There is nothing new in this book. It contains no independent reporting at all; merely a rehashing of Helter Skelter and the Family. It exists so the author can make money off the Manson crimes, which is just as offensive in my eyes as the killers themselves doing so. Laws prevent them from doing so, nothing prevents this book from appearing.

This book does offer interesting information about how the Manson Family traveled through and lived in the desert areas. It also contains some great information about how law enforcement viewed the Family at the time. However, the reader gets tired of the writing style and repetitive nature of the narrative. If you are interested in the Manson case, you should have this piece in your collection simply because of the unique look at this period in the evolution of the Manson Family.

This short but informative book tells the story from the point of view of the author, a former superintendant of Death Valley National Monument (now DVNP), who was involved in the investigation of the Manson family in the park and its environs during late 1969 and 1970. Descriptions of the land and accounts of drives along backroads are quite thrilling, especially the trip through Goler Wash, which is always something of a challenge even to experienced 4-wheelers. My own visit to the Barker Ranch, where the gang holed up, was memorable because of the still-maintained bizarre shrine to Charlie and his followers; the ranch has a creepy feel to it and I am in no hurry to go back. The Manson story has probably done more to enhance the desert's reputation as a haven for those on the margins of conventional society than any other single event in the last fifty years; of course this bad reputation is undeserved and everyone I do run into in DVNP is pleasant and there for recreation. If you have a suitably equipped vehicle you can travel many of the roads and visit the places mentioned but I don't recommend the book for reading by flashlight in your tent; I think you would have a sleepless night.

Don't attempt to try to track down Garbage People. It has been released under "Manson: The Unholy Trail of Charlie and the Family by John Gilmore, Ron Kenner".

Save your money. Don't bother with this book. See my review of "Manson: The unholy trail" for more information.

I suppose a fascination with this kind of thing tends to brand one as a sicko, but I'll wear that label with pride, as I am unlikely to shrug it off. One of the better books around on Charlie and those famous family values that so fatally skewered the peace and love generation, though scattered with some strange errors. Written by an outsider to the case, unlike such offerings as Helter Skelter and is a rather more distanced and unsensationalized read as a result. The photos supplied by our author are certainly grisly, and are a further sobering reminder of just how unglamourous such violence is. Not for the squeamish, but then would you be here if you were?

I did not care for this book. It contained more speculation than fact, and it contained many discrepencies. There are better books written about the Tate-LaBianca murders. The only good thing that I can say is that it has some good pictures, but thanks to the internet, these can be found anywhere.

I'm not sure how anyone could ever dismiss Ed Sanders' "The Family," a detailed account of Charles Manson and the murders his Family committed during the summer of Woodstock, 1969. A superb companion book to Vincent Bugliosi's "Helter Skelter," Sanders' "The Family" is an alternative trip through the madness that defines one of the most infamous and horrifying crimes in American history.

While "Helter Skelter" is a factual, by-the-numbers recount, "The Family" is an attempt to get beneath the surface of these unimaginable crimes. Sanders, a pseudo hippie himself, well-versed in the howling of beatnik eras and the twang of Bob Dylan travels, had unparalleled leeway into the lives of Manson's followers before and during the criminal trials of 1970. He hung with the waifs at Spahn ranch before it burned to the ground. He camped with these very weird kids in Death Valley. And he caught wind of the numerous crazy rumors that floated around like so much LA smog while writing alongside the army of TV/print reporters covering the trial. His work is valid, and his opinions cut through much of the myth and legend of this case. It is also the first true book ever released on this case, having been published in 1971.

Sanders' flippant disregard for Manson's con, and the con of his worshipers, is refreshing. His style reminds me of the extraordinary ruminations of Evan S. Connell in "Son of the Morning Star" - a fantastic work dealing with another rather bloody historical event (Custer and Little Big Horn). Sanders refuses to accept the myth or the legend, and reveals the dirty, flea-bitten truth. His is an unconventional, creative approach, told from the eyes of a most intelligent mind.

But I still find much of Sanders' work to be extremely irresponsible. He recounts many of the urban myths surrounding this crime, including Manson's supposed alliances with Satanic cults, weird mysterious videotapes existing (yet disappearing) that reportedly show eventual victims with the Family, filmed sacrifices, CIA involvement, political connections stretching all the way to Washington D.C., and so on add nausea give me a break.

The Manson trial was a circus, and the conspiracy theories that spewed forth rivaled the theories surrounding yet another 1960s crime known as the JFK assassination. These were horrible times in American history, California Dreaming or not, and the simple fact of the matter is that Charles Manson and his family lived a counterculture lifestyle that was hip with middle class and upper-middle class culture during this era. They hung, ever-so-briefly, with the young in-crowd of Hollywood. But when the constant use of psychedelic drugs, combined with the unique isolation of Spahn ranch, began to take hold, Manson and his family entered a deadly alternative world having no touch with reality. The in-crowd slams the door in their face, the hope for rock and roll superstardom disappears, Manson becomes God, it's time to strike back at the rich and powerful piggies. It's such a sad and ugly story.

Sanders perhaps gets closer to the truth than any writer ever truly has with these crimes. It's all here, urban myths, unsolved crimes in the same neighborhood, animal bones, dirty laundry, uneducated white trash motivation spawned by years of institutionalization. It's Group Think at its worst formed by the hangover of one endless lost summer weekend.

"The Family" is my third book to read on Manson's pathetic crimes. I find it telling that after reading Sanders' influential work, I realize I now know all I ever really want to know.

If you can get past Sanders' incredibly annoying writing style, his obvious biases and his wild speculations, this is the most complete narrative ever written about the Manson family. It's certainly far better than that self-glorifying novel Helter Skelter.

This book is pure garbage, not only in content but in form and style. And clearly, the author is extremely biased towards Van Houten. I know this IS a BOOK REVIEW, but I feel compelled to express my opinion about the subject matter. Leslie Van Houten made conscious and sane decisions back in 1969. One of those decisions was to join the Manson family. Another was to participate in the murders of the LaBiancas. Whether she stabbed Mrs LaBianca after she was already dead or not is moot. As for her reform in prison, SO WHAT. She should feel lucky she avoided the Death Penalty. I hope that she never, ever gets out. And as for the author of this "book", and her clear affiliation and sympathy for this cold blooded murderer, shame on you.

Writing a biography of a personal friend must be a very tricky business. Karlene Faith met famous Manson murderess Leslie Van Houten almost thirty years ago, and has proven an effective advocate for her eventual release. The relationship between the teacher and the reformed cult member is touching and very real, but it undermines this book as a chronicle of a criminal's transformation from delusional disciple to remorseful, decent soul.

Rather than focus on Van Houten's thoughts and feelings during her three decades behind bars, Faith uses the book as an apologia and rationalization for the prisoner's choices and behavior when a very young woman. The author seems to have only a vague realization of the monstrousness of the crimes committed, and lays the blame squarely on the mastermind, exonerating her subject and casting her as a victim in the same mold as those who lost their lives. Van Houten herself seems to have a clearer view of her own culpability, and it would have been interesting to hear more about this from her own mouth.

The book does cast a disturbing light on the inequity and gross politicization of the justice system. Van Houten's crimes, and her admitted participation in them, should allow for the imposition of a true life term, and so far the system seems intent on doing so. It's shocking to read, then, that all of the other prisoners on death row with Van Houten when the death penalty was suspended were released from prison within a few years. It seems that when no one is watching, the justice system plays by some very inept and unfair rules. Certainly Van Houten poses no further threat to society, while the prison system routinely ejects predators with murderous histories and no sign of reformation.

Though thick with pages full of psychobabble and research into cult psychology, there are enough anecdotes in the book to humanize the subject and make it an interesting read. Van Houten does come across as an obvious candidate for legitimate parole. But Karelene Faith's blind approach to this polarizing subject may be the last thing Van Houten needs.

This is criminologist Karlene Faith's argument for granting parole to "Manson Girl" Leslie Van Houten. If that possibility is repugnant to you under all circumstances, then there's no point in reading either the book or this review. One thing's for certain, though. This work does not, on its merits, warrant the kind of invective being spewed at it on this web page.

Faith, a friend of Van Houten's for many years, unapologetically advocates for her release. She uses this vehicle to make her case. There's nothing sinister or particularly unusual about doing so, by the way. So, the relevant questions become, first,whether her position has merit; and second, whether it's well written.

On the first point, an objective observer could reasonably be persuaded. Van Houten has spent over 30 years in prison and
appears to be, by all accounts, contrite about her crime,
emotionally sound (to the extent possible), and wholly
rehabilitated. There seems to be no rational argument for her being a continuing threat to society.

And she is eligible, under the law, for parole. So the issue is, in a society that purports to consider rehabilitation, and not just retribution, as one of the legitimate objectives of its criminal justice system, why wouldn't Van Houten be given the
rare opportunity to try and re-assimilate into free society?
It's certainly a thought provoking idea that stays with the reader for a while. Even among those of us familiar with the horrendous details of the crimes who might not have, before, seriously considered the propriety of freeing one of the people convicted of participating in them.

On the second question, the book moves quickly and keeps the reader's interest. It is obviously well researched. It would be easy to criticize the author for trying to do too much, skipping around a bit and giving short shrift to a number of relevant or (perhaps) irrelevant subjects. Her fervent efforts to emphasize the "cult" influence of Manson on Van Houten and consequently place blame primarily with him will put off some readers as minimizing the horror of the crimes or Van Houten's role in them. Also, her attempts to analyze legal issues and the motives of participants in purely social science terms strike me, as a lawyer, as indicative of a failure to really understand the adversary system or even as naive.

Parenthetically, it is impressive that Van Houten is able to inspire this level of friendship, over this period of time, in Faith.

This book offers a unique slant on a subject that still fascinates a nation. On balance, it is a good read, and wholly worthwhile.

There are many more worthy books on the Manson case out there then this one. I patiently waited for publication, and was hugely disapointed in the whole book. It is an excellent music history but as far as anything on Manson goes it is just the same old same old...full of factual errors that even someone new to the case would spot...

Save your money and either borrow a friends copy (if they're unlucky enough to have purchased it) or borrow it from the library where I am sure no one will steal it as they have all the good books on Manson...

The Lyman Family account is mostly fiction. In an anniversary book Rolling Stone magazine compiled a few years ago, the author relates how his desk was piled high with drugs so that he could finally start writing. What I find fascinating, however, is Mel Lyman's compassion for David Felton. It's the wise man humoring the fool. And if you read the whole article between the lines you can learn a lot. Rather than spend a lot on a beat-up old paperback, though, you could try microfilms of Rolling Stone at your library, I believe it's issues 99 and 100 or thereabouts for the original two-part report. Mel Lyman is one of the most fascinating men of the 20th Century.

This is a very short book that is intended for children. Serious students of this case will NOT be interested. Very over-priced.