Manson

The Life and Times of Charles Manson

By: Jeff Guinn

Narrated by: Jim Frangione

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bestselling, authoritative account of the life of Charles Manson, filled with surprising new information and previously unpublished photographs: “A riveting, almost Dickensian narrative…four stars” (People).

More than forty years ago Charles Manson and his mostly female commune killed nine people during thin 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders, among them the pregnant actress Sharon Tate. It was the culmination of a criminal career that author Jeff Guinn traces back to Manson’s childhood. Guinn interviewed Manson’s sister and cousin, neither of whom had ever previously cooperated with an author. Childhood friends, cellmates, and even some members of the Manson family have provided new information about Manson’s life. Guinn has made discoveries about the night of the Tate murders, answering unresolved questions, such as why one person near the scene of the crime was spared.

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

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

Excellent!

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

Good listen, nice background facts

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

Great story

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

listened to it twice!

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

love it

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

8 stars!!!!