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Our Father Who Art in Hell: The Life and Death of Jim Jones
The life and death of Jim Jones and the definitive account of the Jonestown Massacre.
This is the definitive work on the Guyana tragedy when on November 18, 1978, one thousand members of the People's Temple cult killed themselves in a Guyana jungle by drinking poison-laced Kool-Aid. Through the Freedom of Information Act, author James Reston, Jr. obtained more than 800 hours of tape recordings made in the jungle. Reston chronicles the descent into madness of the cult leader, the Reverend Jim Jones.
338 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1981
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About the author
James Reston Jr.
25 books65 followersJames Reston Jr. was an American journalist, documentarian and author of political and historical fiction and non-fiction. He wrote about the Vietnam war, the Jonestown Massacre, civil rights, the impeachment of Richard Nixon, and the September 11 attacks.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 14, 2024
This book provided a good analysis of Jim Jones and the People's Temple and how things slowly went very wrong for them in Guyana in November of 1978. It is described as “one of the most horrifying and bizarre events in American history.” I never knew many of the details until I recently watched a National Geographic short series about Jones and his followers. That series just led me to want to know more. Why did 913 American men, women and children die? (Hint: Jim Jones was a monster.) This book filled in all the blanks.
August 14, 2025
This book is without a doubt, the densest and most detailed book about Guyana, the history surrounding the Guyanese government in juxtaposition to the events leading up to Jonestown. Of all the books I’ve read so far this is the most intricately, detailed almost to the point of dense academia .
Reston spent untold hours not just listening to the death tape but the 60 or so other tapes of Jim Jones that were made available via lawsuit, under the freedom of information act around the time this book was written. His transcriptions are dense and unexpurgated. It’s written in a narrative memoir style and not completely linear in timeline.
It’s extremely well written however, I docked two points because there is a lot of very dated, racially ignorant writing. It’s easy to give a free pass to professional scholarly writers of this era, but not when it comes to a few egregious errors. For starters he has Christine Miller who stood up during the death, tape and pleaded for the life of the babies and her own life, as a “white woman”! Unbelievable! It’s been well documented that Christine Miller was African-American.
It’s easy to see why Reston made this error because he has reflexively racist views of African Diaspora or “blacks” as he calls them. He’ll be talking about being on a boat on the high sea going towards Jonestown (it’s a 24 hour circuitous route by boat from Georgetown to Port Kaituma which is 3 miles to Jonestown) and how he’s standing near groups of Amerindians and “blacks.” Reston can’t give the Black Guyanese any distinction because to him blackness is clearly a monolith. So naturally he would assume that someone articulate and well spoken would have to be white and not black. He refers to one of the four survivors who walked away from the actual massacre that night, Stanley Clayton, as a “coal black, flat faced, black man.” Both Black Guyanese and Amerindians are also described in similar derogatory fashion, which at the time in the late 70s 1980s would’ve been completely acceptable. Remember that one of the reasons that Jonestown was quickly wiped away and there was no real discourse around what happened is because the majority of the victims of the mass murder suicide were Black.
The book is very well written in a scholarly fashion and again it is a tome of information for scholars. The racism alone would warrant giving it one star. But unfortunately, because it stands so far is the only type of reference work of his kind that’s out there, scholars of Jonestown cannot completely disregard it.
Reston spent untold hours not just listening to the death tape but the 60 or so other tapes of Jim Jones that were made available via lawsuit, under the freedom of information act around the time this book was written. His transcriptions are dense and unexpurgated. It’s written in a narrative memoir style and not completely linear in timeline.
It’s extremely well written however, I docked two points because there is a lot of very dated, racially ignorant writing. It’s easy to give a free pass to professional scholarly writers of this era, but not when it comes to a few egregious errors. For starters he has Christine Miller who stood up during the death, tape and pleaded for the life of the babies and her own life, as a “white woman”! Unbelievable! It’s been well documented that Christine Miller was African-American.
It’s easy to see why Reston made this error because he has reflexively racist views of African Diaspora or “blacks” as he calls them. He’ll be talking about being on a boat on the high sea going towards Jonestown (it’s a 24 hour circuitous route by boat from Georgetown to Port Kaituma which is 3 miles to Jonestown) and how he’s standing near groups of Amerindians and “blacks.” Reston can’t give the Black Guyanese any distinction because to him blackness is clearly a monolith. So naturally he would assume that someone articulate and well spoken would have to be white and not black. He refers to one of the four survivors who walked away from the actual massacre that night, Stanley Clayton, as a “coal black, flat faced, black man.” Both Black Guyanese and Amerindians are also described in similar derogatory fashion, which at the time in the late 70s 1980s would’ve been completely acceptable. Remember that one of the reasons that Jonestown was quickly wiped away and there was no real discourse around what happened is because the majority of the victims of the mass murder suicide were Black.
The book is very well written in a scholarly fashion and again it is a tome of information for scholars. The racism alone would warrant giving it one star. But unfortunately, because it stands so far is the only type of reference work of his kind that’s out there, scholars of Jonestown cannot completely disregard it.
November 21, 2015
Our Father Who Art in Hell: The Life and Death of Jim Jones by James Reston, Jr. (Times Books 1982) (Biography). This is a very odd book, oddly written and oddly styled,, about the Jonestown tragedy in Guyana. Reverend Jim Jones saw fit to tape record the nightly group gatherings/meetings at the Temple in the jungle of Guyana. According to this book, when the FBI came in to clean up the mess left behind after the mass suicide, the FBI confiscated over 800 hours of those nightly tapes, many of which feature the ravings of the Reverend Jim Jones. The author eventually sued for access to the tapes and (James Reston claims) won exclusive access. This book, which serves as the author's report on the People's Temple, implies that the dialogue set forth in this book and the events as they unfolded occurred precisely as reported herein on the fatal night in Jonestown. However, no effort was set forth in this book to document or catalog the book's text against any FBI reports, tapes, or transcriptions. So – is the timeline of events as set forth on the fateful night actual dialogue and events, as the author seems to imply, or were the words which make up this book simply the author's supposition? I find it extremely unlikely that the author would have omitted cites and references to the FBI's tapes if any such authentication existed. I sense some hokum and humbug here...On the other hand, what if the horror of the “White Night” unfolded exactly as transcribed? That would be too awful to contemplate. My rating: 6/10, finished 11/21/15.
February 17, 2021
Reston can write, but some of his details are wrong (for instance, the date of the White Night he devotes a chapter too) and he's a strange mixture of credulous (he asserts multiple times that Jones was dying a natural death) and incredulous (he gives little heed to reports of Temple malfeasance whilst in California). Ultimately this book unsuccessfully straddles the line between being a comprehensive history (it is too light on detail, especially of the Temple in Indiana and Redwood Valley, for that) and an examination of how such a thing like this could happen in 1970s America. If the former is what you want, I'd recommend "Raven" by Tim Reiterman and John Jacobs; for the latter, Shiva Naipaul's "Journey to Nowhere".
May 30, 2020
This book gave a lot of details leading up to, during, and the events of November 18, 1978; maybe too many details.
April 14, 2023
"After I leave the stage, the heavens will come down".---Jim Jones
Ever hear the expression "pass the kool-aid?" It is still used in the U.S. of A. by both the right, to besmirch liberal Democrats, and on the left, for those who take Fox News for tidings from God. Back in the Eighties we of more radical persuasion used to say of this or that left group with its cult leader that it was "on the road to Jonestown", meaning the mass suicide of over 900 members of his PEOPLES TEMPLE in Guyana in 1978. In fact, I know people who use this slanderous label without knowing what it means or where it came from. The late Reverend Jim Jones left a mark on America seldom seen and still not matched---thank goodness---by other religious cult leaders, from Father Divine, the self-proclaimed "God"whom Jones knew personally, to the Rev. Sung Yung Moon, whose blind followers and their mass marriage at Madison Square Garden provided the topic for Don De Lillo's novel MAO II. James Reston Jr., son of legendary NEW YORK TIMES columnist James "Scotty" Reston, has rightly decided to write the story of Jim Jones by opening the head of the master, using FBI and FCC recordings of Jones from the Seventies. (Jones was not being irrational when he informed his followers the U.S. intelligence community was monitoring him; even paranoids have real enemies.) How did a a man who courageously fought for civil rights in the 1950s, at the risk of his own life, turn into the demon who ordered up the massacre of 900 plus people, three-quarters of them Black? Reston finds the answer in first the promise and then the death of Sixties idealism. The Seventies brought Jones a huge following in the San Francisco area precisely because "love, peace and understanding" had died, to be replaced by cynicism and narcissism. Jones was guilty of both sins, but also smart enough to see that if he kept the dream alive, preaching "Pentecostal Socialism" he would rally thousands of the dispossessed, mainly people of color, behind him, and keep them in line through time-tested brainwashing techniques: drugs, physical isolation from the outside world, and seizing their few possessions and bank accounts for himself. The canny Jones also cultivated political ties to the mostly Democratic Party political establishment in the Bay Area to see that he was left alone with his flock. When heaven failed to materialize and some of his followers ran to the police Jones packed up his Temple and moved to the pseudo-socialist Cooperative Republic of Guyana to carve a New Jerusalem out of the jungle. The day of doom, when it came in 1978, was predictable, and thus mostly passed over by Reston. Since America has always been filled with religious and political wackos the real question at the heart of OUR FATHER WHO ART... is what made Jones special, in a grotesque way? The answer is that he appealed to the best among the meek, their longing for belonging, and the worst in himself; a post-hippie, TV-spectacle, Stalinesque preacher who decided he and his sheep would exit this world in an unforgettable image. Significantly, while his devotees drank the kool-aid Jones shot himself in the forehead. Gods don't die like mortals do. As Bertolt Brecht once wrote, "Beware, the bitch that birthed this pup is still in heat".
Ever hear the expression "pass the kool-aid?" It is still used in the U.S. of A. by both the right, to besmirch liberal Democrats, and on the left, for those who take Fox News for tidings from God. Back in the Eighties we of more radical persuasion used to say of this or that left group with its cult leader that it was "on the road to Jonestown", meaning the mass suicide of over 900 members of his PEOPLES TEMPLE in Guyana in 1978. In fact, I know people who use this slanderous label without knowing what it means or where it came from. The late Reverend Jim Jones left a mark on America seldom seen and still not matched---thank goodness---by other religious cult leaders, from Father Divine, the self-proclaimed "God"whom Jones knew personally, to the Rev. Sung Yung Moon, whose blind followers and their mass marriage at Madison Square Garden provided the topic for Don De Lillo's novel MAO II. James Reston Jr., son of legendary NEW YORK TIMES columnist James "Scotty" Reston, has rightly decided to write the story of Jim Jones by opening the head of the master, using FBI and FCC recordings of Jones from the Seventies. (Jones was not being irrational when he informed his followers the U.S. intelligence community was monitoring him; even paranoids have real enemies.) How did a a man who courageously fought for civil rights in the 1950s, at the risk of his own life, turn into the demon who ordered up the massacre of 900 plus people, three-quarters of them Black? Reston finds the answer in first the promise and then the death of Sixties idealism. The Seventies brought Jones a huge following in the San Francisco area precisely because "love, peace and understanding" had died, to be replaced by cynicism and narcissism. Jones was guilty of both sins, but also smart enough to see that if he kept the dream alive, preaching "Pentecostal Socialism" he would rally thousands of the dispossessed, mainly people of color, behind him, and keep them in line through time-tested brainwashing techniques: drugs, physical isolation from the outside world, and seizing their few possessions and bank accounts for himself. The canny Jones also cultivated political ties to the mostly Democratic Party political establishment in the Bay Area to see that he was left alone with his flock. When heaven failed to materialize and some of his followers ran to the police Jones packed up his Temple and moved to the pseudo-socialist Cooperative Republic of Guyana to carve a New Jerusalem out of the jungle. The day of doom, when it came in 1978, was predictable, and thus mostly passed over by Reston. Since America has always been filled with religious and political wackos the real question at the heart of OUR FATHER WHO ART... is what made Jones special, in a grotesque way? The answer is that he appealed to the best among the meek, their longing for belonging, and the worst in himself; a post-hippie, TV-spectacle, Stalinesque preacher who decided he and his sheep would exit this world in an unforgettable image. Significantly, while his devotees drank the kool-aid Jones shot himself in the forehead. Gods don't die like mortals do. As Bertolt Brecht once wrote, "Beware, the bitch that birthed this pup is still in heat".
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October 19, 2008Just finished this book which was an excellent account of the demise of the People's Temple in Guyana. I'm obviously on a non-fiction cult reading kick and have returned to the Jonestown tragedy after forays into The Children of God, Mormons, Hare Krishnas and Moonies. The sheer insanity and tragic end of Jim Jone's and his followers always leaves me wanting to know more about the enigmatic cult. I've got on order several more out of print books about Jonestown on there way, and will update when I'm finished.
On this particular book I applaud Reston's resistance to sensationalizing the PT and exploring individual stories of members (though I wish he had done more and more in-depth on some individuals). He also did a fabulous radio program on NPR in 1982 entitled "Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown" which uses the hundreds of audio tapes found at Jonestown to weave the story of the temple and its end. (For some reason they chose to not use (only recreate) the famous "death tape" which is an audio recording of the mass suicide in progress. For anyone curious you can now hear the famous tape on the internet audio archive. Years ago a friend of mine got me a DAT tape of the "death tape" during my first interest in JJ and TPT - but its now available for anyone to hear. It apparently originated with an FBI man's son making a copy of it over top of one of his rock tapes - and you can still hear some eerie music that wasn't fully erased in the dubbing. For years many people thought the music was from the PT but it's only old remains from the org. contents of the teenagers tape.) -- Sorry for the digression.
Reston himself was able to travel to Jonestown a few days after the tragedy (the bodies had just been cleared away) and then several weeks later to explore the many rumors of cash stockpiles floating around and other strange events. His insight into JJ personality is interesting. When he tries to investigate the reasons many intelligent people chose, willingly, to continue to follow JJ after he was so obviously mad, dangerous & deluded he is as confused and bewildered as to the why as their families, friends and readers.
I think this is why I continue to read about cults such as TPT. I'm constantly trying to understand what can make large #'s of seemingly rational or unstable (good mix of both) people give themselves over completely to some bizarre cult and/or leader. I'm sure I will continue reading for many years without truly ever totally understanding but it at least educates me on how naive or willing to be lead some people are. Free choice is obviously not a desire for some segment of society.
On this particular book I applaud Reston's resistance to sensationalizing the PT and exploring individual stories of members (though I wish he had done more and more in-depth on some individuals). He also did a fabulous radio program on NPR in 1982 entitled "Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown" which uses the hundreds of audio tapes found at Jonestown to weave the story of the temple and its end. (For some reason they chose to not use (only recreate) the famous "death tape" which is an audio recording of the mass suicide in progress. For anyone curious you can now hear the famous tape on the internet audio archive. Years ago a friend of mine got me a DAT tape of the "death tape" during my first interest in JJ and TPT - but its now available for anyone to hear. It apparently originated with an FBI man's son making a copy of it over top of one of his rock tapes - and you can still hear some eerie music that wasn't fully erased in the dubbing. For years many people thought the music was from the PT but it's only old remains from the org. contents of the teenagers tape.) -- Sorry for the digression.
Reston himself was able to travel to Jonestown a few days after the tragedy (the bodies had just been cleared away) and then several weeks later to explore the many rumors of cash stockpiles floating around and other strange events. His insight into JJ personality is interesting. When he tries to investigate the reasons many intelligent people chose, willingly, to continue to follow JJ after he was so obviously mad, dangerous & deluded he is as confused and bewildered as to the why as their families, friends and readers.
I think this is why I continue to read about cults such as TPT. I'm constantly trying to understand what can make large #'s of seemingly rational or unstable (good mix of both) people give themselves over completely to some bizarre cult and/or leader. I'm sure I will continue reading for many years without truly ever totally understanding but it at least educates me on how naive or willing to be lead some people are. Free choice is obviously not a desire for some segment of society.
May 14, 2015
James Reston, Jr. conducted an exhaustive exploration into the minds of the major players in this horrific event that continues to captivate and confound. He began researching this study days after the news of the tragedy broke. Reston conducted exhaustive research, visiting the site of the Jonestown camp and suing the government for access to the many tapes found at the site, including the infamous “death tape.” Reston’s main goal with Our Father Who Art in Hell was to make this terrible event understandable. He was driven to research this subject due to the many different kinds of people who were drawn to the People’s Temple organization. Reston, a college professor, believed that he knew and had taught many who were looking for that which the charismatic Jim Jones had offered. “...I have been fortunate in my association with many...young men and women. I sensed their floundering, their quest for belief and identity...Their age never quite provided these things. In many of these students, I saw possible recruits for this man named Jim Jones. Jones had filled a void...” (x) In this study, Reston concludes that Jones had come to power during a very turbulent time in America because he had filled that void, a void left by Vietnam and the turbulent events of the 60s and 70s. Reston argues that because of this unrest Jones was able to influence so many. The book purports to be a biography of Jones, but it is more a study of the last years of Peoples Temple, the massacre itself and the aftermath. I believe that this is the definitive account of the Jonestown Massacre however there are some problems with this study. Reston also fails to take a firm stance on his opinion of Jim Jones the man. He has equals parts admiration and disdain for Jones. There is no index, bibliography, or illustrations included and footnotes are very sparse. The book has 338 pages as well as a xiii prologue. This is the second printing of this book, the original being first published in 1981. At that time, National Public Radio aired a radio documentary named “Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown” (reviewed elsewhere in this bibliography) based on this study.
October 4, 2007
The title is terrible, although it was the catalyst for an awkward encounter on the subway, when a group of tourist-evangelists, tracts spilling out their shoes, alit at Times Square and surrounded me. The leader (isn't there always one?) immediately took interest in my book, and gamely asked, "So, Our Father who art in hell, eh?" I stared both dumbly and evilly. Anyhoo, this is the best book I've read about the Jonestown massacre, and the author is even a journalist!
August 2, 2011
madness in the people's temple on their journey to guyana and beyond, hilarity ensues, also tragedy, mostly tragedy actually
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