The Manson Women and Me

Monsters, Morality, and Murder

By: Nikki Meredith

Narrated by: Andrea Gallo

Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

In the summer of 1969, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel carried out horrific acts of butchery on the orders of the charismatic cult leader Charles Manson. At their murder trial the following year, lead prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi described the two so-called Manson Women as "human monsters". But to anyone who knew them growing up, they were bright, promising girls, seemingly incapable of such an unfathomable crime.

Award-winning journalist Nikki Meredith began visiting Van Houten and Krenwinkel in prison to discover how they had changed during their incarceration. The more Meredith got to know them, the more she was lured into a deeper dilemma: What compels "normal" people to do unspeakable things?

The author's relationship with her subjects provides a chilling lens through which we gain insight into a particular kind of woman capable of a particular kind of brutality. Through their stories, Nikki Meredith takes listeners on a dark journey into the very heart of evil.

©2018 Nikki Meredith (P)2018 Recorded Books

Seamless weaving

I love the way the author was able to seamlessly weave the similarities of her life with the lives of VanHouten and Krenwinkel. The fact that she went to school with, and shared a similar life to Share, shows that it doesn't matter how "well" someone is raised, everyone should be vigilant about who they allow into their lives. I have always thought Bugliosi's narrative was self serving. Now, knowing what lengths the prosecutors went to continually circumvent the parole process...its an abuse of power.

Wanted more substance

This book was really a vehicle for the author to write about her life, connections to the Manson family, and her friendship with Leslie Van Houten. There was some interesting revelations about the family and Van Houten but I wanted more professional analysis of the dynamics and causes. It is a very long book because of the superfluous details included about the authors life. I appreciate her friendship with Van Houten and observations of her character. I’ve thought Van Houten has truly rehabilitated herself and hope she can be paroled. The book was interesting enough to keep me listening but a lot of the authors personal story should have been edited.

Reflective, interesting, enjoyable

I noticed that a lot of the other reviewers were commenting on the author’s use of her own personal narrative in a negative way. I actually enjoyed hearing about the author’s life, and how she made connections between her own experiences, and those of the Manson girls experiences. To me, it was not egotistical, in fact, I really enjoyed the book I would say instead of this woman focusing on herself, she was reflecting on her life experiences, and comparing and contrasting those with the lives of Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie van Houten. It is true that the book is not entirely about the Manson girls, But if you look at the title, you notice that it says “the Manson women and ME“ if you are only looking to hear about the Manson girls, granted this book is probably not for you. The author was alive at the same time as the girls, and experiencing historical events that they were also experiencing, and reacting to them in similar (and different) ways, I found the book to be very enjoyable, and the narration charming.

Insightful

She did a great job. This book really made you think and I do agree with her on a lot of her opinions.

Deceptive Title

This book was much more about the author than the Manson Women. Also, the author came across as a very unlikable and judgmental character in her story. Especially, with later encounters with Krenwinkle and James Whitehouse.

Disappointing

This book was not about the Manson women, it was a memoir about the author. The author used first person narrative to relate every aspect of the women’s story, at the expense of enlightening readers on the lives of the women, post cult and in prison. I learned much about the author’s youth, but little else.

The title should be "ME,ME,ME."

This book was more about Ms. Meredith than it was about the the Manson girls, as if Pat and Leslie were an afterthought in the story of HER life. Save your credits.

Waste of a credit

Strange story of trying to make the whole thing about the author....don't bother, kept waiting for it to get interesting, sadly it never happened....