Don't Call It a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM

by Sarah Berman

They draw you in with the promise of empowerment, self-discovery, women helping women. The more secretive those connections are, the more exclusive you feel. Little did you know, you just joined a cult.

Sex trafficking. Self-help coaching. Forced labor. Mentorship. Multilevel marketing. Gaslighting. Investigative journalist Sarah Berman explores the shocking practices of NXIVM, a cult run by Keith Raniere and many enablers. Through the accounts of central NXIVM figures, Berman uncovers how dozens of women seeking creative coaching and networking opportunities instead were blackmailed, literally branded, near-starved, and enslaved. Don't Call It a Cult is a riveting account of NXIVM's rise to power, its ability to evade prosecution for decades, and the investigation that finally revealed its dark secrets to the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Cults, Audiobook, Crime, Religion, Cult Classics

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2021

About the author

Sarah Berman is a journalist and the author of Don’t Call It a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM.

Reviews

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 5 out of 5]

What the Bleep??!! What the Bleep is the name of one of the chapters in Don't Call It a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM but it could also be the name of the book. I was not aware of Keith Raniere and NXIVM, a self-help company that appealed to dreamers with deep pockets. Over 100 women were initiated into Raniere's sadistic world that included slavery, forced labor, punishments, and exploitation. For some women, it also included being branded with a cauterizing pen (and no anesthesia) with Raniere's initials to signify a lifetime commitment to obey Raniere's every request. The women had to film each other being branded.

This true story has many similarities to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Bright, ambitious, successful women recruited other women to join NXIVM. Sara and Clare Bronfman, Seagram heiresses, gave $65 million to NXIVM. Famous celebrities joined Raniere and his team.

Raniere insisted that many women have sex with him, but the women could only have sex with Raniere and noone else. This was the same requirement David Koresh had for the Branch Davidians at Waco. Raniere provided weight requirements for each woman and many had to report their weight daily. He did not allow for birth control because it could increase weight. There were many abortions that his team helped coordinate at local clinics if women became pregnant.

I am horrified, shocked, and mortified. How the Bleep does this even happen??!!

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

My TV viewing is usually minimal, sports and nature, history documentaries in the main. So, I knew little of this cult, case nor of the famous people that were involved. I do remember hearing that Raniere received 120 years as the leader. I do, however, have an interest in cults, or rather the psychology of the people who fully embrace this mindset. I think it's doubly important now, as it is my opinion and many others, that a part of our country is now embracing a cultist mindset, believing things that rational people can truly see as lies.

This book and the reporting on this case was well done and informative. Telling the stories of the people involved brought home how insidious the tactics used brought them slowly into a net from which they found not escape. How Raniere used his supposed magnetic personality to convince each woman they were special to him. Branding them with an iron to mark them, unbelievable that this didn't send them running. It would for me. Unbelievable the extent some will go for power over others, and that so many would allow themselves to become victims.

ARC from Edelweiss

[Alex.andthebooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

Nigdy wcześniej nie słyszałam o tej sprawie, ale audiobook przesłuchałam na raz — przerażajace, że tak zwyrodniały oszust działał bezkarnie przez tak wiele lat.

[Helen Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't Call It A Cult provides a comprehensive overview of the case of Keith Raniere and NXIVM. There is a lot of information packed into this 320 page book. While I’d been following the case on the news, the story is presented in such a way that someone could easily enjoy it even if they didn’t know anything going into it. 

There is a lot of background information provided in order to help set the stage for NXIVM. We get backstories for every person involved, which helps to humanize them and provides just enough information for us to understand just how they could get involved in a cult. Most of us think: I would never join a cult. But sometimes it isn’t quite so black and white, and the insidious underpinnings of an organization such as this one aren’t obvious to everyone. 

Just as there is a lot of backstory for the “cast of characters”, there is also a lot of historical information provided that an information junkie like myself ate right up. For instance, Berman doesn’t just casually mention or even define what a pyramid scheme is. She provides that historical information about the first ever pyramid scheme to be prosecuted. I learned about Holiday Magic, an organization whose crimes went far beyond that ridiculous name.

Don’t Call It A Cult also has a lot of content on the psychology and the thought processes behind Raniere’s teachings. His subtle manipulations are eerie and insidious and oh-so fascinating. Berman dives deep into his teaching on “disintegration”, “suppressive”, and other terms that sent chills down my spine. They are quite simple, yet creepy. The ways that he gradually gaslighted his victims is incredibly subtle and I can completely understand how someone wouldn’t realize what was happening until it was too late...

Berman at times frames the story with her own investigation into NXIVM, which reminds me a little of Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark . I love this approach to telling a true crime story. Let’s not focus on the bad guy, but the reporter/investigator who’s researching them. That said, this angle isn’t continuously presented, possibly because of how much this story differs from that of the Golden State Killer--when he hadn’t been caught by the time of the first publication of that book.  We also don’t get a full picture of who Sara Berman is--is she just a reporter fascinated by cults? Does she have a personal connection to the case? She mentions going to the trial, but was that out of pure professional interest, or was there another reason at play? What drove her to spend two years of her life following this story? Was it just a job for her, or something more? We’re provided with a little more personal connection to Sara Berman towards the end of the book, but I would have liked for that to have been at play throughout.

All in all, this book provides a comprehensive overview of Keith Raniere, NXIVM, and DOS and should be read by any true crime junkie who is fascinated by cults.  

*Thank you to NetGalley and Viking for the ebook to review*

This review appeared first on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/
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[Ellen Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unputdownable and fantastically written. Easily five stars and likely one of the best nonfiction reads of 2021.

"NXIVM was all about teaching people how to be more honest, honorable, forthcoming, and genuine. So nobody ever expected that the leadership were all liars."

Nonfiction written by investigative journalists is pretty consistently at the top of the pack. (See Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, and The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder, among others.)

I also find cults fascinating - I mean, who wouldn't? So I knew just from a glance at the cover of Don't Call it a Cult that I was in for something great.

If you haven't heard of Keith Raniere and / or NXIVM, I'm not going to try to summarize it here, because I can't really. It's an expansive organization that grew across years and continents, and involved everything from leadership seminars and tax evasion, to abuse and slavery. And that's just scratching the surface.

There's really no way for me to write an easy, readable review detailing what you're in for. I think that's why this book felt so necessary to me; a case this complicated and multifaceted is hard to reduce down to a catchy narrative or a quick summary. This story needed to be able to stretch out across over 300 pages, to give voice to Rainere's many victims and dimension to the trauma so many both suffered and inflicted.

It's wonderfully written, both in style and technicality. I love the number of primary sources Sarah Berman was able to include. I also really liked how balanced the narrative was. There were plenty of times when Berman had to drop her 'voice' so to speak, and just let the facts speak for themselves. This would smoothly transition into sections where Berman was an active participant in the story, detailing the intricacies of interviews and fighting paranoia.

It also doesn't ignore the larger context these events happened in. You can't talk about NXIVM and Rainere without also looking at the Weinstein case that crashed into public awareness almost simultaneously, along with the #metoo movement in general. The story itself can't be separated from the wider concepts of consent and compliance, white romanticization of slavery, and our universal psychological need for inclusion.

Don't Call it a Cult isn't a light read, but it's one that feels honest and important. It's not here to shock the reader or exploit the victims, giving the so-called "gory details" with a careful deftness and sensitivity that I appreciated. It's completely compelling without having to be sensationalist.

If you enjoy true crime, cults, or just thoroughly researched, well written nonfiction, Don't Call it a Cult needs to be on your radar.

Quote taken from drc and may appear differently in the final version.
Big thanks to Edelweiss and Steerforth Press for the review copy!

[Julie Ehlers · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever thought that start-ups and cults had a lot in common, you'll feel validated by NXIVM, a shady business with a messianic leader that quickly morphed into a bizarre sex cult with a messianic leader. Don't Call It a Cult provides all the details you could ever need or want on the whole sordid situation. If you still can't get enough, I also recommend the CBC Uncover podcast Escaping NXIVM and the binge-worthy four-part documentary Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult.

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. If you've kept tabs on NXIVM in the news and pop culture, you will still find a huge trove of information here that hasn't been included in a lot of other reporting. And it's not so rudimentary that people who watched THE VOW or other shows won't be bored. I sped through it in a fury.

At first this was the kind of book where you want to tell the person next to you all kinds of little tidbits. But as time passes it becomes more and more overwhelming and more and more focused on such deep trauma and manipulation that it gets too heavy for it. I was, to be honest, relieved when it was over. Huge piles of content warnings for rape, and basically every other thing that can happen to you without consent.

All that said, I still felt like there was so much to dive into that the book didn't address. It would toss out a sentence that would lead me to a ton of questions but then never spend any time with it. There felt like so much more room for deep dives here. The focus is mostly on testimony from the trial itself, with some other supporting documentation and interviews, but even though it's a much fuller picture than any other presented so far I still ended with so many questions and feeling like there were pieces missing that I still didn't understand. I don't know if it was a rush to publish (understandable given the media frenzy) but I would have liked a more deeply reported version of this book that does dive into all those little tangents that tie back to the big story.

This is written in a semi-chronological way, but it does jump around a lot. I suspect readers who already know the basics of NXIVM will have an easier time with it than those who come to it knowing nothing.

[Johann (jobis89) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/4.5 stars. I knew a little about NXIVM but now my eyes have been opened entirely!! This was wild.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

"True freedom in the physical world comes from absolute commitment to a principle with no tolerance for excuses," he wrote. "Only then do we find freedom does not depend on being able to do what we want; it depends on not being able to do what we want yet still experiencing self. Love is only measured through pain. Our ability to feel human pain determines the depth and strength of our love."

--Keith Raniere's word salad for one victim who wanted to leave the secret branding/sex cult inside NXIVM

(His surname is pronounced Ray-NEAR-ee, btw.)

I don't normally put tw's on my reviews but I'm going to talk about sexual abuse and false imprisonment and other crazy shit so, you've been notified.

The sound that you hear is the sound of me obsessed with the NXIVM story, a truly bizarre tale of a Scientology-esque self-help group whose leader is serving 100+ years in prison for child pornography, racketeering, wire fraud, and a bunch of other charges. Forgive me then if I yammer on about it because, frankly, everyone I know is sick of hearing about it (other things people are sick of me talking about: the Friday the 13th series, Dungeons and Dragons, drag queens, Spiderman, fondant.)

You probably remember the headlines about this from a few years ago, the ones about Smallville actress Allison Mack branding women as part of a "slave" cult. I have watched both The Vow on HBO and Seduced on Starz more than once so this book was a no-brainer for me.

The author, Sarah Berman, covered this story for years when she worked for Vice and while the book does recount parts of both documentaries, there's lots of information that was new to me. Catherine Oxenberg's valiant struggle to get her daughter India out, something both documentaries spend a lot of time on, barely gets a mention here. There are so many stories. Too many stories.

Raniere began his career as the creator of an MLM called Consumer's Buyline, that was shut down for being an illegal pyramid scheme. He eventually hooked up with Nancy Salzman, a nurse, practicing hypnotist, and NLP student, and created the organization that ultimately became NXIVM, peddling mealy-mouthed self-help courses to those who could cough up a few thousand dollars per class. Over time, they became popular and attracted a number of mid-level celebrities, although most wouldn't stick around. Most importantly, they attracted the Bronfman sisters, Clare and Sara, two gullible heiresses to the Seagrams' fortune with deep pockets who would fund the group's illegal and/or seriously fucked up activities for over a decade. This includes bribing someone in the Dalai Lama's organization to have him come speak at a NXIVM event.

(I should note here to be fair the Dalai Lama wasn't implicated in this and seemed somewhat skeptical of Raniere. The person who was bribed was fired.)

Much like Scientology, NXIVM students were never "integrated" (their version of Scientology's concept of clear), thus the need to take ever more and more expensive courses. But, if you signed up so many people underneath you, then you could become a coach and take classes for free and theoretically be on a salary track IF your team signed up enough people under them , although very few actually made any profit at this. And thus the MLM aspect, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Here are a few of the other things Raniere either did or had NXIVM do at his behest:

* Bullied their "enemies" with private detectives and harassing phone calls

* Installed spyware on Edgar Bronfman's personal computer (Bronfman, the father of the Clare and Sara, was considered an enemy)

* Buried defectors under a slew of frivolous lawsuits, causing at least one to file bankruptcy

* Conspired to lure at least two former girlfriends who left the group to Mexico under false pretenses in order to have them arrested and imprisoned on false charges

* Kept a young Mexican woman they had lured into the country illegally imprisoned in an empty room for two years with no contact other than her NXIVM handler because she had the audacity to want a boyfriend who wasn't Keith Raniere

* Had intercourse with her underaged sister and took sexually explicit photos of her, thus leading (eventually) to those child pornography charges

* Created a secret women's "empowerment" society within NXIVM. Just hearing about the details of it required the exchange of collateral in the form of sexually explicit pictures, secrets about their family (those who couldn't think of anything were encouraged to make something up, like molestation), the deed to their house, etc. Many, many of these women were coerced into having intercourse with Raniere. And yeah, they were branded with his and Allison Mack's initials (the participants were told various lies about what the symbol meant.)


I don't claim to understand a lot of what his adherents did, but I do understand that once they handed over that collateral (which turned out to be a monthly instead of a one-time thing), they had little to no agency. For instance, when this happened:

After dinner, Mack made another announcement. "As much as I would like this to be just a bonding trip, it's not," she said, according to Nicole. "I have another assignment for you guys....I am going to take a close-up photo of all of your pussies."



(This man is the late singer/comedian, Bishop Bullwinkle. Please stream his music.)

Fast forward, it all comes crashing down. Raniere and several of his top followers are serving time (including that piece of shit, Clare Bronfman.) Others turned state's evidence. Others that should have faced charges didn't (including that other piece of shit, Sara Bronfman.)

Jeez, how do you wrap up a story about this? It's fascinating. Don't join any group that requires nude pictures to be a member. Stay safe out there.

[George Ilsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This group was very active in Vancouver, and traded on the success of certain famous people in the acting field to market their business. Those famous connections also made the downfall of this organization all the more newsworthy when the dark and messy scandal hit the fan.

Like many self-help groups, self-esteem or empowerment workshops, etc. there can be elements of value to the participants and the challenge is knowing when the boundaries are being pushed—too far, in a good way? or in a bad way?

If you've followed this story at all in the news, you probably know most of this book already. Three hundred pages was a bit of a slog. There is such a disconnect between people on the outside and people on the inside of this unfolding drama. For people on the inside, now relating their stories, it becomes tedious and inexplicable why they continued to cooperate. Of course there were people who just took one workshop and said, this is not for me, and they don't feature in the extended narrative. But why did only some people respond to the red flags and say no thanks?

Only those who became the most committed and devoted rode this train to the end of the line. And also, the leaders demanded "collateral" which were confessions or naked pictures that they used as a means of controlling insiders.

On the outside as a reader, in retrospect, it seems like such obvious extortion and crude blackmailing that one wonders how it all went as far as it did.

As often is the case, I was left with the question — how did this leader and his coterie of enablers manage to be so charismatic, so charming, so compelling? To me, on the outside, this question is still unanswered.

The book is well-written but does drag, bogged down with repetitive details about patterns of behaviour that go on and on and are not fun or interesting. There is an emptiness at the centre of this book, and perhaps that —sadly— reflects the subject matter.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am definitely in the minority but I just could not get into this book. That really surprised me since it was such a bizarre real life story and I was especially drawn to it since my kids and I had watched 9 1/2 seasons of Smallville (star Allison Mack was heavily involved in NXIVM). To my surprise, I found it incredibly dull. Another reviewer described it as "unputdownable" but I found it "unpickupable." I kept telling myself to just open it and read one more chapter to get closer to finishing it and being done with it.

Why was it not a hit with me? First off, there's an incredibly long cast of characters who were nearly impossible for me to keep straight. There were so many women who were business partners or financial backers or girlfriends or whatever, and I felt like I needed Cliff notes to remember who she was ever talking about. Secondly, it's incredibly heavy on details. This goes all the way back to the beginnings and tells you everything that happened, starting with Raniere's college days and the start of the company as some sort of MLM company. Thirdly, there are no photographs at all. Berman frequently went to great lengths to describe people, and I found myself hopping out of Kindle to just google them and try to find out what they looked like. It would have been made so much better with copious photographs, news clippings, etc. Lastly, it just read like the world's longest article. It was all terrible stuff that happened to people, and it was just chapter upon chapter of details about it.

Ultimately, this wasn't a book that I enjoyed or would read again. If you want to know the full history of this *sshole and all the awful stuff these people did, then this will definitely give it to you.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book turned out to be very thorough on the subject, which has been bouncing around the news for quite a few years now. It seemed that no matter how much I tried to ignore it at first, it still managed to capture my attention with the more and more bizarre stories that kept coming out. I thought I knew quite a bit for an interested reader, but I found that there was much more to it as I got further into it.

I think most are fairly familiar with the Executive Success Program, which later became NXIUM. When stories started coming out at long last, they were almost afraid to go after the story too hard and make them angry because of the money and power that had been amassed. They were known for suing those who didn’t please them, or running a campaign of harassment. But the more that was found out and then confirmed, about rumors of cult-like behaviors behind the secrecy, and worse, drove it to become a huge story. After a couple of insiders left the group and compared notes, it became clear that there was a serious problem.

For anyone with an interest in this group and what happened, this is an excellent source of information to learn about it. It’s amazing, the amount of details that seemed to have come out at the trial, and all of the craziness that was going on. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Sarah Berman, and the publisher.

[Bonnie G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good piece of true crime writing that takes on specific acts and events and contextualizes them. It lays out the ways in which much of the evil Keith Raniere did, and was sometimes celebrated for, simply reflected larger societal views of women's bodies and men's power. (This is especially true for the bodies of young and pretty women.) I loved that after all the indignities the women suffered, after being denied food and being locked up and denied compensation for work ,the men in their lives were spurred to action only when Raniere branded his initials beside their vulvas. He was essentially pissing on their property. That was the catalyst to end their devotion to NXIVM;, a challenge to men's dominion over their women's vaginas..

This book does a good deal more than The Vow did to explore Raniere's methods for securing power and money and covers more than the wholly sensationalistic elements of this cult. (I am not immune to the excitement of the sensational, and it is here, but I want more too.) Berman also writes about events and practices that are worse than what we saw on The Vow, and that series set the bar pretty high.

Many questions were not answered of course, and I am not sure they can be. Why did people allow this to happen to them? We do come to understand the brainwashing, which is very similar to that employed by Scientology, especially the tools of building up blackmail material. In Scientology that is done within auditing and in NXIVM less through liturgy than through an ongoing series of transactions requiring more damaging info about members and their loved ones simply to move up in the organization. We see that for many (Mark Vicente is the clearest example of this) it was pure vanity -- the desire to be a confidant and advisor to "the smartest man in the world." (Vain and rather dim it must be said of Vincente. Who calls themselves the smartest man in the world, and who believes them?) But for so many of these people their motivations are still as clear as mud. Someone says "tell us your deepest secrets so that if we feel you have moved against us we can blackmail you", actually says that thing, no pretenses and you comply? Who says yes? Are people that desperate to belong? I guess the answer is yes.

In the end this was fascinating and illuminating. It is not perfect, there is too much editorial in several portions and Berman raises certain things, particularly about an underage victim, where she does not have real information to share. I think the book "Going Clear" set the standard for me in covering true crime and cults. This book does not reach that level, in part because, as crazy as this is, it is not as crazy as the rise of Scientology. Still its pretty great, really engrossing, and a good foundation to think about who we are and how we made NXIVM possible.

[Jonelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a slog. I think possibly it is targeted toward people who already know a fair bit about NXIVM and are looking for a really deep dive behind the scenes, but as someone who knew almost nothing about it, I felt that it spent a lot of time on details I didn't care about and almost no time at all on things I did want to know more about. More info about the classes themselves would have been great. I understand that they were meant to appeal to people who wanted to become the best versions of themselves, but what made these classes stand out from all of the other self-help programs out there? What was the "hook" that drew people in so effectively? A lot of time was spent explaining how the classes were actually thinly veiled attempts to program compliance, but what always fascinates me about cults is pinpointing the aspects of them that would appeal to the average person. I think possibly the author herself struggled to understand the appeal, so the book did not really convey this very well. I also wanted to hear more about the "average" NXIVM student. The book focuses heavily on the inner circle but also alludes to the fact that most NXIVM students and coaches believed that Keith Raniere was living a life of celibacy and self-denial, so clearly these people were having a completely different experience of NXIVM. What kept these people coming back? Were they also being brainwashed, but to a lesser extent? Was NXIVM actually benefiting them in some way? And for all the details we get about the NXIVM inner circle, I really wanted a different angle there as well. There are hints that a lot of these women were going through specific circumstances that made them particularly susceptible to the message of NXIVM, but I wanted to hear a lot more about that. I think there has to be more going on there than just, "These actors/financial advisors wanted to be more successful in their careers." And how did we get to Mexico in the prologue?? The book never really circled back to that, so it was super unclear to me what the sequence of events was that led to Raniere hiding out in Mexico. Did NXIVM disband during this time? Did Raniere's entire inner circle follow him down there? The arrest also seemed to be what broke the illusion for Lauren Salzman and possibly Allison Mack, so I would have loved to hear more about that. And what about Barbara Bouchey and Kristin Keeffe? The book mentions that they banded together to take down NXIVM but doesn't really say how.

I do think this is a really interesting and tragic story, but for as long as this book was, I was kind of left with more questions than answers. I'm planning to watch The Vow on HBO because I think seeing footage of some of the videos that are referenced and hearing firsthand accounts may help connect some of the dots for me in a way that this book didn't.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cults gonna cult. No matter how many non-fiction cult explorations I read, I continue to be fascinated by how they start, grow, and continue. Berman seems to have done a meticulous job researching and laying out all of the people and details associated with Nxivm. I appreciated the attention to detail on the criminal investigation and results, but felt this could have been greatly improved with more personal stories to help link the move from fact to fact to fact, especially since it lacked a timeline or a section to help keep all of the major players straight. It reads more like Berman's extensive notes in sentence form rather than a well told narrative of events. Interesting deep dive into a current cult but was left wanting for a more personal connection to people's experiences.

[Erin Entrada Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes when I walk my dog, he does number-two in the grass and there’s this one tiny piece of poop that hangs there for a while before falling. That little piece of crap dangling out of my dog’s butt is worth more than ten Keith Ranieres.

This is a thorough and well-researched work of NF about a child molester, serial abuser, and rapist who claimed to be the smartest man in the world but was actually a piece of human garbage.

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew next to nothing about NXIVM when I picked this book up but I saw the word cult in the title and I had to have it because I’m high key obsessed with anything cult related. I was quite shocked to find out how large NXIVM was and how many high profile celebrities it drew. It always amazes me even more when famous people get involved with things like this, it goes to show that money can’t buy happiness nor can it buy intelligence. The things NXIVM got up to are quite shocking, from sex trafficking to forced labor and just about everything in between. And that they were so high profile makes it even more disgusting that they got away with it for so many years and irreparably harmed so many people. Highly recommend this read if you’re at all interested by cults or true crime in general!

[Aellirenn Czyta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Handel ludźmi. Szantaż. Niewolnictwo seksualne. Kary cielesne. Przemoc psychiczna. A wszystko to za niemałe pieniądze i pod nosem wielu znanych osób.

Nie będę spoilerować, bo może ktoś nie słyszał jeszcze o tej sekcie, ale mnie ten reportaż rozłożył na łopatki. W głowie mi się nie mieści, że takie rzeczy dzieją się w cywilizowanym świecie za przyzwoleniem cywilizowanych ludzi.

Warto poznać tę historię, choćby ze względu na to, że nigdy nie wiadomo, kogo spotkamy na swojej drodze i jak bardzo możemy dać się wkręcić w coś, co na ten moment wydaje się niemożliwe.

[DziwakLiteracki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keith Allan Rainere wzrastał w kochającej rodzinie. Zarówno matka, jak i ojciec, dbali o sprzyjający rozwój swojego syna, zapewniając mu szeroki dostęp do odpowiedniego wykształcenia oraz innych możliwości ułatwiających start w dorosłość. Jednak pomimo starań, Keith już jako dziecko przejawiał silną potrzebę imponowania swojemu otoczeniu; nie był wyjątkowo uzdolniony, nie wybijał się niczym szczególnym na tle rówieśników, nie miał fascynującej osobowości. Przeciwnie – dawni znajomi określają młodego Rainere jako nastolatka dość przeciętnego, sympatycznego i w miarę radosnego, lecz wcale nie niezwykłego, jak lubił o sobie mniemać. I zwłaszcza dzisiaj, z punktu istnienia wszystkich znaczących faktów z jego życia, można śmiało założyć, jakoby ta pozornie nieszkodliwa forma samouwielbienia, stanowiła przyczynę prawdziwych kłopotów i zaburzeń charakteru; niezdrowa chęć bycia akceptowanym, docenionym, uznawanym za autorytet ponad wszelką miarę – w oparciu o fałszywie wykreowany obraz, z zastosowaniem mnogości kłamstw, różnego rodzaju sztuczek manipulacyjnych – pchnęła Keitha Rainere w ramiona przestępstwa.

W pewnych kręgach, Rainere uchodził za młodocianego geniusza, posiadającego IQ na poziomie 240 punktów, biegłego w nauce, predysponowanego do głębokich zmian świata, o naturze na tyle interesującej, by wzbudzała w ludziach rzeczywiste pragnienie modyfikacji własnego systemu wartości. No i faktycznie; sylwetka samozwańczego Einsteina, poruszała i intrygowała. Przez wzgląd na hipnotyczny urok osobisty oraz miłą aparycję, Keith zebrał dookoła siebie całkiem sporą grupę wyznawców, a raczej – wyznawczyń: atrakcyjnych, bogatych, wpływowych kobiet, absolutnie oczarowanych jego charyzmą i przyjaznym usposobieniem.

Już w latach 80. założył spółkę handlową, która wraz z upływem czasu zaczęła przeistaczać się w połączenie biznesu marketingowego z działaniem organizacji o dość niejasnych celach, aż ostatecznie stała się pełnoprawną marką NXIVM (‘’nowe millenium’’), zrzeszającą osoby zainteresowane wykorzystaniem potencjału naturalnych zasobów. Instytucja miała działać na zasadzie piramidy finansowej, zbierając członków opłacających comiesięczne składki w wysokości kilkunastu dolarów i czerpiących z owej machiny konkretne profity; często nie pieniężne, a po prostu rozwojowe. Pierwsze lata bytności NXIVM na rynku, w istocie, były owocne, Rainere zaś – zgodnie z zawartymi umowami – oferował wynagrodzenie i zajmował się prowadzeniem zajęć, seminariów, warsztatów, pomocnych w zdobywaniu wiedzy oraz doświadczenia.

Przynajmniej pozornie; bo w miarę rozrastania ‘firmy’, motywacje jej ‘zarządcy’ robiły się coraz bardziej mroczne i niepokojące. Pod fasadą pięknej moralności dochodziło do licznych nadużyć – począwszy od defraudacji dużych sum pieniędzy, przez kradzież tożsamości, szantaże, nagabywania, dręczenie, skończywszy na przemocy seksualnej i handlu żywym towarem. W obrębie organizacji, noszącej wówczas wszystkie znamiona sekty, powstał nowy twór – tajne stowarzyszenie DOS (,,Pan nad niewolnicami’’) służalczo oddanych Rainere’owi; przeszło sto kobiet zostało ograniczonych, napiętnowanych i przeznaczonych do bezpośredniego zaspokajania potrzeb swojego guru, który głosił - że jego ścieżka duchowa jest nierozerwalnie połączona z czynnościami erotycznymi.

****

Trudno w zasadzie sprecyzować, kiedy w głowie Keitha Rainere narodziło się przeświadczenie o własnej wielkości. Czy stało się to, gdy był jeszcze nastolatkiem, próbującym za wszelką cenę zaimponować swoim rówieśnikom? A może we wczesnym dzieciństwie, kiedy ojciec zwykł nazywać go ,,małym geniuszem’’? Bądź w czasach studenckich, podczas prowadzenia stylu życia pasującego do charakteru poważnego intelektualisty? Tak czy inaczej – w pewnym momencie Rainere uznał, że poza mężczyzny oświeconego, oczytanego, wsłuchanego w wewnętrzne zen, które nakazuje mu zmieniać i naprawiać świat – jest nie tylko całkiem wygodna, ale także magnetyczna; wokół niego pojawiało się mnóstwo kobiet, w oczywisty sposób zafascynowanych nieskazitelną powłoką wykreowaną na potrzeby do pozyskiwania konkretnych korzyści.

Wczytując się w reportaż Sarah Berman, można stopniowo zrozumieć, jak urok osobisty tego człowieka - siła jego perswazji i sugestii – rodzi emocje nierozerwalnie scalone z poczuciem bezpieczeństwa, stabilizacji i miłości. Autorka niezwykle szczegółowo, krok po kroku, przeprowadza czytelnika przez zawiłości struktury metodyki Keitha Rainere od strony czysto logistycznej oraz psychologicznej. A tu warto podkreślić, że oba aspekty, okazały się tak szeroko i tak zaskakująco rozbudowane, że ich zrozumienie – często sprzeczne z zwyczajową logiką, czy rzeczywistym postrzeganiem mechanizmów działań jednostek – było szalenie trudne, niekiedy wręcz zbyt skomplikowane, aby w pełni je pojąć. Berman jednak, jako dziennikarka śledcza, wykazała maksimum profesjonalizmu; jej książka to kawał niepodważalnego, rzetelnego, głęboko analitycznego raportu, będącego najlepszym możliwym przykładem pracy zawodowca. Ilość faktów, mnogość dat, nazwisk, skala różnorakich wykroczeń, przestępstw, nadużyć, niejasności, dziwacznych powiązań, nieoczywistych ciągów przyczynowo skutkowych, zdecydowanie przytłacza i niestety, wcale nie ułatwia lektury samej w sobie.

Sięgając po ,,Nie nazywaj tego kultem’’, musicie być przygotowani na doświadczenie wymagające wyjątkowego skupienia i bieżącego przetwarzania podanych informacji, podsyconego również dozą pewnej empatii. Nie będzie to komfortowe zadanie, wziąwszy pod uwagę ogólny wydźwięk otaczający NXIVM, lecz na pewno warte zachodu. Dociekanie, którego podjęła się Sarah Berman ma ogromny ciężar i równie wielką wartość; otwiera oczy, pobudza do refleksji i przede wszystkim - stanowi przestrogę wobec wzniosłych haseł, skrywających drugie dno.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't Call It a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM by Sarah Berman was utterly fascinating and if you are a fan of true crime, I highly recommend it. I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Ewa Wolniczek and was rather disappointed Berman didn't choose to narrate it herself, but Wolniczek was still fantastic. I don't know if it was the speed I was listening at, but sometimes she seemed to end chapters very abruptly and that was my only complaint about the audio. It could definitely just be a 'me' thing though, and I loved her voice and completely enjoyed listening to it even when that would happen. Going into this I really knew nothing at all about Raniere or NXIVM and this was such an informative read. I feel like I learned a ton about both the cult and the man behind it, and it blows my mind he was able to get away with that crap for so long.

Even though I listened to the audio, I also grabbed a physical copy from the library, and I am really happy I did. Berman helpfully includes a cast of characters list at the beginning of the book, as well as a few photos of various members in the middle. I loved being able to look at the important people from the book in the list and also being able to reference that list when looking at the pictures, so I highly recommend getting a physical copy for that reason. Berman included a short description of who each person was in the list and basically what they were 'known for' having to do with NXIVM and it was so helpful. Don't Call It a Cult is packed full of information about the women of NXIVM and I basically love anything having to do with cults, so I was completely sold on that aspect. This was an addicting read and probably one of the best nonfiction books I have read besides memoirs. I love reading books from investigative journalists and it is clear that Berman really did her research here.

[Jojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don’t Call it a Cult is definitely about a cult. It is so well written, piecing together interviews, paper articles and court testimonies, and turning it into a full breakdown of how this cult developed and transformed over them.
It’s so much information packed into 292 pages, I found myself re-reading parts in an attempt to keep up.
Over all if it’s a non fiction book you’re after, this is the book. If you are intrigued by Scientology, no worries, there are some mentions in here too. And most importantly, if you want to be in the know of the sex cult of the 2000s, well here it is. ENJOY

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will call it a Cult! This is a very well researched book by Sarah Berman about the amount of damage and destruction Keith Raniere caused because he thought he had the right to. It is incredible how many peoples lives he ruined, mostly young women. He lied, stole, cheated, abused, and manipulated anyone to have his needs met.

Most of the women who initially joined NXIVM wanted to make the world a better place and improve themselves. They were not told what that entailed. As the book continues, I could actually feel the pull of the increased coercion on some of the women spoken about. It would start with small things, such as being questioned if you did not like a certain food. This meant something bigger, that you were blocking it b/c of unchallenged ideas or other nonsense. Then it got worse. Weight became a huge issue. Keith would assign goal weights for the women and this lead to many becoming sick and developing eating disorders. He was sleeping with many of the women, but lying about this. If a woman got pregnant, he would force her to have an abortion. Others, he kept promising he was going to have a baby with them. However, he would say they were not ready. If you got cancer, it was because of the bad thoughts you harbored. It was very destructive.

He starts to develop more and more restrictive ideas to make sure the women always listen to him. He has them write damaging things about themselves and tapes them. Then if they did not comply, it was held over their head that this would come out. He is angry at one girl and has her held in a room for 2 years. She was punished for cutting her hair. He starts to have the group identify love with pain. That is really what it is about. So, he now has many NXIVM followers thinking they are doing a service teaching discipline and the ability to endure agony. This leads to the worst where a separate group exists. The women are tied up and branded with his initials with a cauterizing pen that must have been horrifically painful. They are now slaves and some of the women have become so complicit they are doing illegal acts.

Reading this just made me so angry and sad. It is so wrong to take the joy out of someone’s life. Several of the women plead quilty to crimes. However, thankfully Keith Raniere was found quilty on many serious charges such as forced labor, sexual trafficking, exploitation of a child, extortion, and fraud. He feels no remorse. He was given a 120 year prison sentence. I think that at least some justice was done. The only cautionary tale to come from this is to be very careful when your gut tells you things are not right. They probably are not. The book does an excellent job showing how it is easier then many think to get caught up in group thinking and coercion.

Thank you NetGalley, Sarah Berman, and Steerforth Press for a copy of this book.

[Mela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I wouldn't be able to read it if not an audiobook which I could speed up. It was too... tedious. I mean, I didn't know about NXIVM and Keith Raniere, nothing at all. So it was interesting. But I mistook people for other people. Perhaps if I was reading (not listening to) I wouldn't get confused so often.

In other words, it was a good research description of what (and why) really happened in/around NXIVM. It made me think. Yet, I couldn't name even now the names of all those people, save Keith and Sarah. But, perhaps it was my fault, not the book.

Again, if you are interested in the topic, and you want to sort out known and unknown facts - this is the book to do it.

[3-3.5 stars]

[Krystin | TheF*ckingTwist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Blog | Bookstagram

Seriously, this guy?!



Can't say the man didn't have confidence, I guess.


⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 4 stars

[Erin]

DNFed @ 25 %

Maybe I will come back to this book?? I’m interested in the story, but nonfiction is hard to read during the school semester.

[Sabrina Frang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed to read a true crime book to fulfill my online book club's monthly prompt. I read “Don’t Call It a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM” by Sarah Berman. I chose this book because I am fascinated by cults and MLM schemes. I can't handle true crime books about murder or child abuse, so I thought it would be easier to read a true crime book about an infamous cult/MLM scheme. Well...there is child abuse in this book, as well as two mysterious deaths that were ruled as suicides.

I remember hearing about this case back in 2017 when the New York Times did an expose' about a secret society within NXIVM called DOS. I used to watch Smallville and Battlestar Galactica (the reboot tv series) back in the early 2000's, and I was surprised to hear that some of the actresses from those shows were members of NXIVM and/or DOS.

Sarah Berman's book taught me so much about the NXIVM/DOS case that I did not know. It is hard to get through this book at times because of all of the manipulation and abuse that these women suffered, particularly the story of one young woman who was kidnapped and confined to one room for nearly two years. That said, I think this is an important book to read because it is ultimately about how self-help concepts can be weaponized by someone with ill intentions. Raniere was also, among other things, a master at gaslighting, so if you are interested in how people use language and pseudo-psychology to manipulate and control others, you might want to give this book a read.

A couple of people who reviewed this book said that if you have watched the HBO documentary series The Vow, then this book adds nothing new to what you learned from that series (so just a heads up to anyone who has watched The Vow). I have not watched The Vow, but I am tempted to now.

[KotKulturowa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jako, iż obejrzałam już 3 dokumenty o NXIVM, to nic nowego w książce nie znalazłam. Ale dla kogoś, kto pierwszy raz styka się z tematem to może być bardzo ciekawa lektura

[Samantha Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wild read. Before reading this book I had a vague outline of Keith Raniere and NXIVM. I knew of its MLM style, the secret group at the top, the brutal branding of women and its connection to Hollywood through the likes of Allison Mack. This book goes further in depth from the beginnings to the trial. There were so many jaw dropping moments that make me so glad of his indictment. The story of Daniela in particular will sit with me for a long time to come.

Sarah Berman’s investigation is through and engaging. I listened to the audio book and it’s narration kept me hooked. If you would like a good account of this situation this is definitely the book to read.

[JoJo_theDodo]

At quite a few points in this story I couldn’t believe that all these women just followed along and did whatever the leader of this cult wanted them to do. I understand the idea of holding collateral over their heads and the victims being under constant threat, but that collateral was freely given and some of it wasn’t even valid. A lot of ego and entitlement running rampant throughout this cult. The only “victims” I felt sorry for were the underage ones that were even placed in that grooming situation by their own families.

[Alex Gruenenfelder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a disturbing and intense dive into the NXIVM cult. What was introduced first to viewing audiences as a sex cult with B-list celebrities is revealed in its full form. NXIVM was a sexual assault and coercion-driven cult, built on top of a pyramid scheme, and shielded from the law through power, privilege, and money. For those who are survivors of sexual violence or trafficking, this book could prove triggering.

The story of NXIVM is the story of Keith Raniere, a textbook manipulative psychopath from childhood and a career con man. Going unpunished for so long, this book traces his life and his crimes until his unavoidable comeuppance. With the women of NXIVM being largely white and wealthy, and with BDSM and polyamory being more accepted in the present, one on the surface could try to dismiss this case. It is important to acknowledge it, however, precisely because it brings up these important questions for our society. Gaslighting, plural relationships, and consent are all tackled and the audience is left grappling with this window into a cultish mirror of our society.

It is also important to acknowledge that this was not just a small, petty scheme: tens of millions of dollars were thrown at Raniere's scams. The members were not just fringe weirdos: some of them were powerful, and others just hung on the peripherals of privilege through wealth. It was rooted in financial crimes as well as sexual ones, with the victims being both adults and children. It's a really sad true crime saga, with more time spent on legal capers and weaponized psychology than typical violent activity.

The lines of criminal and victim blur in this story. The audience is sucked into what it was to be part of this cult, and in the process is forced to question a wide range of topics that made it possible. True crime readers will enjoy this story, cult lovers will rave about it, and everyday people will find it continuing to gnaw at their brains unceasingly. I recommend it to all three groups.