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Meeting Manson Audiobook By Erik Hedegaard cover art

Meeting Manson

An Uneasy Journey into an All-American Nightmare

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Meeting Manson

By: Erik Hedegaard
Narrated by: Mark Boyett
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About this listen

Once upon a time Rolling Stone contributing editor Erik Hedegaard became the last mainstream media journalist to interview Charles Manson.

But the story he wrote for RS in 2013 didn’t begin to capture the strange and lingering effect Manson would have on his life.

Now, in this Audible Original, you’ll hear about the making of that story, including audio of the phone calls Hedegaard received from Manson on a regular basis, interviews he conducted with Los Angeles District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi, as well as conversations he had with Manson Family members including Bobby Beausoleil, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, and then-Manson-girlfriend Afton Elaine Burton. Hedegaard revisits Manson’s forgotten career as a musician, Rolling Stone’s own history in mythologizing Manson “as the most dangerous man on earth”, and the various theories as to why so many “lost girls” found themselves in Charlie’s web and committed such brutal acts of violence.

But what makes Meeting Manson a remarkably different listen is the pain and vulnerability that Hedegaard reveals after Manson touches him on the arm. Hedegaard bravely explores how he felt both pleased and haunted by the touch of a mass murderer - and how it even changed his life. For a time.

Fifty years after one of the most senseless crime in history, hear one of America’s best storytellers share a Manson narrative unlike any you’ve ever heard before.

©2020 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.
True Crime Scary Thought-Provoking
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Our favorite moments from Meeting Manson

"When Manson first started calling me..."
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"When I saw him in person..."
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"He was his own investigating gumshoe."
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  • Meeting Manson
  • "When Manson first started calling me..."
  • Meeting Manson
  • "When I saw him in person..."
  • Meeting Manson
  • "He was his own investigating gumshoe."

About the Creator

Erik Hedegaard is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and widely viewed to be one of the best magazine profile writers of our time. In addition to RS, his work has been published in Details, Men’s Journal, Outside, and Playboy. This is his first Audible Original.
Rolling Stone: Five decades since its founding, Rolling Stone today has evolved into a multi-platform content brand with unrivalled access and authority, reaching a global audience of over 60 million people per month. Staying true to its mission to tell exceptional stories that illuminate the culture of our times, Rolling Stone is an authority for music reviews, in-depth interviews, hard-hitting political commentary and award-winning journalism across print, digital, mobile, video, social, and events. Operated and published by Penske Media Corporation, Rolling Stone provides "all the news that fits."

About the Performer

Mark Boyett has narrated 225 titles and counting in just about every genre, garnering an Audie Award for In Harm’s Way:The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton and an Earphones Award for 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. He’s the voice of multiple hit audiobook series including including Star Force and Undying Mercenaries by BV Larson, The Black Fleet Trilogy by Joshua Dalzelle, and The Ixan Prophecies by Scott Bartlett.

What listeners say about Meeting Manson

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Personal,Real,Insightful

Firstly, the narrator was excellent. The Authors story includes recordings of his conversations with Manson, over the telephone. It was interesting to hear Manson's voice. They even played a snippet of him playing the guitar and singing one of his songs. At the beginning we are told that the recordings of Manson were not of the highest quality(with reasonable explanation included) however, I was still able to pick up most of what he said, and just replayed the few other instances. I think it's important to note that the rest of the recording is of outstanding quality. I was impressed with the Authors willingness to share how he was personally effected by talking with Manson, and his insightfulness into other members of "The Family" He also spoke with Bulgleosie (Manson's prosecuting lawyer, in which we get to hear over the telephone, as well)Also included are a few telephone recordings of key characters in what happened in that summer of 1969) This isn't an INTERVIEW type of communication either, but rather has the feel of intimacy. The Author doesn't depend on the recordings to carry the experience, rather using them to set the stage. The author was allowed a personal visit with Manson, and had many calls that were not recorded, yet did a FABULOUS job of relating those experiences to us. So far, this is THE BEST of ANY, written or televised, narrative of Charles Manson I've ever experienced. There isn't any Groundbreaking new uncovered information, it isn't that type of book. Yet the other possible motives that have been mentioned over the years, and the Authors understanding of the feel of the country at that time, leads me to conclude it is more closely resembling the truth behind the actions of those people....as much sense as you can make out of senslessness anyway. I highly recommend this.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Meeting manson

I never got bored. this book was interesting and lets the audience get to know Manson a little bit.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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meeting manson

This story was so real. I grew up in Wichita ks home of btk...so killers were freaky, but I had to read their stories I just had to. charlie's voice is so creepy....

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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The genuity of the book.

this story was very well told and gave me a different perspective on the Manson case.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Remarkable

Not just the story of Manson, but also a brave and personal account of Mansons effect on the writer. It is eerily brilliant to possibly get a glimpse into the minds of Manson’s followers by getting a glimpse into the mind of Eric Hedegaard, the writer. Includes actual tapes of Manson speaking. Mesmerizing.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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wow!!

Absolutely riveting from start to finish. I ended up finishing the entire book in one sitting because I just couldn't stop listening.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Searingly Poignant From An Internal Perspective

Hedegaard writes from an emotionally brittle yet reflective distance. His critique of Manson, and his first-hand accounts, is so razor-sharp that your afraid he’ll be cut by his own discoveries. While I was fascinated to watch my perspective of Manson change from an evil icon to a tragic petty human, I was much more engaged by Hedegaard’s in and only partially out journey and then the impact on my own flawed reflections.

This audio is hauntingly compelling. Well researched. Well written. Well narrated. And very well conceived.

Bonus round - I’ll never have shivers again when I accidentally see a picture of Manson with those piercing beady eyes and etched cross on his forehead. Hedegaard made him human. A very scary wretch, but a human wretch nonetheless.

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You must listen.

You must listen to this account of a journalist, the survivor of a difficult life, finding himself in a personal relationship of sorts with Charles Manson while doing research for an article.

If you remember being rocked by the Manson family murders in 1968, you'll get some fascinating new perspective. If you don't remember anything about that time, you'll still be blown away by the depiction of Manson's power and technique. Erik Hedegaard tells us the stunning storyp of how he was affected by his many hours of contact with Manson, and why it had to stop.

Mr. Boyett does a fine job of narrating here, but some of the most chilling sections of this report are the actual recordings of Manson speaking to Hedegaard. I have never been more affected by a first-person account.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Terrible audio quality

The recorded calls between Charles Manson and the author are such poor quality audio that I couldn't understand what Charlie was saying most of the time. Granted, this was probably the best they could do at the time but when I'm listening in the car with lots of background noise, I can't understand a word he's saying. Probably beyond the author's control but it was still frustrating and definitely killed my enjoyment of the book

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Fresh take on an old subject

Insightful, painful, thought-provoking. I’ve read most all of the Charlie books but this one touched me in a way the others have not. It’s more a story of Charlie’s strange reach and his evasions, than of the murders and his insanity. It’s the author’s story and he told it beautifully, in the most vulnerable of ways.

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