Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Chaos: Charles Manson, the Cia, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill

6 reviews

scubtle's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Rape, and Emotional abuse

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

3.5

An incredibly detailed and interesting look at a moment in history we all know about but don’t really know about. At first I was like uh nice try buddy, this is totally outlandish. And then by the end I was like… okay you got me this seems suspicious! At the very least, this book has further convinced me that police and government agencies are completely inept, at its worst, this book has convinced me that all our government does is violence and then shoddy coverups and then gaslighting. I do feel like he often undermined his own legitimacy by constantly being like “lol I know this feels like a tinfoil hat conspiracy theory!!” He seemed self-conscious about what he was attempting, and I just think he could have just confidently shared everything he learned instead. I also think this was maybe not best experienced via audiobook, I felt very lost on names and threads of ideas almost immediately, I think reading it physically would help at least a little. All in all, I leave this feeling wowed by just how nuts this story is, even beyond the nuts story we already know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Misogyny, Death, Violence, Rape, and Police brutality

miniemay's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

2.0

Look. This is a tough topic. And maybe this just isn’t a book that’s for me. 

I was struck by the writer’s callous descriptions of terrible acts. Did I know going in that this was going to be a difficult read, yes. Did the tone of the book lead me to believe that the author has become numb to the atrocities, immensely so.  I was incredibly disappointed in the way he talked about women especially. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Child death, Murder, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Misogyny, Suicide, and Torture

elfsteel's review against another edition

dark informative tense slow-paced

2.5

this book was really interesting, but it felt like the whole book was building up to a climax that just… never happened. there was no conclusion to speak of, no “here’s what i think happened”, no closure at all. 

lack of a real ending meant the whole book just read like one big infodump, the author telling us all about his work and research without actually weaving a cohesive narrative. 

say what you will about vince bugliosi’s “helter skelter” (which the author does EXTENSIVELY), but at least bugliosi told an actual story with conclusions and an ending, even if his evidence was semi-manufactured and the conclusions politically motivated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Racism, and Racial slurs

slimy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Oh my god. It doesn’t stop. The gas pedal is on the floor. This book has blown my mind. The clearest investigative journalism I’ve read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Gore, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Violence, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Addiction, Child abuse, and Hate crime

linklotz's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious medium-paced

4.5

oh my god i loved it and also by the epilogue i totally understood what o’neill said by falling down conspiracy theories because i certainly did reading what manson said in their interview 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Suicide, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Antisemitism, and Torture

Minor: Pregnancy