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Stories from Jonestown
The saga of Jonestown didn’t end on the day in November 1978 when more than nine hundred Americans died in a mass murder-suicide in the Guyanese jungle. While only a handful of people present at the agricultural project survived that day in Jonestown, more than eighty members of Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, were elsewhere in Guyana on that day, and thousands more members of the movement still lived in California. Emmy-nominated writer Leigh Fondakowski, who is best known for her work on the play and HBO film The Laramie Project, spent three years traveling the United States to interview these survivors, many of whom have never talked publicly about the tragedy. Using more than two hundred hours of interview material, Fondakowski creates intimate portraits of these survivors as they tell their unforgettable stories.
Collectively this is a record of ordinary people, stigmatized as cultists, who after the Jonestown massacre were left to deal with their grief, reassemble their lives, and try to make sense of how a movement born in a gospel of racial and social justice could have gone so horrifically wrong—taking with it the lives of their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, and brothers and sisters. As these survivors look back, we learn what led them to join the Peoples Temple movement, what life in the church was like, and how the trauma of Jonestown’s end still affects their lives decades later.
What emerges are portrayals both haunting and hopeful—of unimaginable sadness, guilt, and shame but also resilience and redemption. Weaving her own artistic journey of discovery throughout the book in a compelling historical context, Fondakowski delivers, with both empathy and clarity, one of the most gripping, moving, and humanizing accounts of Jonestown ever written.
Collectively this is a record of ordinary people, stigmatized as cultists, who after the Jonestown massacre were left to deal with their grief, reassemble their lives, and try to make sense of how a movement born in a gospel of racial and social justice could have gone so horrifically wrong—taking with it the lives of their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, and brothers and sisters. As these survivors look back, we learn what led them to join the Peoples Temple movement, what life in the church was like, and how the trauma of Jonestown’s end still affects their lives decades later.
What emerges are portrayals both haunting and hopeful—of unimaginable sadness, guilt, and shame but also resilience and redemption. Weaving her own artistic journey of discovery throughout the book in a compelling historical context, Fondakowski delivers, with both empathy and clarity, one of the most gripping, moving, and humanizing accounts of Jonestown ever written.
350 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2013
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July 26, 2020
This book chronicles the multi-year journey of playwright Leigh Fondakowski and her team as they interview and collect the survivor stories and artifacts of Jonestown to write a play about the Peoples Temple movement. Like most people, I started my reading with a limited understanding of the story, believing it to be about all those people who committed mass suicide with their whackadoodle leader, Jim Jones, in jungles of Guyana. What I wasn't expecting was the emotional impact of hearing the viewpoints and backstories of actual past members of Peoples Temple and the survivors of the infamous events of November 18, 1978. It was easier to just think it would be a story about gullible people who were duped by a crazy man and "drank the Kool-Aid" willingly than to see them as intelligent, thoughtful, idealistic people with hopes and dreams for a better world that were victimized not only by Jim Jones, but by their own beliefs. I no longer believe that the majority of these people committed "revolutionary suicide" as Jim Jones tried to indoctrinate them to do, but rather found themselves trapped in an inescapable nightmare, far from the utopia they were promised, that ultimately resulted in their murders. I could sympathize with the survivors who found it easier to stay silent about their experience over the decades than risk the judgement and misunderstanding of a world that wrote them off as villians and murderers, without knowing their actual stories. It doesn't exonerate the survivors entirely, but it certainly humanizes them, as one is left with the feeling that their experience could be any one of ours under the right circumstances. Really a fascinating, heartbreaking and uplifting journey, and one that has the potential to teach empathy if the reader will allow it.
★★★★ Stars
★★★★ Stars
September 18, 2012
"My whole thing behind talking to you is this. I feel it's necessary to hear a black man's story---" He stops and corrects, "Not a black man's story, but a black man's insight to what went on with him. 'Cause I don't represent all the black men there, and I don't represent the black race that was there. I represent Eugene. Eugene and Ollie and Martin and Krista and Mattie, that's all I can represent."--Eugene Smith, former member of the People's Temple, who lost his wife and family at Jonestown.
Leigh Fondakowski is one of the creators of "The Laramie Project," the play which dramatizes the murder of Matthew Shepard. Ten years or so ago, she and a collaborator, Greg Pierotti, (with further assistance from two others) decided to do a similar treatment with the story of Jim Jones, the People's Temple, and Jonestown. This book traces that process.
It is very hard for me to review this and separate the story from the writing. I am endlessly, endlessly fascinated with the story of the People's Temple. I had just turned ten years old when the mass suicide/murder happened, and although I don't remember it with any specificity from that time, I'm sure I overheard it on the news, or saw those horrible photographs of all the bloated bodies face down in the mud. Probably around the same time Fondakowski started her work, I stumbled on a television documentary on Jonestown, and since then, I have watched more films about it, and read a handful of books. There is something very positive and hopeful about the original tenets of the Temple: a truly integrated community of people, (many races, but mainly black and white) where the elderly and the young were cared for communally and with great care and attention. But Jim Jones was always a charlatan (using chicken livers in place of tumors when he would perform "healings" during the service) and power-mad, and as drugs and megalomania took control, he unfortunately had over a thousand people under his spell and believing in him, and it led to 917 of them (plus Jones) dying in the jungles of Guyana in South America, in the compound they had built to escape the oppression of American life.
See? I could talk about it for hours, so it was a disappointment to see the fruits of Fondakowski's labor come to such a poor product. Too much of this book isn't about the stories of the survivors (almost all people who were back here in San Francisco or elsewhere in Guyana when the death order came down), but about the author's quest to obtain interviews and access information stored in the California Historical Society. If she just would have stepped aside and let the voices of the survivors be the ENTIRE story, and kept herself and Greg out of it, it would have been a more powerful, important book. I read the ARC, so I know it's not fair, and hopefully not accurate to judge, but it was also lousy with typographical errors. I can only hope they'll be corrected before the book officially goes to press. Ironically (spookily?), the last ARC I read that was so poorly edited was A Thousand Lives by Julia Scheeres, which is a 2011 release...about Jonestown. When it was released, I checked some of the errors I had seen against the finished product, and they were still there. Maybe the story so captivates the authors and editors that all these mistakes are missed.
If you don't know much about Jonestown, or your thoughts are negative, "those people were crazy cultists," etc., this book goes a long way to humanize and explain their story. I only wish Fondakowski had stayed farther back and let them speak for themselves.
Leigh Fondakowski is one of the creators of "The Laramie Project," the play which dramatizes the murder of Matthew Shepard. Ten years or so ago, she and a collaborator, Greg Pierotti, (with further assistance from two others) decided to do a similar treatment with the story of Jim Jones, the People's Temple, and Jonestown. This book traces that process.
It is very hard for me to review this and separate the story from the writing. I am endlessly, endlessly fascinated with the story of the People's Temple. I had just turned ten years old when the mass suicide/murder happened, and although I don't remember it with any specificity from that time, I'm sure I overheard it on the news, or saw those horrible photographs of all the bloated bodies face down in the mud. Probably around the same time Fondakowski started her work, I stumbled on a television documentary on Jonestown, and since then, I have watched more films about it, and read a handful of books. There is something very positive and hopeful about the original tenets of the Temple: a truly integrated community of people, (many races, but mainly black and white) where the elderly and the young were cared for communally and with great care and attention. But Jim Jones was always a charlatan (using chicken livers in place of tumors when he would perform "healings" during the service) and power-mad, and as drugs and megalomania took control, he unfortunately had over a thousand people under his spell and believing in him, and it led to 917 of them (plus Jones) dying in the jungles of Guyana in South America, in the compound they had built to escape the oppression of American life.
See? I could talk about it for hours, so it was a disappointment to see the fruits of Fondakowski's labor come to such a poor product. Too much of this book isn't about the stories of the survivors (almost all people who were back here in San Francisco or elsewhere in Guyana when the death order came down), but about the author's quest to obtain interviews and access information stored in the California Historical Society. If she just would have stepped aside and let the voices of the survivors be the ENTIRE story, and kept herself and Greg out of it, it would have been a more powerful, important book. I read the ARC, so I know it's not fair, and hopefully not accurate to judge, but it was also lousy with typographical errors. I can only hope they'll be corrected before the book officially goes to press. Ironically (spookily?), the last ARC I read that was so poorly edited was A Thousand Lives by Julia Scheeres, which is a 2011 release...about Jonestown. When it was released, I checked some of the errors I had seen against the finished product, and they were still there. Maybe the story so captivates the authors and editors that all these mistakes are missed.
If you don't know much about Jonestown, or your thoughts are negative, "those people were crazy cultists," etc., this book goes a long way to humanize and explain their story. I only wish Fondakowski had stayed farther back and let them speak for themselves.
March 12, 2013
I cannot convey in words how much this book moved me. I have known about Jonestown for quite some time, being perhaps morbidly fascinated with various types of disasters. I couldn't understand how people could be taken in by one man, and to end their lives just on his say-so.
But this book showed a different side of what happened. I'm no longer convinced these people were brainwashed, that the Peoples Temple was a cult. Look at the world around them when they went to Guyana -- Martin Luther King, Jr., had been murdered. The Kennedy brothers had been assassinated. Malcolm X had been killed. Kent State. Vietnam. It felt like hell had come to Earth, that nothing made sense anymore. Everything was violence and chaos and evil. The members of the Peoples Temple wanted refuge from that. They wanted to create a utopia on Earth where people of all nations and races could live together. They wanted out of the capitalist rat-race.
Perhaps they could have created this utopia, had their leader not been Jim Jones. There is the idea that the amphetamines that he was taking great quantities were contributing to his extreme paranoia, and there is no doubt that his paranoia triggered the White Night that took the lives of 918 in Jonestown. He was able to convince people that this was the only way out, that the fascist government of the US was going to kill them anyhow. Had they not been so isolated in the jungles of Guyana, had they been able to stand up to Jones, perhaps the mass suicide/murders would not have happened.
One quote from page 256 stuck with me, and, when I thought about it, really horrified me. I have been known to use the phrase "they drank the Kool-aid" without stopping to think what I was referencing. Now that I have really thought about it, I doubt I'll ever say it again.
But this book showed a different side of what happened. I'm no longer convinced these people were brainwashed, that the Peoples Temple was a cult. Look at the world around them when they went to Guyana -- Martin Luther King, Jr., had been murdered. The Kennedy brothers had been assassinated. Malcolm X had been killed. Kent State. Vietnam. It felt like hell had come to Earth, that nothing made sense anymore. Everything was violence and chaos and evil. The members of the Peoples Temple wanted refuge from that. They wanted to create a utopia on Earth where people of all nations and races could live together. They wanted out of the capitalist rat-race.
Perhaps they could have created this utopia, had their leader not been Jim Jones. There is the idea that the amphetamines that he was taking great quantities were contributing to his extreme paranoia, and there is no doubt that his paranoia triggered the White Night that took the lives of 918 in Jonestown. He was able to convince people that this was the only way out, that the fascist government of the US was going to kill them anyhow. Had they not been so isolated in the jungles of Guyana, had they been able to stand up to Jones, perhaps the mass suicide/murders would not have happened.
One quote from page 256 stuck with me, and, when I thought about it, really horrified me. I have been known to use the phrase "they drank the Kool-aid" without stopping to think what I was referencing. Now that I have really thought about it, I doubt I'll ever say it again.
In listening to the survivors describe the events that unfolded those last two days in Jonestown, I am struck: horror, guilt, chaos, and death are the origin of the catchphrase 'They drank the Kool-Aid.' I can't imagine what it's like for Tim Carter and others to hear that phrase freely used in the media or on television or in films. Knowing what I know now, I cringe whenever I hear it. I wonder if the people who use that phrase even know where it comes from. I have a secret wish that everyone in the world could see the pain on Tim's face, in Vern's eyes, or Jean's heart. I wish future generations could see it, too. I believe that if people knew of the human suffering behind that phrase--if they really understood--they would never use that phrase again.
June 9, 2021
This book has really cemented for me how essential primary sources are. I wish everything we were taught about, the first introduction to it was firsthand accounts, complex, personal descriptions. This book was so moving and I learned so much not just about Peoples Temple but what life was like outside of it & around it. It took me a really long time to read this but it's one of the most important things I've ever read.
June 3, 2013
This nonfiction book is based on interviews for a play that was performed in Oakland and various theatres a few years ago. The author felt some of these stories deserved to be told in book form, as well. I agree, this book put names and portraits of the people who survived and did not survive this very sad tragedy. I have never liked/never used the phrase "drinking the koolaide" as I always thought it was insentive and cruel. If you like reading about people,religion, human behavior, this book was very interesting. It covers the tragic events of November 1978, but also explores, more, the lives they lead before the event, and the lives of the survivors after the event. Fans of history of the past 50 years will also want to read about this moment in history captured. The media as usual always puts a twist or spin on things. This story is so much more than what the media gave us.
December 18, 2012
I was lucky to get this one from NetGalley. Leigh Fondakowski has a huge job in front of her: to meet and interview Peoples Temple/Jonestown survivors for a possible play.Some survivors do not want to talk to her. The ones that do talk to Fondakowski share sad painful memories,but open the readers' eyes to what happened in a senseless tragedy. By the time you finish this book, two things will happen:You will never say "Don't drink the Kool-Aid" without realizing that it's not a joke, and you will want to see Fonakowski's play.Beautiful beautiful book.
January 30, 2013
With the phrase "drink the Kool-Aid" part of our lexicon it behooves us to go back and look at where that phrase originated. In Stories from Jonestown by Leigh Fondakowski we learn that it wasn't Kool-Aid, but was, in fact, poisoned Flavor-Aid that was used in the mass suicide/murder of over 900 followers of Jim Jones People's Temple agricultural project in Guyana on November 18, 1978. About half of those who died were children. Included in the 918 people who died were U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan and three journalists who were accompanying Ryan on a fact-finding mission to Guyana.
Jim Jones group began as a Christian church in Indiana. He moved to San Francisco in the 1960s. While the group began as a integrated group who wanted to help the community, it soon changed into a much less altruistic socialist experiment. But this book is not about Jim Jones. It is about the survivors. Some of them still think the Peoples Temple was wonderful, others wonder at their blindness to the warning signs that there were problems and Jones was no longer the man or leader they thought they were following.
There are already numerous accounts written about Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple murder/suicide. In Stories from Jonestown, author Fondakowski focus is on interviewing the survivors. She points out that only they "can truly know what it means to survive a tragedy of this magnitude. These are the stories of the survivors. It is a privilege to tell them." Fondakowski, a playwright, spent over three years interviewing survivors, reviewing documents, and collecting letters trying to compose a complete picture of what happened while gathering material in order to write a play about their experiences. The book is a compilation of the many interviews and stories she collected.
Very Highly Recommended - but not an easy book to read
Since Stories from Jonestown is composed of interviews and materials gathered for Fondakowski's play, "The Peoples Temple," this book does not include extensive research or a complete chronological record into all the details of Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple. Readers who don't have previous knowledge of Jim Jones and what happened in 1978 might want to look into some other works that cover that information. This book is about the survivors, what they remember and how they are handling dealing with those memories. Recommended books by those who know include: A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown by Julia Scheeres; Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People by Tim Reiterman; Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple by Rebecca Moore.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Netgalley for review purposes.
http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
Jim Jones group began as a Christian church in Indiana. He moved to San Francisco in the 1960s. While the group began as a integrated group who wanted to help the community, it soon changed into a much less altruistic socialist experiment. But this book is not about Jim Jones. It is about the survivors. Some of them still think the Peoples Temple was wonderful, others wonder at their blindness to the warning signs that there were problems and Jones was no longer the man or leader they thought they were following.
There are already numerous accounts written about Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple murder/suicide. In Stories from Jonestown, author Fondakowski focus is on interviewing the survivors. She points out that only they "can truly know what it means to survive a tragedy of this magnitude. These are the stories of the survivors. It is a privilege to tell them." Fondakowski, a playwright, spent over three years interviewing survivors, reviewing documents, and collecting letters trying to compose a complete picture of what happened while gathering material in order to write a play about their experiences. The book is a compilation of the many interviews and stories she collected.
Very Highly Recommended - but not an easy book to read
Since Stories from Jonestown is composed of interviews and materials gathered for Fondakowski's play, "The Peoples Temple," this book does not include extensive research or a complete chronological record into all the details of Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple. Readers who don't have previous knowledge of Jim Jones and what happened in 1978 might want to look into some other works that cover that information. This book is about the survivors, what they remember and how they are handling dealing with those memories. Recommended books by those who know include: A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown by Julia Scheeres; Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People by Tim Reiterman; Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple by Rebecca Moore.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Netgalley for review purposes.
http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
April 25, 2013
Sadness...is what I felt most when reading this book. To the point where I would have to put it down for a day or two because it was too much. This is the story of some of the survivors of Jonestown. This is in their own words, in interview format.
It is incredibly informative to gain a better understanding of how many of these people found themselves attached to Peoples Temple, then down to Jonestown, Guyana, and for 918 how they could willingly kill children and others, then themselves.
A few of the many things I drew from this was that 1) Jim Jone's and the Peoples Temple was not a Christian movement. Jone's had an open hostility for the Bible. This movement was a politically progressive, San Francisco politics, racial integration, social justice movement, with the facade of a church. 2) All of those who perished in Jonestown were not just the victims of Jones. Many other people did the killing of others and themselves. Perhaps in the beginning Jones had good motives, but the downfall of him and his followers came because of his paranoia, drug addictions, and lust for power and sex.
Very sad.
It is incredibly informative to gain a better understanding of how many of these people found themselves attached to Peoples Temple, then down to Jonestown, Guyana, and for 918 how they could willingly kill children and others, then themselves.
A few of the many things I drew from this was that 1) Jim Jone's and the Peoples Temple was not a Christian movement. Jone's had an open hostility for the Bible. This movement was a politically progressive, San Francisco politics, racial integration, social justice movement, with the facade of a church. 2) All of those who perished in Jonestown were not just the victims of Jones. Many other people did the killing of others and themselves. Perhaps in the beginning Jones had good motives, but the downfall of him and his followers came because of his paranoia, drug addictions, and lust for power and sex.
Very sad.
December 15, 2013
The method of telling the survivors' stories is disjointed and lacks cohesion; I felt less sympathy for those caught up in the utopian vision of Jones & his minions AFTER reading this book, because the back-and-forth style of interviewing participants over a period of 3 years was pretty doggone annoying. I also grew quite weary of being reminded that the author had already penned the acclaimed okay "The Laramie Project," and was using the material gathered for this book to create a similar piece of theater about Jonestown. If you're going to read a book about The People's Temple, don't start with this one.
September 5, 2015
Fascinating, heartbreaking stories from the survivors of the Peoples Temple tragedy. You will never read or hear the phrase "drink the Kool-Aid" in the same way after reading this book.
May 8, 2019
I can't really put into words the way this book made me feel. Human suffering is of course, vast, and complex. The pain experienced by those linked to the Jonestown massacre is unimaginable. What is imaginable is the pain that lead individuals to become linked to the Peoples Temple- racism, neglect, abuse, domestic violence, addiction, poverty, sexism, and all the miseries humanity knows well.
This book is not primarily about the leader of The Peoples Temple. It is about the ordinary people that sought a better answer to society. The people in Jonestown established, at least temporarily, an egalitarian utopia, with self sustaining agriculture, soap and candle making in the jungle, music, dancing, cooking, teaching everyone to read and write. Taking care of seniors and children.
I still struggle to understand how those that chose to end their lives demanded to take the rest of the community with them. Paranoia and capitalism and manipulation and a grave misunderstanding of immediate danger and reality are certainly part of it. In the face of such a monumental loss, there perhaps is no way to understand.
"The bittersweet gift of grief is that all those things you took for granted, all those things you didn't even know you loved about them are brought back. I am so glad to have a chance to do things differently now. I forget on a daily basis what a blessing that is. And that is the work of life, to remember that."
This book is not primarily about the leader of The Peoples Temple. It is about the ordinary people that sought a better answer to society. The people in Jonestown established, at least temporarily, an egalitarian utopia, with self sustaining agriculture, soap and candle making in the jungle, music, dancing, cooking, teaching everyone to read and write. Taking care of seniors and children.
I still struggle to understand how those that chose to end their lives demanded to take the rest of the community with them. Paranoia and capitalism and manipulation and a grave misunderstanding of immediate danger and reality are certainly part of it. In the face of such a monumental loss, there perhaps is no way to understand.
"The bittersweet gift of grief is that all those things you took for granted, all those things you didn't even know you loved about them are brought back. I am so glad to have a chance to do things differently now. I forget on a daily basis what a blessing that is. And that is the work of life, to remember that."
February 9, 2013
I was only 12 years old when, on November 18, 1978, over 900 people died in northwestern Guyana, in a settlement known as Jonestown. Most of the people who died were members of Peoples Temple, a group founded and led by Jim Jones, who also died in Jonestown on that day, however not from the lethal concoction, but by gunshot. A number of people, including US Congressman Leo Ryan, died during a gunfight that took place at a nearby airstrip.
I remember when the news reports came through, but really didn't understand the situation, or why so many people on such a large scale would take a poisonous drink to end their lives. Over the years since I've read fleeting accounts of the events, have become familiar with the phrase 'they took the Kool-Aid', but have never really taken the time to try to get a grasp or understanding of what happened on that fateful day in 1978.
Fortunately, reading Stories From Jonestown, by Leigh Fondakowski, has helped to change that. Reading this book has helped change my perception that all the people who died willingly followed their leader, James Jones, to their death. I also discovered that there were survivors - some from the Jonestown community who weren't there on that fateful day, as well as some who survived on the ground at the site.
This book, written by Emmy-nominated writer Leigh Fondakowski, who is best known for her work on the play and HBO film The Laramie Project, is well worth taking the time to read. It contains over three years worth of interviews with various people connected with Peoples Temple. Some of these people were ones who were not there on that day, others were ones who had left the Peoples Temple prior to these events. Members of Jones' family, as well as family members of others who died on that day, were also among those who were interviewed.
Fondakowski treats her interviewees with utmost respect. For some, it is still hard to talk about, even as the events fade further into the past. For others, it is all about people knowing what really happened there, and getting beyond much of the sensationalism that still surrounds the happenings of that day. There are also some who just don't want to talk about it and only want to move on and away from it all. Even in the midst of talking about the tragedy, some of those interviewed feel that their time with Peoples Temple and later, Jonestown, were some of the best times of their lives. There's almost a sense from some that if Jones himself hadn't been there in the end that the community could have survived and thrived.
There are obviously things that can be learned from reading a book such as this. One thing is that the situation was a lot more complicated than it seemed at first. Another is that when one seems to have little or no hope in life, it is tempting to follow someone who seems to offer a better and hopeful life, even if in the end what is offered turns out to be false, or even deadly.
The author initially conducted these interviews as research for a play she was involved in writing surrounding the events of the Jonestown tragedy. This play, The People's Temple debuted in 2004, and it is from this that this book came into being. What comes through in many of the stories is that, in spite of the tragedy, there is also a feeling of hope. Although there are some who feel they should have been there to die with the rest of the people, many of the others are grateful for the opportunities of life and hope that have become theirs as a result of their survival.
This book is well worth reading, especially as it helps to bring clarification to one of the biggest tragedies and losses, outside of major conflicts, in the 20th century. It also shows that things are not always what they seem - before reading this book I didn't even realize that there were any survivors. I am glad I was given the opportunity to read this book and heartily recommend it to anyone looking to understand this tragic event from fairly recent history.
(Disclaimer: I received a free ARC copy of this book from NetGalley, but this in no way influenced my opinion or review)
I remember when the news reports came through, but really didn't understand the situation, or why so many people on such a large scale would take a poisonous drink to end their lives. Over the years since I've read fleeting accounts of the events, have become familiar with the phrase 'they took the Kool-Aid', but have never really taken the time to try to get a grasp or understanding of what happened on that fateful day in 1978.
Fortunately, reading Stories From Jonestown, by Leigh Fondakowski, has helped to change that. Reading this book has helped change my perception that all the people who died willingly followed their leader, James Jones, to their death. I also discovered that there were survivors - some from the Jonestown community who weren't there on that fateful day, as well as some who survived on the ground at the site.
This book, written by Emmy-nominated writer Leigh Fondakowski, who is best known for her work on the play and HBO film The Laramie Project, is well worth taking the time to read. It contains over three years worth of interviews with various people connected with Peoples Temple. Some of these people were ones who were not there on that day, others were ones who had left the Peoples Temple prior to these events. Members of Jones' family, as well as family members of others who died on that day, were also among those who were interviewed.
Fondakowski treats her interviewees with utmost respect. For some, it is still hard to talk about, even as the events fade further into the past. For others, it is all about people knowing what really happened there, and getting beyond much of the sensationalism that still surrounds the happenings of that day. There are also some who just don't want to talk about it and only want to move on and away from it all. Even in the midst of talking about the tragedy, some of those interviewed feel that their time with Peoples Temple and later, Jonestown, were some of the best times of their lives. There's almost a sense from some that if Jones himself hadn't been there in the end that the community could have survived and thrived.
There are obviously things that can be learned from reading a book such as this. One thing is that the situation was a lot more complicated than it seemed at first. Another is that when one seems to have little or no hope in life, it is tempting to follow someone who seems to offer a better and hopeful life, even if in the end what is offered turns out to be false, or even deadly.
The author initially conducted these interviews as research for a play she was involved in writing surrounding the events of the Jonestown tragedy. This play, The People's Temple debuted in 2004, and it is from this that this book came into being. What comes through in many of the stories is that, in spite of the tragedy, there is also a feeling of hope. Although there are some who feel they should have been there to die with the rest of the people, many of the others are grateful for the opportunities of life and hope that have become theirs as a result of their survival.
This book is well worth reading, especially as it helps to bring clarification to one of the biggest tragedies and losses, outside of major conflicts, in the 20th century. It also shows that things are not always what they seem - before reading this book I didn't even realize that there were any survivors. I am glad I was given the opportunity to read this book and heartily recommend it to anyone looking to understand this tragic event from fairly recent history.
(Disclaimer: I received a free ARC copy of this book from NetGalley, but this in no way influenced my opinion or review)
July 29, 2014
This book contributed tremendously to my knowledge of the Peoples Temple, Jim Jones, and Jonestown. My knowledge was pretty limited before I read the book. I knew of the mass deaths in Jonestown, I knew that a U.S. congressman was killed there, and of course I knew of the expression "drank the Kool-Aid" and where that came from.
This book consists of oral histories of people affiliated with Jonestown. Some are family members of those who died there, some were actually there on November 18, 1978, and some were back in the U.S. The book stems from histories collected by Leigh Fondakowski and her team while they attempted to create a play about Peoples Temple. The play was a resounding success, and the book exists as an offshoot of that process. The book, therefore, is able to reach a larger audience beyond those who would see the play.
Fondakowski's goal was to humanize those involved; the book does just that. How easily at first glance we can dismiss those involved as "crazy cultists," giving them one giant stereotype. More than 900 people died at Jonestown, and they each had a unique story and unique reasons for being there.
I read this book hoping to get some clues for a project of my own. I'm also trying to tackle a subject that has unanswerable questions as I seek to uncover someone's motive for joining a group that ended up being so dangerous. In that regard, this book was helpful. The people affiliated with Jonestown explain why they got involved, and all of their intentions were good.
Fondakowski does a good job of letting people speak for themselves, though she provides her own context. I wouldn't have minded hearing a bit more of her thought process. I'm sure she wanted to let the people speak for themselves, but I also would have liked to see a little more of her reaction. She does this at times, but it's not consistent. I also sometimes had a hard time remember who was who, because people at the beginning of the book show up again later because they're all so closely connected. A guide at the beginning or end of the book with short descriptions of everyone would have been helpful. If I had read the book more quickly, I perhaps would not have had this problem.
Overall, this book provides so much fresh insight on a topic that rarely is treated with any depth. Some new takeaways that change my thinking about Jonestown:
* It wasn't a "mass suicide." Some people chose death, yes, but not every single person. There's no way to know definitively what happened, but since so many children were involved they clearly could not make the choice to die. The poison was administered to them, making them victims of murder.
* It wasn't Kool-Aid. It was Flavor-Aid. Someone in the book actually still had some of the packets, which is a little morbid and creepy.
I highlighted several parts of the book and will be going back to those to ponder the ideas.
This book consists of oral histories of people affiliated with Jonestown. Some are family members of those who died there, some were actually there on November 18, 1978, and some were back in the U.S. The book stems from histories collected by Leigh Fondakowski and her team while they attempted to create a play about Peoples Temple. The play was a resounding success, and the book exists as an offshoot of that process. The book, therefore, is able to reach a larger audience beyond those who would see the play.
Fondakowski's goal was to humanize those involved; the book does just that. How easily at first glance we can dismiss those involved as "crazy cultists," giving them one giant stereotype. More than 900 people died at Jonestown, and they each had a unique story and unique reasons for being there.
I read this book hoping to get some clues for a project of my own. I'm also trying to tackle a subject that has unanswerable questions as I seek to uncover someone's motive for joining a group that ended up being so dangerous. In that regard, this book was helpful. The people affiliated with Jonestown explain why they got involved, and all of their intentions were good.
Fondakowski does a good job of letting people speak for themselves, though she provides her own context. I wouldn't have minded hearing a bit more of her thought process. I'm sure she wanted to let the people speak for themselves, but I also would have liked to see a little more of her reaction. She does this at times, but it's not consistent. I also sometimes had a hard time remember who was who, because people at the beginning of the book show up again later because they're all so closely connected. A guide at the beginning or end of the book with short descriptions of everyone would have been helpful. If I had read the book more quickly, I perhaps would not have had this problem.
Overall, this book provides so much fresh insight on a topic that rarely is treated with any depth. Some new takeaways that change my thinking about Jonestown:
* It wasn't a "mass suicide." Some people chose death, yes, but not every single person. There's no way to know definitively what happened, but since so many children were involved they clearly could not make the choice to die. The poison was administered to them, making them victims of murder.
* It wasn't Kool-Aid. It was Flavor-Aid. Someone in the book actually still had some of the packets, which is a little morbid and creepy.
I highlighted several parts of the book and will be going back to those to ponder the ideas.
January 21, 2013
First of all I will disclose that I received this book In a goodreads giveaway. That being said, I would've bought this book anyway. This was a fascinating book to me. Jonestown happened before I was born so I was only vaguely familiar with the story, aside from the "drinking the koolaid part". There was a lot more to it than that.
This book is composed of interviews with Jonestown survivors, including two of Jim Jones' sons. Even if you're not interested in Jonestown itself this is an excellent study in how people live with tragedy in their past. I did not realize that there were so many children and babies that died that day, nor did I realize there were so many remains that were unidentified. These interviews really humanized the tragedy and I found the whole subject very thought provoking.
I am now planning on doing some further reading on this subject, because this book really intrigued me. And I always think that is an excellent measure of a book.
This book is composed of interviews with Jonestown survivors, including two of Jim Jones' sons. Even if you're not interested in Jonestown itself this is an excellent study in how people live with tragedy in their past. I did not realize that there were so many children and babies that died that day, nor did I realize there were so many remains that were unidentified. These interviews really humanized the tragedy and I found the whole subject very thought provoking.
I am now planning on doing some further reading on this subject, because this book really intrigued me. And I always think that is an excellent measure of a book.
January 15, 2013
Because the events of Jonestown happened almost ten years before I was born, I really didn't know all that much about it prior to reading this book. Through the numerous interviews and statements from individuals that were there, or had been there previously, it's obvious that there was much more to the story than most people realize.
What was most surprising was that Jonestown was formed with a strong emphasis on community, and with the intention of breaking through racial barriers. It was sometimes difficult to understand while reading how the ideals were lost, and the settlement ended in mass suicide/homicide.
I think the author does a very good job of showing what it was like, and how people were effected decades later. The effort of contacting and convincing the survivors to tell their stories is pretty impressive in it's own right.
I received an advanced copy through Goodreads First Reads.
What was most surprising was that Jonestown was formed with a strong emphasis on community, and with the intention of breaking through racial barriers. It was sometimes difficult to understand while reading how the ideals were lost, and the settlement ended in mass suicide/homicide.
I think the author does a very good job of showing what it was like, and how people were effected decades later. The effort of contacting and convincing the survivors to tell their stories is pretty impressive in it's own right.
I received an advanced copy through Goodreads First Reads.
April 19, 2013
I received an advance copy of this book through Goodreads Giveaways/FirstReads. Unlike many other readers, I knew very little about Jonestown other than that it had been a cult which had resulted in mass suicides. I was interested to learn more. This book will be an excellent primary source for researchers and would make a great documentary but I don't think it's for someone with limited knowledge of the events. I had to learn about it from Internet sources first so that I could put the stories of those involved into perspective. Most of the stories are transcripts of interviews and I found that quite hard going. I'm not an audiobook fan but maybe this would be better in that format, with the actual people telling their own stories. In the end, I found myself flipping through selecting bits that looked interesting but, for me, on the whole it wasn't a satisfying read.
January 8, 2013
The author has assembled several years of interviews, documents and research on the Jonestown suicide/homicide in her work in writing a play. The text consists mainly of interviews with survivors and relatives of the Peoples Temple started and perpetuated by Jim Jones. Many victims were finally able to share their feelings due to the author's sensitivity in approaching them. What struck me was the mixture of anger, rationalization and compassion expressed by those survivors, many of who were directly involved in day to day operations away from the Ghana site of the mass killings. This is a powerful book for its insights into the dreams and gullibility of victims of Jim Jones.
This book was an e-book format obtained from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This book was an e-book format obtained from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
October 22, 2017
I only teared up a little one time.
After expecting gloom and doom, I was surprised by the overall takeaway from this collection of mostly oral histories. I still have a lot of questions surrounding Jonestown. I was blown away that it took 30 years to complete a list of all 918 dead.
Because the writer was working on a play about Peoples Temple, it felt like the interviews were driven towards or certain message... "we are real people, and life goes one. Time doesn't heal everything, but gives us a chance to make new choices every day." etc..
Overall though, an important collection of interviews.
I wish there'd've been at least a couple photos.
After expecting gloom and doom, I was surprised by the overall takeaway from this collection of mostly oral histories. I still have a lot of questions surrounding Jonestown. I was blown away that it took 30 years to complete a list of all 918 dead.
Because the writer was working on a play about Peoples Temple, it felt like the interviews were driven towards or certain message... "we are real people, and life goes one. Time doesn't heal everything, but gives us a chance to make new choices every day." etc..
Overall though, an important collection of interviews.
I wish there'd've been at least a couple photos.
June 25, 2015
After reading Tim Reiterman's book Raven, this was a huge letdown. As another reviewer said, the author got in the way of letting the people tell their stories by injecting her own evaluations. I think this book would have been a million times better as an oral history and wish that she would have let the words speak for themselves more.
If you are interested in the Peoples Temple or Jonestown, you will probably enjoy Raven much more because it is detailed and extremely well written.
If you are interested in the Peoples Temple or Jonestown, you will probably enjoy Raven much more because it is detailed and extremely well written.
June 6, 2013
It would probably have helped a bit to have had a better background on the history of Jonestown. This book covers the history of Jonestown through oral histories of survivors and family, so without knowing the basic history well, it can feel a bit disjointed, but an amazing work and effort in finding and collecting these stories.
May 18, 2013
An intriguing book that presents the many stories and aspects of Jonestown. Helped me to see the appeal of the community and why so many people were dedicated to it and, at the same time, provided some insight as to why it went wrong. Above all, a tribute to the various people of Jonestown who are often just seen as anonymous victims.
March 17, 2018
Heartbreaking but with a glimmer of hope that those who survived have been able to continue on and lead fulfilling lives despite the awful tragedy that befell them. I'd love to see the play that these interviews were done for.
January 29, 2013
If, like me, you grew up in the 70s - or have ever used the term 'drank the Kool-Aid' - you are aware of what happened at Jonestown in Guyana on November 17-18, 1978.
Congressman Leo J. Ryan (D-CA) was on a fact-finding tour, investigating claims that Peoples Temple members were being held against their will. When, on the 17th, several people asked him to help them escape, orders were given to stop the exodus.
On the afternoon of the 18th, as the congressman, his entourage, and several Peoples Temple members were boarding two planes, gunfire erupted at the airstrip. Ryan, three newsmen, and a defector were killed; several more were wounded, some severely.
By the end of the day, 914 people of all races, creeds, and ages lay dead. Some died voluntarily, by their own hand; some with a little ... assistance. And it wasn't only poison that took many of those lives.
But, that is not all there is to know.
More than a thousand people belonged to the Peoples Temple. On the day of the murder/suicide, some were in Georgetown on Temple business. Some had never left California. They are all survivors.
These are their stories.
~*~*~
The book starts with a brief history of Jonestown and of this project. It explains what is known of the time, of the origins of the Peoples Temple, and how Leigh Fondakowski came to be involved in 3-1/2 years of interviewing survivors.
A brief caveat: I received an uncorrected ebook for review. It is, therefore, entirely possible that the final, published product may vary from this version. With that said, this is an incredible book.
As I mentioned, I grew up around this story. I remember the news reports of the shooting at the airstrip. And watched with horror as the stories came in, complete with indescribable images.
We all bought into the 'mass suicide' and 'brainwashed cultists' labels prevalent in the media at the time. It was fascinating and educational, reading the stories of the people who were actually there. To learn why they joined Peoples Temple, what things were like in the beginning, and how life changed for many. If it did.
What struck me most, beyond the memories that it evoked, was the writing. There is an immediacy to the stories - from survivors, members' families, press, politicians, and community leaders - many of which have never been printed before. Time seems to travel backward, taking the reader along.
If you've never heard of Jonestown and the Peoples Temple, or you think you know what it was all about, I strongly recommend you read Stories from Jonestown. These are stories that needed to be told. And deserve to be shared.
~*~*~
About the Author
Leigh Fondakowski was the Head Writer of The Laramie Project and has been a member of Tectonic Theatre Project since 1995. She is an Emmy nominated co-screenwriter for the adaptation of The Laramie Project for HBO, and a co-writer of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later. Her play, The People's Temple, has been performed under her direction at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Theater Company and The Guthrie Theater, and received the Glickman Award for Best New Play in the Bay Area in 2005. Another original play, I Think I Like Girls, premiered at Encore Theater in San Francisco under her direction and was voted one of the top 10 plays of 2002 by The Advocate. Leigh is a 2007 recipient of the NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights and a 2009 Macdowell Colony Fellow. She is a visiting artist and an Imagine Fund fellow at the University of Minnesota, and has recently written a new play about 19th-century American actress Charlotte Cushman.
~*~*~
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary electronic galley of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com professional readers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Congressman Leo J. Ryan (D-CA) was on a fact-finding tour, investigating claims that Peoples Temple members were being held against their will. When, on the 17th, several people asked him to help them escape, orders were given to stop the exodus.
On the afternoon of the 18th, as the congressman, his entourage, and several Peoples Temple members were boarding two planes, gunfire erupted at the airstrip. Ryan, three newsmen, and a defector were killed; several more were wounded, some severely.
By the end of the day, 914 people of all races, creeds, and ages lay dead. Some died voluntarily, by their own hand; some with a little ... assistance. And it wasn't only poison that took many of those lives.
But, that is not all there is to know.
More than a thousand people belonged to the Peoples Temple. On the day of the murder/suicide, some were in Georgetown on Temple business. Some had never left California. They are all survivors.
These are their stories.
~*~*~
The book starts with a brief history of Jonestown and of this project. It explains what is known of the time, of the origins of the Peoples Temple, and how Leigh Fondakowski came to be involved in 3-1/2 years of interviewing survivors.
A brief caveat: I received an uncorrected ebook for review. It is, therefore, entirely possible that the final, published product may vary from this version. With that said, this is an incredible book.
As I mentioned, I grew up around this story. I remember the news reports of the shooting at the airstrip. And watched with horror as the stories came in, complete with indescribable images.
We all bought into the 'mass suicide' and 'brainwashed cultists' labels prevalent in the media at the time. It was fascinating and educational, reading the stories of the people who were actually there. To learn why they joined Peoples Temple, what things were like in the beginning, and how life changed for many. If it did.
What struck me most, beyond the memories that it evoked, was the writing. There is an immediacy to the stories - from survivors, members' families, press, politicians, and community leaders - many of which have never been printed before. Time seems to travel backward, taking the reader along.
If you've never heard of Jonestown and the Peoples Temple, or you think you know what it was all about, I strongly recommend you read Stories from Jonestown. These are stories that needed to be told. And deserve to be shared.
~*~*~
About the Author
Leigh Fondakowski was the Head Writer of The Laramie Project and has been a member of Tectonic Theatre Project since 1995. She is an Emmy nominated co-screenwriter for the adaptation of The Laramie Project for HBO, and a co-writer of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later. Her play, The People's Temple, has been performed under her direction at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Theater Company and The Guthrie Theater, and received the Glickman Award for Best New Play in the Bay Area in 2005. Another original play, I Think I Like Girls, premiered at Encore Theater in San Francisco under her direction and was voted one of the top 10 plays of 2002 by The Advocate. Leigh is a 2007 recipient of the NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights and a 2009 Macdowell Colony Fellow. She is a visiting artist and an Imagine Fund fellow at the University of Minnesota, and has recently written a new play about 19th-century American actress Charlotte Cushman.
~*~*~
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary electronic galley of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com professional readers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
March 18, 2013
I don't think I need to give a history lesson on what happened in Jonestown, Guyana in November, 1978. Most everyone I know either watched the evening news stories as one of the biggest human tragedies unfolded before their eyes or have seen the documentaries and made-for-TV movies. Some have even read a book or two on the subject. We know what happened. Or do we?
Stories from Jonestown is amazing. It is difficult to read but it is absolutely essential if you want to get a sense of what really happened, how, and most importantly, why over 900 members of Peoples Temple died at the order of Jim Jones.
The book chronicles stories of life before, during and after Jonestown, but it is as much a book about the gathering of those stories as it is about the stories themselves. The author got the stories in preparation of writing a play about Peoples Temple and she felt that it was essential to hear from living voices of some of those left behind. And what voices they are. The different perspectives are powerful.
These are the stories of the survivors, those who were spared simply because they were away from Jonestown when the curtain fell. These are the stories of those who were part of the Peoples Temple in San Francisco, some of whom planned to join family and friends in the jungle utopia. These are the stories of the followers who, over time, realized that their haven was nothing more than a crumbling illusion and fled.
This is not speculation. These people don't have to wonder what happened. They know. They were there. They were a part of it. We hear their stories, their experiences. Some of them want the world to know their side of the story. Others are reluctant to become involved but they tell their stories anyway because it is important that they be heard. We hear from Jones' sons. We hear from a man who was unable to stop the deaths of his wife and infant son. From outside of the Temple community, we hear from members of the press who followed and wrote about Jones. We hear from an investigator who works with death row prisoners, one of whom is a former Temple member.
They tell about the good times as well as the bad. They talk about the sense of family and community and belonging. They talk openly about it all falling apart. They talk of the stigma of being labeled as "cult members" even as they grieved their losses and reintegrated into the world.
I think the one interview that struck me the most is this. One survivor, when asked how such a madman could have held such power over so many, responded that everyone wanted something from Jim Jones. If you needed a job, he had something for you to do. If you were afraid that your child would be drawn in by the crime infested neighborhood where you lived, he offered your entire family a safe place. If you were bored by life, he gave you a reason to be. They were, after all, going to change the world.
The book is sad and horrifying but it is also a testament to the human spirit and will to live. Recommended.
Stories from Jonestown is amazing. It is difficult to read but it is absolutely essential if you want to get a sense of what really happened, how, and most importantly, why over 900 members of Peoples Temple died at the order of Jim Jones.
The book chronicles stories of life before, during and after Jonestown, but it is as much a book about the gathering of those stories as it is about the stories themselves. The author got the stories in preparation of writing a play about Peoples Temple and she felt that it was essential to hear from living voices of some of those left behind. And what voices they are. The different perspectives are powerful.
These are the stories of the survivors, those who were spared simply because they were away from Jonestown when the curtain fell. These are the stories of those who were part of the Peoples Temple in San Francisco, some of whom planned to join family and friends in the jungle utopia. These are the stories of the followers who, over time, realized that their haven was nothing more than a crumbling illusion and fled.
This is not speculation. These people don't have to wonder what happened. They know. They were there. They were a part of it. We hear their stories, their experiences. Some of them want the world to know their side of the story. Others are reluctant to become involved but they tell their stories anyway because it is important that they be heard. We hear from Jones' sons. We hear from a man who was unable to stop the deaths of his wife and infant son. From outside of the Temple community, we hear from members of the press who followed and wrote about Jones. We hear from an investigator who works with death row prisoners, one of whom is a former Temple member.
They tell about the good times as well as the bad. They talk about the sense of family and community and belonging. They talk openly about it all falling apart. They talk of the stigma of being labeled as "cult members" even as they grieved their losses and reintegrated into the world.
I think the one interview that struck me the most is this. One survivor, when asked how such a madman could have held such power over so many, responded that everyone wanted something from Jim Jones. If you needed a job, he had something for you to do. If you were afraid that your child would be drawn in by the crime infested neighborhood where you lived, he offered your entire family a safe place. If you were bored by life, he gave you a reason to be. They were, after all, going to change the world.
The book is sad and horrifying but it is also a testament to the human spirit and will to live. Recommended.
January 26, 2013
A NetGalley first reads
The author of this review received an advance copy for an honest review
"Stories From Jonestown," gives a honest look at Jonestown, not just the two days that later defined much of the movement known as People's Temple. In fact, until I read this book I didn't even know People's Temple was a movement, that it had a large African American population. Much of the information came as a surprise, like the community works, that formed much of the People's Temple. I didn't know that some of the Peoples Temple had remained in the States, I thought EVERYONE went.
Fondaowski's mission is to gather the interviews to make a play about Jonestown and the Peoples Temple, to find the human element that defines the truth. She doesn't shy away from the tragic facts anymore than she turns away from the genuine happiness that resulted. The book follows both the interviews and a small amount of the process of writing and the reaction to the performance. You meet the remaining survivors of the closest members, to the family who tried to get their members out.
Fondaowski examines the lives that were lost and those who survived not in a sympathetic manner, but in a stark living portrait, neither sympathetic nor condemning. Revealing through interviews the daily life before and after joining The People's temple, the family that survived outside. How America treated them, what drove, seduced, or drew them to The Peoples Temple. I did not realize until I read this book how much we are still reacting today. Instead of just pity, you feel empathy.
I was born in 1984, six years after the deaths at Jonestown. I grew up in a world where interracial marriage was a given, so much so that most of my family resembles a United Nations meeting. I grew up in a world where "socialist" was a dirty word, which seemed inexplicable after everything I heard about the sixties and seventies. My interest in "Stories From Jonestown" wasn't because it was about the "cult" that formed so many playground stories, but rather how people move on after, how they came to Jonestown, and a curiosity of what it was, what life had been like.
What I found echoed throughout the text is a plea for understanding, to make sense internally and externally the events. As I read I could see myself being drawn to the Peoples Temple, heck I would've jumped right on that Greyhound, not just in that time and that place, but what brought so many educated people, and people from an amazing variety of backgrounds.
I don't just recommend this book to people who read "Without My Daughter" or "Stolen," but everyone. Every American, those born and after. "Stories From Jonestown," is an important text, and I don't say such things lightly. And I hope with all my heart that the "People's Temple," play is filmed and shared with the world.
The author of this review received an advance copy for an honest review
"Stories From Jonestown," gives a honest look at Jonestown, not just the two days that later defined much of the movement known as People's Temple. In fact, until I read this book I didn't even know People's Temple was a movement, that it had a large African American population. Much of the information came as a surprise, like the community works, that formed much of the People's Temple. I didn't know that some of the Peoples Temple had remained in the States, I thought EVERYONE went.
Fondaowski's mission is to gather the interviews to make a play about Jonestown and the Peoples Temple, to find the human element that defines the truth. She doesn't shy away from the tragic facts anymore than she turns away from the genuine happiness that resulted. The book follows both the interviews and a small amount of the process of writing and the reaction to the performance. You meet the remaining survivors of the closest members, to the family who tried to get their members out.
Fondaowski examines the lives that were lost and those who survived not in a sympathetic manner, but in a stark living portrait, neither sympathetic nor condemning. Revealing through interviews the daily life before and after joining The People's temple, the family that survived outside. How America treated them, what drove, seduced, or drew them to The Peoples Temple. I did not realize until I read this book how much we are still reacting today. Instead of just pity, you feel empathy.
I was born in 1984, six years after the deaths at Jonestown. I grew up in a world where interracial marriage was a given, so much so that most of my family resembles a United Nations meeting. I grew up in a world where "socialist" was a dirty word, which seemed inexplicable after everything I heard about the sixties and seventies. My interest in "Stories From Jonestown" wasn't because it was about the "cult" that formed so many playground stories, but rather how people move on after, how they came to Jonestown, and a curiosity of what it was, what life had been like.
What I found echoed throughout the text is a plea for understanding, to make sense internally and externally the events. As I read I could see myself being drawn to the Peoples Temple, heck I would've jumped right on that Greyhound, not just in that time and that place, but what brought so many educated people, and people from an amazing variety of backgrounds.
I don't just recommend this book to people who read "Without My Daughter" or "Stolen," but everyone. Every American, those born and after. "Stories From Jonestown," is an important text, and I don't say such things lightly. And I hope with all my heart that the "People's Temple," play is filmed and shared with the world.
February 10, 2013
I'm fascinated by cults. Being not religious at all, I want to understand the mindset of people who will follow a charismatic leader in a religion that seems really extreme, and which often separates them from their friends and families, as well as their finances. The most notorious of cults to me is Jonestown. This is the Guyana settlement of the Peoples Temple, lead by Jim Jones. It's the place where we get the phrase "drank the Kool-Aid," which is in reference to the suicide (and homicide) of over 900 people by drinking Flavor-Aid full of cyanide. How can you get people to willingly do that to themselves, their families, their friends? I want to understand.
What Fondakowski gives us in this book are the insights of the survivors and family members of those who died at Jonestown. It isn't a straight ahead narration--we already know how Jonestown ends on November 18, 1978. We know that a Congressman is shot and killed right before the group suicide/homicide. Rather, what is great about this book is how much of it consists of verbatim interviews. The Jonestown survivors tell us what happened, and the aftermath, in their own words. Fondakowski does some editorializing, since it would be nearly impossible not to do so. By getting deeply involved with the survivors, she becomes part of the story.
While the narratives put forth are extremely touching, lending humanity to an almost unfathomable tragedy, I did wish from time to time that Fondakowski had tailored the narrative of the book to be more linear. There were times when there was repetition of information given earlier in an interview that readers didn't need recapped again.
I learned a great deal from reading this book. I learned about the joy that some felt in Jonestown, how it was a community where they felt that all races were equal. I learned about some of the atrocities and psychological torture people were subjected to who stepped out of Jones' ideal behaviors. I learned some of the reasons why members joined in the first place, about those who still say they were not brainwashed, and the pain of losing your family. I think this is required reading for anybody curious about Jonestown and the ways that even the most Utopian society can turn sour and deadly.
What Fondakowski gives us in this book are the insights of the survivors and family members of those who died at Jonestown. It isn't a straight ahead narration--we already know how Jonestown ends on November 18, 1978. We know that a Congressman is shot and killed right before the group suicide/homicide. Rather, what is great about this book is how much of it consists of verbatim interviews. The Jonestown survivors tell us what happened, and the aftermath, in their own words. Fondakowski does some editorializing, since it would be nearly impossible not to do so. By getting deeply involved with the survivors, she becomes part of the story.
While the narratives put forth are extremely touching, lending humanity to an almost unfathomable tragedy, I did wish from time to time that Fondakowski had tailored the narrative of the book to be more linear. There were times when there was repetition of information given earlier in an interview that readers didn't need recapped again.
I learned a great deal from reading this book. I learned about the joy that some felt in Jonestown, how it was a community where they felt that all races were equal. I learned about some of the atrocities and psychological torture people were subjected to who stepped out of Jones' ideal behaviors. I learned some of the reasons why members joined in the first place, about those who still say they were not brainwashed, and the pain of losing your family. I think this is required reading for anybody curious about Jonestown and the ways that even the most Utopian society can turn sour and deadly.
January 19, 2015
The stories in this book were doubly powerful for me once I realized how much of this history happened in the Bay Area, to individuals and families who still live and work here, who I could and probably do pass in the street--at the very least--every day.
"This tape changes everything. The images of hope, of happiness, of accomplishment that Tim pointed out on the tape with such pride descend into incredible darkness as innocent people are murdered on the airstrip. I have not until now grasped the true joy of Jonestown: people smiling, working together, both black and white, young and old, the sheer magnitude of what they built. These images would appear to belie the stories of punishment, late-night paranoid diatribes, and pledges to die for the cause, until you watch the end of the tape. Studying this story, it is hard to hold all of this as being born of the same mind, the same body--the intentions of the same group of people" (p. 234).
"'...The things leading up to Jonestown, and then Jonestown as a final straw, in black politics in general, in San Francisco more specifically, created a sense of desperation, a sense of What's the use?--a sense of hopelessness that we haven't come out of yet. The African American community knows that those people were in Jonestown because they wanted to see change, real change...What it brought us to now is still trying to recover in an organized, political way...I mean, you take out almost nine hundred people who would be of the mentoring age now had they lived. They would be the teaching age now. Gone.... Jonestown ripped out the heart of the most progressive community in America'" (the Reverend Arnold Townsend, Fillmore community activist, p. 279).
"This tape changes everything. The images of hope, of happiness, of accomplishment that Tim pointed out on the tape with such pride descend into incredible darkness as innocent people are murdered on the airstrip. I have not until now grasped the true joy of Jonestown: people smiling, working together, both black and white, young and old, the sheer magnitude of what they built. These images would appear to belie the stories of punishment, late-night paranoid diatribes, and pledges to die for the cause, until you watch the end of the tape. Studying this story, it is hard to hold all of this as being born of the same mind, the same body--the intentions of the same group of people" (p. 234).
"'...The things leading up to Jonestown, and then Jonestown as a final straw, in black politics in general, in San Francisco more specifically, created a sense of desperation, a sense of What's the use?--a sense of hopelessness that we haven't come out of yet. The African American community knows that those people were in Jonestown because they wanted to see change, real change...What it brought us to now is still trying to recover in an organized, political way...I mean, you take out almost nine hundred people who would be of the mentoring age now had they lived. They would be the teaching age now. Gone.... Jonestown ripped out the heart of the most progressive community in America'" (the Reverend Arnold Townsend, Fillmore community activist, p. 279).
May 4, 2018
Stories from Jonestown is a unique oral history. I’m used to Studs Terkel type books where the interviews stand alone. The author isn’t a part of the story and the focus is solely on an individual’s story. This book was different in that you also witness the process of research that was completed for a play that was created and staged by the author and collaborators. The book was almost a by-product of that research and set of interviews.
As a writer and editor—I appreciated this take. The author uses research through the California Historical Society and through meeting of survivors and makes a good survey of the information that is out there about this American tragedy. I think this book will serve future generations of scholars as a good place to start. Information about what is maintained by the Historical society—photos, tapes, and items. There is also a cataloguing of sorts of the information left behind—the Temple’s own historian interviewed members before the end about their lives and what drew them to the Temple—and this was included.
One focus of the book is the reluctance of former African-American members and their families to talk. Read this book for their story. I found the interview with Reverend Arnold Townsend who talked about the history of progressivism in Fillmore where the Temple was located especially insightful and sad. He laments the loss of the 900 souls who wanted change and are now no longer around when they would be of a mentoring age. “I’m not a conspiracist,” he said. “But, man, Jonestown ripped out the heart of the most progressive community in America.”
I’ve read other books on Jonestown and in addition to this book I also highly recommend A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown.
As a writer and editor—I appreciated this take. The author uses research through the California Historical Society and through meeting of survivors and makes a good survey of the information that is out there about this American tragedy. I think this book will serve future generations of scholars as a good place to start. Information about what is maintained by the Historical society—photos, tapes, and items. There is also a cataloguing of sorts of the information left behind—the Temple’s own historian interviewed members before the end about their lives and what drew them to the Temple—and this was included.
One focus of the book is the reluctance of former African-American members and their families to talk. Read this book for their story. I found the interview with Reverend Arnold Townsend who talked about the history of progressivism in Fillmore where the Temple was located especially insightful and sad. He laments the loss of the 900 souls who wanted change and are now no longer around when they would be of a mentoring age. “I’m not a conspiracist,” he said. “But, man, Jonestown ripped out the heart of the most progressive community in America.”
I’ve read other books on Jonestown and in addition to this book I also highly recommend A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown.
December 29, 2012
Stories of Jonestown is the story of the author and her colleagues account of the interview and stories they were told while trying to create a play about Jonestown. This is the same group that created the Laramie Project, a play surrounding the events of Matthew Sheppard's death. The book covers a span of several years (2001-2003) and interviews that the team completed with survivors, family members of survivors, and community members.
I first learned of Jonestown in undergraduate Psychology classes. In classes, Jonestown is an example of cults and their charismatic leaders. I have now learned that the majority of what I have learned and is discussed in the popular media mainly covers the events of November 18, 1978.
Through the interviews, the book details the Peoples Temple. It gives a glimpse of the early days and the positive messages that drew people into this movement. I was surprised at how involved the Peoples Temple was in San Francisco politics. This book did paint a more complete picture of the Peoples Temple. The only thing that detracted from the book was that there weren't a large number of interviews completed presented in the book.
I first learned of Jonestown in undergraduate Psychology classes. In classes, Jonestown is an example of cults and their charismatic leaders. I have now learned that the majority of what I have learned and is discussed in the popular media mainly covers the events of November 18, 1978.
Through the interviews, the book details the Peoples Temple. It gives a glimpse of the early days and the positive messages that drew people into this movement. I was surprised at how involved the Peoples Temple was in San Francisco politics. This book did paint a more complete picture of the Peoples Temple. The only thing that detracted from the book was that there weren't a large number of interviews completed presented in the book.
September 25, 2013
I admit it: I've always had a morbid fascination with Jim Jones and the Jonestown saga. I guess it's like that proverbial car accident I just can't look away from. Maybe it's because on some level I've always wondered whether, under the right circumstances, I could have ever been drawn into this kind of a situation. The truth is, until I read this book (one of several I've read on the subject) my answer has always been a resounding "no."
And yet ... this book really made me think, because it's the only one I've read that focuses on the "common members" of Peoples Temple rather than on Jim Jones and the organization itself. My friends don't need to panic, though: my answer is still "no" but after reading this book I no longer categorically dismiss the temple members as largely a group of weak, crazy losers too stupid to not see through Jones. The author does a great job digging into the backstories of enough different temple members (both survivors and "escapees" as well as some who died that terrible day) that I have a totally new viewpoint on how some people ended up with Jones.
But yeah ... I still think it was a cult.
And yet ... this book really made me think, because it's the only one I've read that focuses on the "common members" of Peoples Temple rather than on Jim Jones and the organization itself. My friends don't need to panic, though: my answer is still "no" but after reading this book I no longer categorically dismiss the temple members as largely a group of weak, crazy losers too stupid to not see through Jones. The author does a great job digging into the backstories of enough different temple members (both survivors and "escapees" as well as some who died that terrible day) that I have a totally new viewpoint on how some people ended up with Jones.
But yeah ... I still think it was a cult.
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