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Creepy Crawling: Charles Manson and the Many Lives of America's Most Infamous Family
"Creepy crawling" was the Manson Family's practice of secretly entering someone's home and, without harming anyone, leaving only a trace of evidence that they had been there, some reminder that the sanctity of the private home had been breached. Now, author Jeffrey Melnick reveals just how much the Family creepy crawled their way through Los Angeles in the sixties and then on through American social, political, and cultural life for close to fifty years, firmly lodging themselves in our minds. Even now, it is almost impossible to discuss the sixties, teenage runaways, sexuality, drugs, music, California, and even the concept of family without referencing Manson and his "girls."
Not just another history of Charles Manson, Creepy Crawling explores how the Family weren't so much outsiders but emblematic of the Los Angeles counterculture freak scene, and how Manson worked to connect himself to the mainstream of the time. Ever since they spent two nights killing seven residents of Los Angeles—what we now know as the "Tate-LaBianca murders"—the Manson family has rarely slipped from the American radar for long. From Emma Cline's The Girls to the recent TV show Aquarius, the family continues to find an audience. What is it about Charles Manson and his family that captivates us still? Author Jeffrey Melnick sets out to answer this question in this fascinating and compulsively readable cultural history of the Family and their influence from 1969 to the present.
Not just another history of Charles Manson, Creepy Crawling explores how the Family weren't so much outsiders but emblematic of the Los Angeles counterculture freak scene, and how Manson worked to connect himself to the mainstream of the time. Ever since they spent two nights killing seven residents of Los Angeles—what we now know as the "Tate-LaBianca murders"—the Manson family has rarely slipped from the American radar for long. From Emma Cline's The Girls to the recent TV show Aquarius, the family continues to find an audience. What is it about Charles Manson and his family that captivates us still? Author Jeffrey Melnick sets out to answer this question in this fascinating and compulsively readable cultural history of the Family and their influence from 1969 to the present.
526 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
August 23, 2019
I love the enthusiasm, range, wit, and scholarship Mr. Melnick exhibits in this essential addition to Manson lit. His big question: why, really, has the Manson story continued to "creepy crawl" through and around American culture? His answers are challenging, legitimate, and far from settled. Melnick does an expert job of subjecting traditional interpretations and official stories to serious scrutiny, and, while I notice some reviewers seem to be claiming about his academic style and vocabulary, at no time--no time --was I driven by fatigue and dryness to put the book down (the fact that I've eagerly picked it up every day since it arrived at my door speaks volumes). I know what they mean about such books, but this ain't one of those. Also, it passed a test I expect from all great non-fiction books: it has cost me money by spurring me to buy books, music, and streaming content to supplement my reading adventure. Highly recommended; with Ed Sanders' The Family (discussed at some length herein), the most enlightening book I've read about the phenomenon.
October 19, 2019
This is a very deep dive into Manson's and the Manson Family's influence on everything from pop culture to our national psyche. It is well-researched (and I have a ton of books, articles, and movies to seek out!) and thorough. While the murders and trial have taken up space in my head for years, I had no idea how much influence they have had on everything from music to books and other forms of entertainment.
I will also credit this book and the author for giving me, for the first time, genuine doubt about Bugliosi's prosecutorial motive of "helter skelter." It now seems much more likely to me that it was motivated by attempted revenge upon Terry Melcher for not promoting Manson's musical career. It also gave me (again, for the first time), a sense of sympathy for the women in the Family from a feminist viewpoint. It was interesting to read about activists' efforts to deprogram these women in prison and get them to understand their worth as human beings. Whether it was through manipulation, drugs, what have you, Manson controlled them and forced them to do his bidding in what was a very cult-like atmosphere. I don't dispute that they killed people, of course.
I'm very impressed by anyone who can get me to look at things from a different perspective and get me to change my thoughts on something. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in this topic.
I will also credit this book and the author for giving me, for the first time, genuine doubt about Bugliosi's prosecutorial motive of "helter skelter." It now seems much more likely to me that it was motivated by attempted revenge upon Terry Melcher for not promoting Manson's musical career. It also gave me (again, for the first time), a sense of sympathy for the women in the Family from a feminist viewpoint. It was interesting to read about activists' efforts to deprogram these women in prison and get them to understand their worth as human beings. Whether it was through manipulation, drugs, what have you, Manson controlled them and forced them to do his bidding in what was a very cult-like atmosphere. I don't dispute that they killed people, of course.
I'm very impressed by anyone who can get me to look at things from a different perspective and get me to change my thoughts on something. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in this topic.
July 2, 2018
This look at the Manson family also draws parallels to many other "families" that were running concurrent at the time.
The horror that the Manson family inflicted in a very short period of time has stayed with the American people, still drawing interest and revulsion decades later.
Interesting look into the family. It was one that really made me think about the vulnerability of many of our young folk, and also makes me wonder how soon something like this could happen again.
The horror that the Manson family inflicted in a very short period of time has stayed with the American people, still drawing interest and revulsion decades later.
Interesting look into the family. It was one that really made me think about the vulnerability of many of our young folk, and also makes me wonder how soon something like this could happen again.
May 16, 2019
This cultural history of America's most infamous "family" was pretty fascinating for the first half of the book, but in the later chapters seemed to go into a free-fall with all of its tangents and never really recovered.
August 6, 2018
I agree with the writer that the Manson phenomenon and its implications for the counterculture of the 1960s and the larger society of the time and perhaps for a decade or so afterward did indeed enter the culture. But the Sixties have been over for a long time, and the counterculture is long gone (despite the misguided nostalgia buffs who, for some reason, miss those days). But the Manson event has faded and is now just a bugaboo used by obscure people, mostly musicians and artists, who still think that if they invoke Manson they will somehow shock the larger society. As for the book, it's overblown and the writer uses a lot of jargon. Nevertheless, once in a while, it makes a valid point, so it's not entirely valueless; you just have to wade through a lot of blather to eke the good stuff out.
July 18, 2018
Esoteric. It was like reading a textbook. I think it would be good for an academic setting, like a pop culture class, but I couldn't recommend it to average readers.
August 9, 2022
2 1/2 stars
“The organizing principle of this book you are reading is meant to emphasize that the artistic expressions inspired by Manson, his Family, and their crimes, have often been compelled to engage with the Family’s own dramatic bent.”
Three-quarters of this book isn’t bad; after a lengthy introduction, author Jeffrey Melnick takes us through the Manson Family and the Tate/LaBianca murders as an historical concept, placing them in their time period, and discussing their influence on American society and culture. I found the Terry Melcher parts interesting and informative, and there was enough material in there for me, who has been over this ground time and again, to never be bored.
But the fourth section, which focuses more on Manson’s impact on the art world, is such a scattered mess that it all but obliterated what I’d read before. There is an undue obsession with the David Duchovny NBC procedural Aquarius (a show so cringey on its face that I, an armchair Manson scholar and X-Files fan, didn’t even attempt to watch). Then, he claims “the most important piece of counter cultural Manson art of the late 1980s” is the Helter Stupid album by the band Negativland. Now, that is a lot of qualifiers—it’s like saying “Debbie is the best white, over 40 Snickerdoodle baker on the west side of East Lansing, Michigan”—so I can’t get too mad. But what the fuck is he talking about? How is it important? To whom? In what way? I’ve heard of Negativland, but that’s about it. I don’t know this album. It didn’t change the culture in ANY way. It didn’t change the general worldview of Manson. It didn’t bring him to a greater public consciousness the way, say, Guns N Roses’ cover of “Look At Your Game, Girl” on *their* 1993 album The Spaghetti Incident did. It didn’t become a thing of myth, like the Heart song “Magic Man,” which he says that Ann & Nancy Wilson denied was about Manson in their memoir. (And, by the way, in a book that is endlessly footnoted, where is the footnote for that?) Again, what the fuck is he talking about?
Then it bangs on with a long discussion about Neil Young’s On the Beach album, which has a song Melnick says is Manson influenced, but he can’t quote it here because Young denied him permission. (Haha!) So instead, he spends forever analyzing the symbolism of the album’s cover, which isn’t directly related to Manson at all.
And there’s no mention of my sister’s favorite Manson-related contribution to pop culture: The Ben Stiller Show’s Manson sketch, starring everyone’s current favorite TV lawyer Bob Odenkirk.
The whole back quarter reads like some bloviating college term paper. The first three-quarters are worth a read for Manson completists.
“The organizing principle of this book you are reading is meant to emphasize that the artistic expressions inspired by Manson, his Family, and their crimes, have often been compelled to engage with the Family’s own dramatic bent.”
Three-quarters of this book isn’t bad; after a lengthy introduction, author Jeffrey Melnick takes us through the Manson Family and the Tate/LaBianca murders as an historical concept, placing them in their time period, and discussing their influence on American society and culture. I found the Terry Melcher parts interesting and informative, and there was enough material in there for me, who has been over this ground time and again, to never be bored.
But the fourth section, which focuses more on Manson’s impact on the art world, is such a scattered mess that it all but obliterated what I’d read before. There is an undue obsession with the David Duchovny NBC procedural Aquarius (a show so cringey on its face that I, an armchair Manson scholar and X-Files fan, didn’t even attempt to watch). Then, he claims “the most important piece of counter cultural Manson art of the late 1980s” is the Helter Stupid album by the band Negativland. Now, that is a lot of qualifiers—it’s like saying “Debbie is the best white, over 40 Snickerdoodle baker on the west side of East Lansing, Michigan”—so I can’t get too mad. But what the fuck is he talking about? How is it important? To whom? In what way? I’ve heard of Negativland, but that’s about it. I don’t know this album. It didn’t change the culture in ANY way. It didn’t change the general worldview of Manson. It didn’t bring him to a greater public consciousness the way, say, Guns N Roses’ cover of “Look At Your Game, Girl” on *their* 1993 album The Spaghetti Incident did. It didn’t become a thing of myth, like the Heart song “Magic Man,” which he says that Ann & Nancy Wilson denied was about Manson in their memoir. (And, by the way, in a book that is endlessly footnoted, where is the footnote for that?) Again, what the fuck is he talking about?
Then it bangs on with a long discussion about Neil Young’s On the Beach album, which has a song Melnick says is Manson influenced, but he can’t quote it here because Young denied him permission. (Haha!) So instead, he spends forever analyzing the symbolism of the album’s cover, which isn’t directly related to Manson at all.
And there’s no mention of my sister’s favorite Manson-related contribution to pop culture: The Ben Stiller Show’s Manson sketch, starring everyone’s current favorite TV lawyer Bob Odenkirk.
The whole back quarter reads like some bloviating college term paper. The first three-quarters are worth a read for Manson completists.
Read
August 18, 2018I have read many books about the Manson family, but this fell flat for me. If I was looking for a sociological study about them and the time, this would've definitely fit the bill. But I wasn't looking for that at all.
July 8, 2018
Creepy Crawling: Charles Manson and the Many Lives of America's Most Infamous Family by Jeffrey Melnick is a highly recommended scholarly examination of the after effects of the Manson Family's actions and the lasting impact on culture today.
"'Creepy crawling' was the Manson Family's practice of secretly entering someone's home and, without harming anyone, leaving only a trace of evidence that they had been there, some reminder that the sanctity of the private home had been breached."
August 9 and 10, 2019, will mark fifty years since the Manson Family murders. The sixties counterculture, Manson, and the Tate-LaBianca murders still pervaded pop culture today and can be found in art, music, books, films, etc. Melnick explores why Manson and the girls captured the social, political, and cultural events of the past fifty years and still influences many cultural expressions today. It began with a complicated social revolution started in the sixties and marked the end of the decade with murder. Melnick is not concerned with recounting the horrific crimes. In this work he is more concerned with examining the ongoing presence of Manson and the Family in our current culture.
Melnick also takes some exception to the "cultural script" as an explanation for the actions of the Manson Family as explained by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in his 1974 book Helter Skelter, along with others who wrote about Manson and the girls, like Joan Didion and Todd Gitlin. He feels that Manson became a weapon that was used to tamp down the growth of the sixties counterculture and portray it as a completely negative.
The Manson family wasn't the only communal community bonding together as their own kind of family. The counterculture and freak culture was rising and had a firm foothold in California in both San Fransisco and Los Angeles. It is a complicated amalgamation of a myriad of cultural components that all resulted in the sixties counterculture, where not all the participants were psychotic murderers. Many were runaways, believe in free love, experimented with drugs, expressed themselves musically, and wanted to create their own kind of family.
Certainly Manson dominated his followers and required that they submit to his authority. For many of his followers, escaping from bad homes, Manson's "family" provided some measure of acceptance, but with a weird twist of submission and sexual availability. It has always been disconcerting for me that Manson basically established a patriarchy, lived off the efforts of the women, and expected them to serve and service him.
First it should be noted again that is not a sensationalized true crime account of the murders. This is a well-documented academic examination of the cultural influences of Manson and his family. My review copy contained a plethora of endnotes and a list of works consulted, including print and online, and video documentaries, and websites, and those with which he personally communicated. The final book will contain black and white photos.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Arcade Publishing.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/0...
"'Creepy crawling' was the Manson Family's practice of secretly entering someone's home and, without harming anyone, leaving only a trace of evidence that they had been there, some reminder that the sanctity of the private home had been breached."
August 9 and 10, 2019, will mark fifty years since the Manson Family murders. The sixties counterculture, Manson, and the Tate-LaBianca murders still pervaded pop culture today and can be found in art, music, books, films, etc. Melnick explores why Manson and the girls captured the social, political, and cultural events of the past fifty years and still influences many cultural expressions today. It began with a complicated social revolution started in the sixties and marked the end of the decade with murder. Melnick is not concerned with recounting the horrific crimes. In this work he is more concerned with examining the ongoing presence of Manson and the Family in our current culture.
Melnick also takes some exception to the "cultural script" as an explanation for the actions of the Manson Family as explained by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in his 1974 book Helter Skelter, along with others who wrote about Manson and the girls, like Joan Didion and Todd Gitlin. He feels that Manson became a weapon that was used to tamp down the growth of the sixties counterculture and portray it as a completely negative.
The Manson family wasn't the only communal community bonding together as their own kind of family. The counterculture and freak culture was rising and had a firm foothold in California in both San Fransisco and Los Angeles. It is a complicated amalgamation of a myriad of cultural components that all resulted in the sixties counterculture, where not all the participants were psychotic murderers. Many were runaways, believe in free love, experimented with drugs, expressed themselves musically, and wanted to create their own kind of family.
Certainly Manson dominated his followers and required that they submit to his authority. For many of his followers, escaping from bad homes, Manson's "family" provided some measure of acceptance, but with a weird twist of submission and sexual availability. It has always been disconcerting for me that Manson basically established a patriarchy, lived off the efforts of the women, and expected them to serve and service him.
First it should be noted again that is not a sensationalized true crime account of the murders. This is a well-documented academic examination of the cultural influences of Manson and his family. My review copy contained a plethora of endnotes and a list of works consulted, including print and online, and video documentaries, and websites, and those with which he personally communicated. The final book will contain black and white photos.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Arcade Publishing.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/0...
April 1, 2019
Verdict is not in on this - I can't figure out whether I liked this book or not - I lean toward not liking it. I have no idea how someone can make a valid case for the Manson family making a lasting impact on contemporary culture. I did like the historical aspect of it and the approach from a non "true crime" angle that is all too common.
July 21, 2018
This isn't a biography of Manson or the crimes themselves. The author posits that the Family creepy crawled their way into the American psyche 50 years ago and still haven't left. Analyzes the use of Manson in art, music, fiction, film, etc.
August 28, 2018
Tedious psycho babble
June 2, 2020
Not a creepy crawl, a slog. Needed some good editing and a little more critical distance.
December 11, 2020
By downplaying the sensational and salacious nucleus of the Manson saga, Melnick differentiates his book from most Manson literature in both intent and result. Focusing on the place Manson (both the man himself and the specter of his and his acolytes' actions) has occupied in the cultural landscape, Creepy Crawling contextualizes and demystifies both the crimes of which he was convicted and the mythical pull he continues to exert over the American public.
Handily refuting or qualifying many of the specious assertions made by Vincent Bugliosi in both his prosecution and subsequent book Helter Skelter and which have erroneously come to be uncritically repeated and accepted as fact, Melnick's narrative serves as a casual corrective, a necessary secondary function of a book which mainly concerns itself with stripping its subject of the hoodoo and hyperbole which routinely and somewhat absurdly reduce Manson into a caricature of unmitigated evil.
Melnick refuses to view Manson in a vacuum, comparing his to other communes and cults of the era and explaining exhaustively how someone who is usually written off as a delusional vagrant madman could have infiltrated, however fleetingly, the upper echelons of the Los Angeles elite. Some of the later chapters -- in which Melnick explores works of popular art influenced either directly or indirectly by Manson, his "family," and their crimes -- lack the urgency and authority of those which deal more contemporaneously with Manson (and often offer as much conjecture as fact), but even these longueurs and extrapolations offer insight and illumination into the question of why, half a century later, this particularly gruesome episode continues to haunt.
While Creepy Crawling is of little use as an introduction to either Charles Manson or the Tate-LaBianca murders, it is an essential companion to those which are more commonly cited as canonical, such as those by Ed Sanders, Vincent Bugliosi/Curt Gentry, and (much more recently) Jeff Guinn.
Handily refuting or qualifying many of the specious assertions made by Vincent Bugliosi in both his prosecution and subsequent book Helter Skelter and which have erroneously come to be uncritically repeated and accepted as fact, Melnick's narrative serves as a casual corrective, a necessary secondary function of a book which mainly concerns itself with stripping its subject of the hoodoo and hyperbole which routinely and somewhat absurdly reduce Manson into a caricature of unmitigated evil.
Melnick refuses to view Manson in a vacuum, comparing his to other communes and cults of the era and explaining exhaustively how someone who is usually written off as a delusional vagrant madman could have infiltrated, however fleetingly, the upper echelons of the Los Angeles elite. Some of the later chapters -- in which Melnick explores works of popular art influenced either directly or indirectly by Manson, his "family," and their crimes -- lack the urgency and authority of those which deal more contemporaneously with Manson (and often offer as much conjecture as fact), but even these longueurs and extrapolations offer insight and illumination into the question of why, half a century later, this particularly gruesome episode continues to haunt.
While Creepy Crawling is of little use as an introduction to either Charles Manson or the Tate-LaBianca murders, it is an essential companion to those which are more commonly cited as canonical, such as those by Ed Sanders, Vincent Bugliosi/Curt Gentry, and (much more recently) Jeff Guinn.
October 29, 2018
Only read 27% and just couldn’t do it. With my HSP sensibility I just internalized the violence and sexuality way too much here. As a sociological study, it was nuanced to the point where I felt like I hadn’t done enough homework on the Manson family murders. I also didn’t live through it so I have little frame of reference. I was looking for an interesting sociological bent to the true crime narrative, but I got an overly academic & politicized sociological analysis that almost seemed to justify the perspective of the murderers. I know I may get grilled for that comment and called a plebe. Maybe I am, and I just need to go back and read my emotional literary fiction. I thought I could handle this book because I’ve enjoyed some true crime docuseries and podcasts lately, along with the book About A Body, which is a pretty hard book. I guess I liked the highly personal and sensitive treatment of the material in About A Body, while Creepy Crawling was academic and context-heavy. I felt like I couldn’t cut through the context and the casual mentions of the gruesome crimes and lascivious lifestyles of the subjects. Maybe this book is for you, if you have a thick skin and an analytical mind. I know myself well enough to say that’s not me. Next!
February 25, 2019
Creepy Crawling: Charles Manson and the Many Lives of America's Most Infamous Family by Jeffrey Melnick (Arcade Publishing 2018) (364.1523). Author Jeffrey Melnick revisits the legacy and history of Charles Manson and the Manson Fanily. The book considers the role that history has assigned to Manson the man and how that role was tacitly agreed upon by American society at large. Melnick approaches this material from a remove of fifty years since Manson exploded onto the scene like America's collective bad dream. He was immediately portrayed as a svengali who fed a pack of runaways enough acid to kill at his bidding.
Time has not been kind to Charlie. He died in prison unrepentant and unreformed, but there are still some true believers if not actual Family members out there.
This subject matter may be a blast from the past, but the author fails to plow new ground here. My rating: 7/10, finished 2/21/19.
Time has not been kind to Charlie. He died in prison unrepentant and unreformed, but there are still some true believers if not actual Family members out there.
This subject matter may be a blast from the past, but the author fails to plow new ground here. My rating: 7/10, finished 2/21/19.
April 24, 2019
Ridiculously overwritten and just plain weird at times. The author has some fascinating points and I think it is interesting how many people do use the Manson murders as some sort of touchstone in their lives, similar to the death of JFK or the moonlanding. There was a lot of potential for this book, but unfortunately the author was unable to contain his rather bizarre rambliings. Of course it is hard to take anyone serious that so strenulously made an attempt to liken the Manson family members to people that voted for Trump so early in the book. Perhaps that can be the subject of Melnick's next book. A study on people that cannot seem to get over the fact that Trump won the election and are unable to move on with their lives. As if who the president is actually makes that big a difference in their lives. You still have to get up in the morning, put your clothes on, and face the day no matter who is in office.
January 14, 2022
At times fascinating, at times reaching, and at times just odd, I'm still non-plussed by this book. Melnick's knowledge base and research are both impressive and extensive though the prose is at times overwritten, and dad jokes have nothing on professorial humor. I appreciate the angle he takes--why we still discuss this case 50 years later and how Manson has infiltrated society, both blatantly and more subconsciously. This is post-graduate Mansonology that reads a bit like an oversophisticated Chuck Klosterman on Manson take might. A great addition to the Manson subset in any library, but definitely not the ideal starting point.
October 26, 2024
Sooo..the CIA is selling (secret) porn tapes starring Marilyn Monroe (for big bucks) to an elite few in Washington, D.C..
Really? (Snickers)
And what has that to do with Manson? Nothing. The author just wanted to put her name in the book.
The title should be Name Dropping, as that is really the only thing that happens in this book.
Wavy Gravy, Abbie Hoffman, Linda Ronstadt, Jim Morrison, Mick Jagger, and on and on and on.
I'm surprised that the author didn't say that the Rod Stewart classic Maggie Mae was really about Manson and one of his groupies.
Complete rubbish and an utter waste of time to slog through this babbling book of nonsense.
I'd skip it if I were you.
Really? (Snickers)
And what has that to do with Manson? Nothing. The author just wanted to put her name in the book.
The title should be Name Dropping, as that is really the only thing that happens in this book.
Wavy Gravy, Abbie Hoffman, Linda Ronstadt, Jim Morrison, Mick Jagger, and on and on and on.
I'm surprised that the author didn't say that the Rod Stewart classic Maggie Mae was really about Manson and one of his groupies.
Complete rubbish and an utter waste of time to slog through this babbling book of nonsense.
I'd skip it if I were you.
October 16, 2019
This book reads like a Charles Manson apologetic. Some of the author's assertions that Charlie was just misguided, taken advantage of, etc. seem as though Melnick was starstruck with Manson and his ideas. Some of the ideas were just too far fetched and while this focuses on the social influence that Manson and his followers had on the world and not as much on the crime, this was an interesting read for the fact that knowing someone puts forth these ideas and had it published. This could have been a long essay.
December 25, 2022
I can't say that I can recommend this.
I thought it was going to be more detail on the "creepy crawling", the night time break-ins conducted by the Mason family where they would go into people's houses and move stuff around just to creep people out.
In fact the author redefines "creepy crawling" to be the cultural history of Manson family and how they "crept" their way into the psyche of America and the culture of the 1960s.
As such it is a long and forgettable book based on the conjecture of the author like a student sociology thesis.
I thought it was going to be more detail on the "creepy crawling", the night time break-ins conducted by the Mason family where they would go into people's houses and move stuff around just to creep people out.
In fact the author redefines "creepy crawling" to be the cultural history of Manson family and how they "crept" their way into the psyche of America and the culture of the 1960s.
As such it is a long and forgettable book based on the conjecture of the author like a student sociology thesis.
January 3, 2019
Focus is on the ways narrative is formed and myth sustained. Quite a bit of self-indulgence by the author who relates themes in the Manson family to various contemporary art (runaways, anarchy, society amiss) and art created after the Manson family became well known.
I tended read, skim to the next interesting bit, and repeat.
Definitely not an introductory book - it assumes you know who everyone is.
I tended read, skim to the next interesting bit, and repeat.
Definitely not an introductory book - it assumes you know who everyone is.
September 20, 2023
I thought I would never get through this book. I have read many book on the Tate-LaBianca murders and Charles Manson. And I looked forward to reading this book as I was fascinated by the premise. However, Melnick--and his readers--would have benefited from a better editor. The book could have gotten his theory across in a book less than half as long. And some of his analyses just seem like wacky conjecture cloaked in academic jargon.
June 10, 2022
This is not a conventional true-crime narrative, instead focusing on how the Manson Family influenced (and continue to influence) American culture. Some of it was really interesting (the LA music scene’s reaction, especially producer Terry Melcher) but can also lapse into sociological jargon that had me skimming
November 20, 2024
Firstly, I need to say this book was SO obsessively researched, so much information, and it definitely kicked off a few conversations. The actual read, however, was painful, I could not tell you what I read on the previous page. It was like reading a page of quotes with little story. It's possibly great reading for a Manson enthusiast, but unfortunately, it's not for me.
September 18, 2018
Two stars for Melnick's honesty. It is an exploitation book and he writes it first thing in the introduction. At the anniversary, people will generate news and that would sell some more books than other subjects.
May 20, 2024
A well researched analysis and history of the Manson family phenomena in post 1960s art and culture. A thought provoking discussion of the structure and meaning of family, reflecting on what drives teens and young adults to cults.
October 17, 2025
Oh man, does this book need a good editor! It reads like an academic thesis, and is so bloated with questionably relevant information, I was laughing to myself as I was plowing through. I’d have to say, out of the thousands of books I’ve read in my life, this is truly one of the worst.
October 5, 2018
This was a welcome addition to the cannon.
Really gets into the Family as opposed to just Manson.
Really gets into the Family as opposed to just Manson.
January 8, 2019
Read too much like a university paper. I'm sure many will enjoy this style but I don't.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews