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The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten: Life Beyond the Cult
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
CHARLIE SAYS “Faith’s perspective is far reaching and challenging, useful to any of us who make it a practice to ‘yes, but how does it affect women?’ After reading this wonderfully caring book, the answer is passionately revealed.” —Holly Near
At the age of twenty-one, Leslie Van Houten was sentenced to death, along with Charles Manson and several of his other disciples, for the infamous murder rampage spanning two nights in August 1969. Leslie, who was present at the Rosemary and Leno LaBianca murders, cheerfully accepted her sentence, wishing only that she had better served Manson in carrying out his apocalyptic vision of “Helter Skelter.” When the United States temporarily suspended its death penalty, her sentence for murder conspiracy was converted to life in prison. Today, at the age of sixty-nine, after three trials and with no parole in sight, Leslie has become a remarkable survivor of a living nightmare.
This work, originally published in July of 2000, presents the first in-depth look at how this “girl-next-door” became one of Manson’s “girls.” Karlene Faith draws on her thirty-year friendship with Leslie, whom she met while teaching in prison. To everyone who encountered Leslie—including prison staff and television journalists—she was not the demon typically portrayed by the media, but rather a gentle, generous spirit who mourned her victims. But why didn’t this intelligent young woman see the evil in the “messiah” who had sexually exploited her, preached a racist ideology, and ordered her to murder?
Faith pieces together the puzzle, starting with Leslie’s spiritual quest within the sixties’ counterculture and her immediate attraction to Manson. We see how he created a cult of true believers, brainwashing his followers into obeying his every command.
Leslie’s journey out of Manson’s grasp is a riveting feminist and spiritual story of recovering one’s self. Why this rehabilitated woman, long punished for one man’s madness, has not been able to leave prison is another story Faith brings to light. Also included are Leslie’s heartfelt letters to the author during the decades of her imprisonment. Filled with accounts of political injustices, this powerful book moves the reader to rethink the meanings and limits of guilt and punishment.
CHARLIE SAYS “Faith’s perspective is far reaching and challenging, useful to any of us who make it a practice to ‘yes, but how does it affect women?’ After reading this wonderfully caring book, the answer is passionately revealed.” —Holly Near
At the age of twenty-one, Leslie Van Houten was sentenced to death, along with Charles Manson and several of his other disciples, for the infamous murder rampage spanning two nights in August 1969. Leslie, who was present at the Rosemary and Leno LaBianca murders, cheerfully accepted her sentence, wishing only that she had better served Manson in carrying out his apocalyptic vision of “Helter Skelter.” When the United States temporarily suspended its death penalty, her sentence for murder conspiracy was converted to life in prison. Today, at the age of sixty-nine, after three trials and with no parole in sight, Leslie has become a remarkable survivor of a living nightmare.
This work, originally published in July of 2000, presents the first in-depth look at how this “girl-next-door” became one of Manson’s “girls.” Karlene Faith draws on her thirty-year friendship with Leslie, whom she met while teaching in prison. To everyone who encountered Leslie—including prison staff and television journalists—she was not the demon typically portrayed by the media, but rather a gentle, generous spirit who mourned her victims. But why didn’t this intelligent young woman see the evil in the “messiah” who had sexually exploited her, preached a racist ideology, and ordered her to murder?
Faith pieces together the puzzle, starting with Leslie’s spiritual quest within the sixties’ counterculture and her immediate attraction to Manson. We see how he created a cult of true believers, brainwashing his followers into obeying his every command.
Leslie’s journey out of Manson’s grasp is a riveting feminist and spiritual story of recovering one’s self. Why this rehabilitated woman, long punished for one man’s madness, has not been able to leave prison is another story Faith brings to light. Also included are Leslie’s heartfelt letters to the author during the decades of her imprisonment. Filled with accounts of political injustices, this powerful book moves the reader to rethink the meanings and limits of guilt and punishment.
242 pages, Paperback
First published May 10, 2001
73 people are currently reading
445 people want to read
About the author
Karlene Faith
11 books8 followersA human rights activist for five decades, Karlene Faith is Canada's leading feminist sociologist on prisons. Her seminal book, Unruly Women, raised many crucial questions that define the prison reform movements of today. Co-founder of the revolutionary Santa Cruz Women’s Prison Project in 1972, and author of many books on criminology and women’s studies, Faith is currently professor emerita at Simon Fraser University’s School of Criminology.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 7, 2020
This book is from another era. My takeaways were: It's amazing how vengeful people can be. This woman was mentally and sexually abused by Charles Manson, a major psychopath and criminal, yet from the author's description, Leslie Van Houten, if she's still alive today (the book is about 15 years old) is the epitome of the "reformed criminal" and yet was left to rot in prison for decades because of a false narrative in the U.S. that can be traced back to Richard Nixon and his predecessors. What I took from this book was that 1) Corporate America was blindsided by the love and peace movement of the late 1960s. It needed a convincing case to show that it was critical to battle an increase in available street drugs. 2) The Manson Family murders in August 1969 became the signature example of how lethal and dangerous such drugs as LSD were, and how the country needed a War on Drugs to prevent LSD from becoming freely used in society. 3) The fact that Charles Manson used high and frequent doses of LSD to steal the will of his followers came to be the dominant narrative about drugs, the Peace Movement, and the Counterculture that developed in the 1970s. In fact, Manson was a uniquely dangerous and crazed person for whom drugs were just a vehicle. But the dominant narrative won, and LSD was consigned to the list of Terribly Dangerous Drugs that could result in random brutal murders in society. It's as if there were a brutal and spectacular series of murders committed by a drunk person, and ever after Demon Rum became the critical cause of this kind of disasters.
Leslie Van Houten somehow became an icon for all the evil of Manson, LSD, Counterculture thinking and Bad Stuff that happened. If she were let out, the thinking went, all hell would break loose in the country. Obviously, this was a fallacious narrative, because anyone reading this book can see that Van Houten was a highly moral individual who made one bad mistake in her life but became in the public eye the living, breathing exemplar of evil that could break out and overtake the country at any moment. So despite her decades of being a model prisoner, Van Houten was more valuable to hard-liners as a threat than as an example of successful rehabilitation. The way she was treated in prison--segregated from the other prisoners, in need of an escort if she left her highly secure area to even walk through the rest of the prison--shows how she had been caricatured as a person ever since the murders happened. She was more valuable as a critical warning against such concepts as peace and love in society because she was the icon of the lie that peace and love were really just a front for drugs and death.
In fact, the whole Manson Family murders were falsely cast as the epitome of the Counterculture, whereas they were just an aberration of ANY culture. It's taken a half-century for American society to even begin to entertain that LSD might have beneficent uses. The fact that Van Houten failed many successive parole attempts because of what her caricature meant to keeping a Law and Order society intact rather than having people willing to judge her from her good works in prison and actually consider whether she was rehabilitated and could be released--all that is because of the willful blindness of those promoting a law and order society. Parole board members quoted in this book had no idea of who Van Houten was or the significance of keeping her incarcerated. They were just sure she was a bad deal, a possible witch, or a multiple personality.
I would think that it was this corrupt narrative (along with Timothy Leary continually embarrassing himself and the movement) that were primary factors in why peace, love, and the Counterculture never got a fair shake or even an honest examination. The result is that the U.S. has for 50 years become a military/prison/industrial society that has gotten us to the dim place we are currently in.
This book is a revelation. I would urge historians, psychologists, and lay persons who still have a conscience to read it.
Leslie Van Houten somehow became an icon for all the evil of Manson, LSD, Counterculture thinking and Bad Stuff that happened. If she were let out, the thinking went, all hell would break loose in the country. Obviously, this was a fallacious narrative, because anyone reading this book can see that Van Houten was a highly moral individual who made one bad mistake in her life but became in the public eye the living, breathing exemplar of evil that could break out and overtake the country at any moment. So despite her decades of being a model prisoner, Van Houten was more valuable to hard-liners as a threat than as an example of successful rehabilitation. The way she was treated in prison--segregated from the other prisoners, in need of an escort if she left her highly secure area to even walk through the rest of the prison--shows how she had been caricatured as a person ever since the murders happened. She was more valuable as a critical warning against such concepts as peace and love in society because she was the icon of the lie that peace and love were really just a front for drugs and death.
In fact, the whole Manson Family murders were falsely cast as the epitome of the Counterculture, whereas they were just an aberration of ANY culture. It's taken a half-century for American society to even begin to entertain that LSD might have beneficent uses. The fact that Van Houten failed many successive parole attempts because of what her caricature meant to keeping a Law and Order society intact rather than having people willing to judge her from her good works in prison and actually consider whether she was rehabilitated and could be released--all that is because of the willful blindness of those promoting a law and order society. Parole board members quoted in this book had no idea of who Van Houten was or the significance of keeping her incarcerated. They were just sure she was a bad deal, a possible witch, or a multiple personality.
I would think that it was this corrupt narrative (along with Timothy Leary continually embarrassing himself and the movement) that were primary factors in why peace, love, and the Counterculture never got a fair shake or even an honest examination. The result is that the U.S. has for 50 years become a military/prison/industrial society that has gotten us to the dim place we are currently in.
This book is a revelation. I would urge historians, psychologists, and lay persons who still have a conscience to read it.
July 22, 2015
This book gives an intimate look into the prison life of Manson girl, Leslie Van Houten. At the age of twenty, she participated in the Manson killings and has been in jail ever since. Karlene Faith, an advocate in the prison system knew Leslie for years and explains her transformation in prison and why she should be released.
But should she? At first I thought that yes, she had paid her dues and had been rehabilitated. One incident gave me pause however. After she was in jail for ten years, she began corresponding with a male prisoner. They decided to marry. Soon after, her husband was released from prison but shortly after, was convicted of trying to help Leslie escape. She flatly denied knowing anything about this prison break.
Obviously, she knew because no one can help you escape prison unless you are aware of it!
Leslie was released for six months in '77 as she prepared for a new trial. I can only imagine experiencing freedom for six months only to be returned to prison. She was found guilty again and sentenced to life. Since then, she has repeatedly been denied parole.
Although I liked this book, sometimes it felt the author was all over the place. The book is supposed to be about Leslie but the reader gets the summaries of Manson's life as well as Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwrinkle and the other Masonoids. She includes prison interviews with Ann Near, an author who focuses on women in prison. The last several pages of the book are Leslie's short, journal entries during this time period.
It's sad and pathetic Leslie Van Houten's life wound up like this. Not only beautiful, she's smart, kind and has many positive attributes. Should she be released on parole? As 2018 looms as her next parole date, we shall see. I have mixed feelings about it, just as I had mixed feelings about the book.
But the story of Leslie's rehabilitation that included the fact it took four years before she could see the wrong in what she did, how brainwashed she became, how it happened was truly a journey toward understanding of how something like this could happen to a seemingly "All American Girl."
But should she? At first I thought that yes, she had paid her dues and had been rehabilitated. One incident gave me pause however. After she was in jail for ten years, she began corresponding with a male prisoner. They decided to marry. Soon after, her husband was released from prison but shortly after, was convicted of trying to help Leslie escape. She flatly denied knowing anything about this prison break.
Obviously, she knew because no one can help you escape prison unless you are aware of it!
Leslie was released for six months in '77 as she prepared for a new trial. I can only imagine experiencing freedom for six months only to be returned to prison. She was found guilty again and sentenced to life. Since then, she has repeatedly been denied parole.
Although I liked this book, sometimes it felt the author was all over the place. The book is supposed to be about Leslie but the reader gets the summaries of Manson's life as well as Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwrinkle and the other Masonoids. She includes prison interviews with Ann Near, an author who focuses on women in prison. The last several pages of the book are Leslie's short, journal entries during this time period.
It's sad and pathetic Leslie Van Houten's life wound up like this. Not only beautiful, she's smart, kind and has many positive attributes. Should she be released on parole? As 2018 looms as her next parole date, we shall see. I have mixed feelings about it, just as I had mixed feelings about the book.
But the story of Leslie's rehabilitation that included the fact it took four years before she could see the wrong in what she did, how brainwashed she became, how it happened was truly a journey toward understanding of how something like this could happen to a seemingly "All American Girl."
February 10, 2010
Karlene Faith's stated premise is "It would constitute justice if she [Leslie Van Houten:] were to be released. I think that would be self-evident to anyone who studies the case".
After more than forty years behind bars, it is no longer redemption - or even punishment - the State of California is looking to achieve. At this point, Leslie is kept in prison solely for political reasons. I hope she is released on parole at her next hearing, in August.
After more than forty years behind bars, it is no longer redemption - or even punishment - the State of California is looking to achieve. At this point, Leslie is kept in prison solely for political reasons. I hope she is released on parole at her next hearing, in August.
July 31, 2022
The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten: Life Beyond the Cult by Karlene Faith (Northeastern University Press 2001) (364.1523092) (3671).
This was a most interesting read about former “Manson girl” Leslie Van Houten. Written over thirty years ago, the theme of Karlene Faith’s book was that Van Houten had by all accounts been rehabilitated and deserved to be released on parole by the State of California.
Born in 1949, Van Houten had been nineteen years old when she took part in the slayings of Rosemary and Leno LaBianaca on August 9, 1969.
Following years of therapy in prison, Van Houten had recovered from Manson’s LSD-fueled brainwashing and been restored to penitent humaneness.
Author Karlene Faith worked closely with three of the imprisoned “Manson girls”: Van Houten, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel.
In the twenty-plus years since this book was published, several parole boards have approved Van Houten for release, only to see the boards’ recommendations overridden (vetoed) by California governors Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsome.
Karlene Faith argued that the only reason that Van Houten was still imprisoned at the age of fifty for a crime she committed at nineteen years old was because of the unspeakable horror of the criminal acts.
Faith may have been right in 2001. In 2022, Van Houten’s continued incarceration smacks of cruel and unusual punishment.
She should be free.
I purchased a new PB copy of this book from Amazon on 2/22/22 for $14.00.
My rating: 7.25/10, finished 7/30/22 (3671).
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September 29, 2022
The entire book is about the friendship of the author and Leslie Van Houten. The author spends the first few chapters explaining why she has decided to write the book. Next, she argues that Leslie Van Houten should be released and has already paid for her crime. Her main argument is that Leslie was brainwashed by Mason who let her participate in the crime of murdering a couple. Although Leslie did not actually kill the couple, she did butcher them several times under the influence of drugs. The author makes the argument that the system is designed to discriminate against women and they are treated with less mercy. I felt that the author did not keep my attention as a reader. I almost returned the book. While it is true that the system is not perfect, one should not forget that it was Leslie who willingly gave her decision-making power to Mason. It was Leslie who willingly took drugs. It was Leslie who is now alive and those who were murdered are not. Yes, we should have more compassion, yet we should not forget why she is incarcerated in the first place.
September 26, 2022
The story of Leslie Van Houten's journey back to sanity after being brainwashed by Charlie Manson. This is a thought provoking look at one of this country's most infamous murderers and her life in prison. According to the author, who developed a friendship with Leslie for 30+ years, a prison sentence she does not deserve but will never be released from. I learned alot about the Manson Family from this book and the regret that the members who were involved with the murders are living with. Unfortunately, it's hard to get past the overwhelmingly obvious loyalty author Karlene Faith has to Leslie in order to fully believe in Ms. Van Houten's repentance. If it were written by someone not so obviously prejudiced in favor of the subject matter it would have been a more powerful read..
July 27, 2024
This was much better than I expected. Having read a dozen Manson-related books, I found this to be much more than another retelling of a well-known story. Without getting to far into Ms. Faith's argument, a few things really stood out. First was the degree to which the author got to know not only Van Houten, but also Atkins and Krenwinkel and the rehumanization of the women. Second was the "moving of the goalposts" by the parole board and Faith and Van Houten's belief that parole was imminent. This started in the mid-1970s and went on for more than forty years. Finally, for the first time, I became truly curious as to the motives of ADA Stephen Kay, who is portrayed as overzealous to the point of dishonesty. A solid book and a nice addition to the Manson Family canon.
December 25, 2023
This book does a great job of humanizing a prisoner and a member of someone who took part in one of the biggest crimes (in terms of media impact) in recent history. I think that this is such an important read, and you should give it a go. It really made me think a lot about brainwashing, cults, and how I believe something like the Manson murders is likely to happen again due to the extreme nature of people in this world. I am glad that Ms. Leslie Van Houten has finally been released from prison, as she has grown as a person. In my opinion, she will always bear the impact of the crimes on her shoulders.
August 13, 2019
I've read several "Manson" books, but this one is probably the most insightful. Author Faith patiently examines the trajectory of "the girls"' lives against trends and tendencies in American culture and media and demystifies their involvement in the cult, and without disrespecting the suffering of the victims and their families opens up vistas for the reader's empathy. Also, her account of the titular journey of Van Houten is inspiring, balanced--and heartbreaking. I read the Kindle version, which accounts for the loss of a star--a horrible visual experience, but I read through it.
December 27, 2021
Great book about the Manson Family women. While it concentrates on Leslie, there is also a good deal of coverage of Susan and Katie. The women are examined through the lenses of psychology snd feminism. They are not treated as two dimensional cult killers, but as real people who were caught up in and participated in monstrous events. The changes that they went under in prison are addressed in detail. I would consider this one essential reading for anyone interested in the Manson Family.
March 24, 2022
As someone who began following this case when Bugliosi's Helter Skelter was published, I very much enjoyed reading this book. I knew that Leslie had broken away from the delusion that Manson wrapped his Family in, but didn't have any knowledge of her journey. I admire Karlene Faith's investment in helping Leslie, Pat and Susan make positive changes in their lives.
September 16, 2019
A sympathetic look at Van Houten's rehabilitation following the LaBianca murders. This book reads like an extended persuasive essay on why Van Houten is now a changed person and advocates for her parole. It also includes letters from Van Houten herself.
September 3, 2022
I have always been fascinated with Leslie VanHouten how someone so smart, so pretty and seemingly popular could have wound up as she did. This is an interesting book, well-written and while I did not learn anything really knew . It was a good read
February 17, 2024
We watched a great movie Charlie Says that was based on this book. This is mainly about van Houten's life after the killings. It is interesting to read about how she changed when no longer under Manson's influence.
May 21, 2019
Last words... last set of words... nice cult... the idea of Charles... looks like it worked quite well ... and as people say it's "Simon Says"... but the film is all about "Charlie Says"!
Read
November 15, 2019Book is based on a therapist inside view of the "sisters" of Manson and their transformation into the real world culture and the fact that they will probably spend the entire life in prison.
November 23, 2019
Leading feminist and prison sociologist, Karlene Faith, advocates for Leslie Van Houten's release from prison. A decent read but very slow.
May 30, 2020
Insightful
I gained knowledge and respect for Leslie Van Houten. I didn't expect that to happen. Well written book. It has inspired me to read more about women who are imprisoned.
I gained knowledge and respect for Leslie Van Houten. I didn't expect that to happen. Well written book. It has inspired me to read more about women who are imprisoned.
December 28, 2021
An interesting book that follows the lives of 3 women from the Charly Manson cult. Explores the lives and reasons. This was made into a movie called "Charly Says"
July 13, 2023
Started book on date she was paroled from prison.
October 14, 2023
A book to reflect on the meaning of restitution and our capacity to forgive those who have harmed us or our loved ones
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May 21, 2024Very much wanted to read but the print is way to small.
April 1, 2025
Feminist trash
June 22, 2025
Interesting new information.
December 18, 2021
I was born in 1972. My parents were married on August 9, 1969, the day of the Tate murders and the day before the LaBianca murders by the "Manson Family". Because that is my parent's wedding anniversary, because of the new hearings going on throughout the 70's, and because my dad had a copy of Helter Skelter at our house, I have always been interested and fascinated by, arguably, the most infamous murders in American history.
I have my dad's original copy of Helter Skelter, which I've read, and I've kept up with the interviews, parole hearings, deaths, documentaries, movies, and goings on of the Family "members" my whole life. I've printed off or clipped news stories from important events over the last nearly 52 years since it all happened and have kept them inside the hardback book. Not obsessively... just whenever something major happened.
I've always been particularly fascinated with Leslie Van Houten. I believe it is because I knew about her coming from a home and family much like mine and because she is so beautiful. It always blew my mind that someone who seemed so "normal" and beautiful could end up doing what she did and being sucked into what we now know and recognize as a cult. I suppose it always scared me a little and made me worry that if it could happen to her... and made me think how NOT to become a cult member! Yikes!
Besides the "Manson Family" cult, I've read and watched most things on other cult-related horrors like the Jonestown massacre, the Branch-Davidian massacre, the Applegate suicides, Scientology abuses & conspiracies, the Nazi extermination of the Jews at Hitler's commands, etc... It's all very interesting to me on a psychological level. How does this happen?? How do masses of people fall into the clutches of these "leaders"? It blows my mind.
The newest movies on the "Manson Family" have been The Haunting of Sharron Tate and Charlie Says. Both are excellent and both give completely different perspectives on what happened, how, and why. When I realized that Charlie Says was actually based on the book written by the counselor from the movie who worked with Leslie, Pat, and Susan while they were on Death Row and afterward, I immediately ordered it!
I've gone my whole life believing what was said and written about right after the murders. To read about what REALLY happened and HOW it really played out has my head spinning. I've always thought anyone involved in the Tate-LaBianca murders should never, ever get out of prison. Period. Now... I have a whole new perspective. I just don't even know how to wrap my brain about all this new-to-me information.
In light of this new perspective, I've also found a VERY good documentary by Rob Zombie that is EXCELLENT that will blow your mind with twisted information and cover-ups you won't believe (for instance, it's explained how the entire Tate-LaBianca murder plan was set into motion because of something that was entirely Charles "Tex" Watson's fault!!), as well as another book called Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill that I've ordered.
If you're at all interested in the "Manson Family", Leslie Van Houten, and/or the Tate-LaBianca murders, please read this book! It's VERY well written and will open your eyes.
I have my dad's original copy of Helter Skelter, which I've read, and I've kept up with the interviews, parole hearings, deaths, documentaries, movies, and goings on of the Family "members" my whole life. I've printed off or clipped news stories from important events over the last nearly 52 years since it all happened and have kept them inside the hardback book. Not obsessively... just whenever something major happened.
I've always been particularly fascinated with Leslie Van Houten. I believe it is because I knew about her coming from a home and family much like mine and because she is so beautiful. It always blew my mind that someone who seemed so "normal" and beautiful could end up doing what she did and being sucked into what we now know and recognize as a cult. I suppose it always scared me a little and made me worry that if it could happen to her... and made me think how NOT to become a cult member! Yikes!
Besides the "Manson Family" cult, I've read and watched most things on other cult-related horrors like the Jonestown massacre, the Branch-Davidian massacre, the Applegate suicides, Scientology abuses & conspiracies, the Nazi extermination of the Jews at Hitler's commands, etc... It's all very interesting to me on a psychological level. How does this happen?? How do masses of people fall into the clutches of these "leaders"? It blows my mind.
The newest movies on the "Manson Family" have been The Haunting of Sharron Tate and Charlie Says. Both are excellent and both give completely different perspectives on what happened, how, and why. When I realized that Charlie Says was actually based on the book written by the counselor from the movie who worked with Leslie, Pat, and Susan while they were on Death Row and afterward, I immediately ordered it!
I've gone my whole life believing what was said and written about right after the murders. To read about what REALLY happened and HOW it really played out has my head spinning. I've always thought anyone involved in the Tate-LaBianca murders should never, ever get out of prison. Period. Now... I have a whole new perspective. I just don't even know how to wrap my brain about all this new-to-me information.
In light of this new perspective, I've also found a VERY good documentary by Rob Zombie that is EXCELLENT that will blow your mind with twisted information and cover-ups you won't believe (for instance, it's explained how the entire Tate-LaBianca murder plan was set into motion because of something that was entirely Charles "Tex" Watson's fault!!), as well as another book called Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill that I've ordered.
If you're at all interested in the "Manson Family", Leslie Van Houten, and/or the Tate-LaBianca murders, please read this book! It's VERY well written and will open your eyes.
February 4, 2025
Read because the netflix series based off of it.
While I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the Manson Girls from a clinical perspective, this was a dry read in comparison to other Manson related books I’ve read.
The question still remains, did they deserve a life sentence? Did they truly believe in ~why~ they murdered those people? Can someone genuinely be reformed?
While I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the Manson Girls from a clinical perspective, this was a dry read in comparison to other Manson related books I’ve read.
The question still remains, did they deserve a life sentence? Did they truly believe in ~why~ they murdered those people? Can someone genuinely be reformed?
September 14, 2019
I bought the original hard copy of this book when it was released nearly 20 years ago and it's still in my collection unread. I finally decided to read the Kindle version after watching "Charlie Says" based around this book. Sosie Bacon was brilliant as Patricia Krenwenkil but it's an odd movie. As for the book, it's very outdated and an updated version cannot be written as Karlene Faith died in 2017 along with Charles Manson. It's a decent read but a bit slow at times. The main focus is Leslie Van Houten who turned 20 only days after her involvement in the murders of the LaBianca's and last month she turned 70. I believe that she is the only person that I think deserves to be released for her crime. As another author recently put it....there are people who are forever forced to be considered a part of 'The Manson Family' that don't necessarily deserve it after 50 damn years. Had the idiots that be actually executed the members they would have faded from memory decades ago but since they weren't they have literally become a billion dollar industry....books, movies, interviews, TV shows, murderbilia, etc....My only major issue was the fact that the book just ends....no final thoughts, nothing. I will have to look at my actual book and see if maybe the Kindle version missed something because the formatting of this new to Kindle book was often worse than ARC for Kindle.
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February 18, 2024Interesting story, but not very well written.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews