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A review by chrysemys
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi
4.0
I was a little hesitant to commit to reading this monster of a book because due to the huge amount of material about Manson et al. that exists in popular culture, a fair amount of which I have consumed (documentary, semi-fictional, probably some true crime podcasts) I thought it might just be redundant, especially since this book must surely have been a primary source for a lot of this material. And yes, to a degree it was. There was, of course, a lot more detail in this book than in derivative works, especially about the investigation and first trial re the Tate-LaBianca murders. A lot of detail. (There was surprisingly little about the Hinman murder. Although it was not Bugliosi's case, it seems more important than it was given airtime for.) The detailed content was quite interesting. I also thought the book might end soon after the end of the trials, but the more recent editions (after 1994) contain an afterword that discusses further crimes committed by the Family (e.g. the assassination attempt on Gerald Ford) as well as updating the reader on the lives of the dramatis personae. However, it doesn't mention Roman Polanski's subsequent crimes and ongoing legal situation. I found this omission a bit troubling. I mean, when I had first learned about the details of the Manson crimes and learned that Tate was married to Polanski, my first thought was "What? The kid-fucker?"
So the book was interesting. In fact, I was able to keep track of the names and identities of all these people much further into the book than I usually can in a long, complex historical narrative. (Eventually it all fell apart for me, though.)
One thing I really, really hated about this book was the way the authors constantly referred to Manson's female followers (and potential followers) as "girls" or "young girls." YUCK!!! Although there were certainly minors in Manson's group, they were teenagers (so not "young" girls) and the individuals who committed the crimes were adults--as argued by Bugliosi himself in one of his closing statements. His nomenclature should have been consistently "women" or "young women" to emphasize that these people were adults who were responsible for their own actions. (Male members were referred to as young men, not boys.) In the 1994 afterword, Bugliosi once refers to the contemporary Atkins, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten as "the Manson girls," even though by then they were in their 40s. I'm very glad we aren't using that kind of gross, dismissive, paternalistic language anymore. At least not in works of nonfiction.
Another thing that was not so great was Bugliosi's Monday morning quarterbacking on the tactics of opposing counsel and his "how do you not agree with me?" attitude toward the judge. Especially in a situation where Bugliosi is telling the story of how he won this huge case (which the reader already knows) this sort of thing came off as unnecessarily smug.
Should there be another edition of this book? Probably not. If there was going to be one, maybe last year would have been the time (50 years since the crimes.) Bugliosi died a few years ago. And although things have happened since 1994 (the deaths of Atkins and Manson, the dispute over Manson's remains, the release of Fromme, the increasing criticism of Polanski, probably a few more things.) Aside from these non-earthshattering developments, not much to discuss. Krenwinkel, Van Houten and Watson are still in prison and because of the notoriety of the crimes, they will almost certainly never be released. Further discussion of this subject (and not just a rehashing) would most likely be an examination of the US criminal justice system.
So the book was interesting. In fact, I was able to keep track of the names and identities of all these people much further into the book than I usually can in a long, complex historical narrative. (Eventually it all fell apart for me, though.)
One thing I really, really hated about this book was the way the authors constantly referred to Manson's female followers (and potential followers) as "girls" or "young girls." YUCK!!! Although there were certainly minors in Manson's group, they were teenagers (so not "young" girls) and the individuals who committed the crimes were adults--as argued by Bugliosi himself in one of his closing statements. His nomenclature should have been consistently "women" or "young women" to emphasize that these people were adults who were responsible for their own actions. (Male members were referred to as young men, not boys.) In the 1994 afterword, Bugliosi once refers to the contemporary Atkins, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten as "the Manson girls," even though by then they were in their 40s. I'm very glad we aren't using that kind of gross, dismissive, paternalistic language anymore. At least not in works of nonfiction.
Another thing that was not so great was Bugliosi's Monday morning quarterbacking on the tactics of opposing counsel and his "how do you not agree with me?" attitude toward the judge. Especially in a situation where Bugliosi is telling the story of how he won this huge case (which the reader already knows) this sort of thing came off as unnecessarily smug.
Should there be another edition of this book? Probably not. If there was going to be one, maybe last year would have been the time (50 years since the crimes.) Bugliosi died a few years ago. And although things have happened since 1994 (the deaths of Atkins and Manson, the dispute over Manson's remains, the release of Fromme, the increasing criticism of Polanski, probably a few more things.) Aside from these non-earthshattering developments, not much to discuss. Krenwinkel, Van Houten and Watson are still in prison and because of the notoriety of the crimes, they will almost certainly never be released. Further discussion of this subject (and not just a rehashing) would most likely be an examination of the US criminal justice system.