”
— Freda Love Smith, Booklist (starred review)

DANGEROUS, DIRTY, VIOLENT, AND YOUNG
W.W. Norton (US) and Vintage (UK)

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"Riveting as a thriller, this wise and searching memoir tells a story about America we’ve never quite heard before... Fearless, big-hearted, and profound. I simply couldn’t put it down."
― Cheryl Strayed

"A fascinating journey that illuminates, in often thought-provoking ways, the politics of violence in radical movements."
― Angela Davis

"Zayd Ayers Dohrn is a master storyteller... The rare memoir that reads like a fast-paced thriller and leaves you wrestling with some of the most profound political questions of our time."
― Jon Favreau

"What a book! Exhilarating, maddening, contemplative, and mournful."
― Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

"A rare and profound gift―one that breaks your heart even as it quietly fills it with hope... It is everything we need right now: deeply moving and urgent."
― Heather Ann Thompson

"Poignant, fueled with love for justice, with faith in other people, with terrific, often heartbreaking stories... A page-turner and a statement of belief in the future."
― Aleksandar Hemon

DANGEROUS, DIRTY, VIOLENT, AND YOUNG
W.W. Norton (US) and Vintage (UK)

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Homezayddohrn2026-09-17T22:07:32+00:00

↓ News ↓

DDVY Longlisted for the 2026 National Book Award in Nonfiction

THE HUMANITIES premieres at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, Fall 2026

Book Excerpt from Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young in The New Yorker

Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young will be published by W.W. Norton in May 2026

Revolution(s) at the Goodman Theatre World Premiere October 2025

MCR wins 2024 duPont-Columbia Journalism Award

REVOLUTION(S) by Tom Morello & Zayd Dohrn at Goodman Theatre’s New Stages Festival 2023

Writers Guild on Strike!

“Best of 2022” lists in The Atlantic, Vulture, Vanity Fair, Hollywood Reporter, etc.

Bio

Photo by Joe Mazza / Brave Lux

Zayd Ayers Dohrn is a bestselling and award-winning author published by W.W. Norton, Vintage UK, Concord Theatricals, The New Yorker, The Guardian, and more.

His plays have been produced across the country and internationally; he created a podcast for Crooked Media; and he has written screenplays for Netflix and FilmNation, and developed television pilots at HBO, Showtime, and BBC America.

Zayd received his MPhil from Columbia, his MFA from NYU, and was a Playwriting Fellow at Juilliard. He is currently the Daniel Hale Williams Professor at Northwestern University where he directs the MFA program in Writing for the Screen + Stage.

Published Plays

Production History

The Humanitieszayddohrn2026-09-17T22:17:21+00:00

The Humanities

Revolution(s)zayddohrn2026-09-17T22:15:03+00:00

Revolution(s)

The Profanezayddohrn2022-04-28T00:28:50+00:00

The Profane

Wantzayddohrn2017-05-19T19:11:07+00:00

Want

Sickzayddohrn2022-04-28T00:22:07+00:00

Sick

Reborningzayddohrn2017-05-19T19:12:03+00:00

Reborning

Outside Peoplezayddohrn2017-05-19T19:13:04+00:00

Outside People

Muckrakerszayddohrn2022-04-28T00:23:24+00:00

Muckrakers

Plays

Theaters, production photos, cast & crew lists, and reviews

Media

Film and television projects currently in development

Publications

Plays licensed and published by DPS and Samuel French, Inc.

Resume

Awards, education, work and professional experience