Manson

The Life and Times of Charles Manson

By: Jeff Guinn

Narrated by: Jim Frangione

Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling, authoritative account of the life of Charles Manson, filled with surprising new information: “A riveting, almost Dickensian narrative…four stars” (People).

More than 40 years ago Charles Manson and his mostly female commune killed nine people, among them the pregnant actress Sharon Tate. It was the culmination of a criminal career that author Jeff Guinn traces back to Manson’s childhood. Guinn interviewed Manson’s sister and cousin, neither of whom had ever previously cooperated with an author. Childhood friends, cellmates, and even some members of the Manson family have provided new information about Manson’s life. Guinn has made discoveries about the night of the Tate murders, answering unresolved questions, such as why one person near the scene of the crime was spared.

Manson puts the killer in the context of the turbulent late 60s, an era of race riots and street protests when authority in all its forms was under siege. Guinn shows us how Manson created and refined his message to fit the times, persuading confused young women (and a few men) that he had the solutions to their problems. At the same time he used them to pursue his long-standing musical ambitions. His frustrated ambitions, combined with his bizarre race-war obsession, would have lethal consequences.

Guinn’s book is a “tour de force of a biography…Manson stands as a definitive work: important for students of criminology, human behavior, popular culture, music, psychopathology, and sociopathology…and compulsively readable” (Ann Rule, The New York Times Book Review).

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Excellent!

Awesome well written book! Great narrator! Learned a lot! Thanks you for writing such a great book!

Good listen, nice background facts

I enjoyed the information on the background players, i.e. the Golden Penetrators. The book mostly follows along the lines of Helter Skelter and follows the motives outlined in that book. Not much new here.

Great story

I’m 53 and this always scared me as a kid.My aunt used to jump out and yell “Helter Skelter” it worked every time.Now as an older man I realize how weak Manson really was.He was definitely a great manipulator, but really he was a spoiled brat.Many people have bad childhoods and make through life without having people killed.Theres no doubt this was a very eventful time in American history and this story fills in alot of gaps that the media got wrong.Narration was solid and the story is interesting.

AMAZING

I absolutely loved this book. I have listened to quite a few Charles Manson books, and this one has been my favorite 100% Even over Helter Skelter (which is also amazing) I loved the real in-depth dive into the life of Charles Manson and what could've made such an evil man.

More than Just a murder story

Great job of story telling. The tale moves from moment to moment with an engaging pace. The Narration is excellent with direct compelling force. I have listened to this multiple times and learn each time. Cannot miss if even if you are slightly interested in the 60's the subject matter or just in human nature..

Cult Figureheads.

In the years following the Manson killings society has witnessed a string of cults led by charismatic figures. Jim Jones and David Koresh spring to mind although there have been 10 or more suicidal, dynamic personalities who have created a following of gullible groups of unhinged, crazy people willing to throw all reason and logic aside to "enjoy" a life bereft of personal truth. We've seen Scientology, Heaven's Gate cult. The Satanic Panic of the 80's lead to the current QAnon and many of today's Republicans hold strongly believing they are surrounded by pedophile Satanists. This sort of mass hysteria has been a feature of Tea Party advocates leading to the most dangerous cult of all: Trumpism and the complete willingness to accept anything as truth whenever one of these bromides are spoken by Trump. Manson reminds me that he was only one person in the continuum leading to the Fox News attack on truth. As the rock group Procol Harum sang: “Still There’ll Be More”.

better than others

This book was much better than others I have read about Charles Manson. The information is presented in a timeline which makes it all come together and make sense. I recommend!

One of the better Manson Biographies

This was as much of a page turner as one would expect. Wonderful prologue. The early history was fantastic, and I was thinking this might end up to be a really special book. The rest of the book was not quite as detailed. After the first few chapters, I was thinking this might be the definitive bio. There was quite a bit of new info for me in this one. On the other hand, there were stories left out and some info not covered, almost as if the writer ran out of steam.

There's definitely a tone and point of view here. It isn't over the top or all consuming, but the slant is obvious. Guinn writes the story from the perspective that Charlie was a master manipulator/narcisistic/sociopath. This is a reasonable view point, but at times one wonders what sources he used. Throughout the book, the author includes the intermonologue of characters, including Charlie, which is entertaining but questionable. Presumably, the author took from the various biographies of Manson and Mason family members. But he must have taken much from the co-written jailhouse biography, as Manson was never more candid and straight forward about things.

This is worth a read for history buffs and true crime fans. For Cielo Drive heads, this is a must read.

listened to it twice!

I rarely listen to a book more than once, I have too many unread books in order to do that. This book however deserved a second listen. it really fills in some of the gaps left in other books and narratives of Manson, detailing his life before the family. Great detail and well researched.

love it

I wasn't too interested in the Manson family, but now I'm confounded. This book has added to my intrigue and disgust of the whole Manson thing. I was not aware of how ingrained CM was in the LA music scene and was naive to the level of coercion he wielded over those poor girls :(...

8 stars!!!!