One of the best parts about working with nonfiction titles is that there are so many ways to find the right readers. For Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young by Zayd Ayers Dohrn, we loved helping W.W. Norton reach political nonfiction readers, U.S. history buffs, current events enthusiasts, and more for this remarkable memoir.
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young is a powerful memoir from playwright and podcaster Zayd Ayers Dohrn, who grew up as the son of Weather Underground leaders Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. He recounts what it was like to spend his childhood on the run from the FBI while reckoning with the complicated legacy of his parents’ political activism. The New Yorker calls it one of the “best books of 2026 so far” and Jon Favreau calls Dohrn a “a master storyteller” and describes the book as a “rare memoir that reads like a fast-paced thriller and leaves you wrestling with some of the most profound political questions of our time.”
The campaign included banners (created by us!) reaching nonfiction, memoir, and biography readers. We also layered in audience traits like book influencers and followers, Goodreads users, social justice advocates, true crime and liberal podcast listeners, and readers interested in U.S. politics, civil rights, social justice, and literary apps and awards. Comp titles included Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford, We Don’t Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole, and Stay True by Hua Hsu, along with listeners of podcasts like Mother Country Radicals, This American Life, Pod Save America, and Offline with Jon Favreau. Keywords included phrases such as The Weather Underground, roots of radicalism, 1968 Columbia University protests, political extremism, and new memoirs.
The campaign wrapped up with a 0.20% CTR and ran across top sites including Book Riot, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Salon, Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, and The New York Times. Given the amount of memoir and political nonfiction we’ve been running lately, it wasn’t too surprising that the campaign performed best with our exclusive genre read-alikes, which finished at a 1.50% CTR!
Other top-performing audiences included nonfiction readers interested in history, politics, news, and literary awards (0.26% CTR), memoir readers browsing sites like CNN and The New York Times (0.26% CTR), and academic nonfiction readers (0.21% CTR). Our geographic insights also revealed a few standout markets, with the campaign seeing its strongest engagement in San Antonio, TX (0.30% CTR) and Kansas City, MO (0.29% CTR).
If you’re looking for a memoir that reads like a thriller, you can get your copy of Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young here. We’re excited to see this one continue gaining attention as word of mouth grows. And if you’re ready for your next campaign, you can find me at marybeth@adbiblio.com!
