
The Manson Women and Me
Monsters, Morality, and Murder
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.00 for first 30 days
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Andrea Gallo
-
By:
-
Nikki Meredith
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 BooksListeners also enjoyed...




















People who viewed this also viewed...




Disappointing
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wanted more substance
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Too much of Author
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Seamless weaving
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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.
Deceptive Title
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Reflective, interesting, enjoyable
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Insightful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The title should be "ME,ME,ME."
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Waste of a credit
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Meredith makes clear from the start that this is going to be personal. And there actually are some legit connections, as she went to high school with two key characters in the Manson saga.
Readers may be confused early on by the Jewish element that Meredith introduces. At that time in the book, it seems odd, and momentarily she lost some credibility with me. Eventually, however, the listener understands that the author's experience with being part German Jew is one of the key aspects of the book. In fact, you could almost say that that is what the book is mainly about.
At times Meredith can get a bit close to that line between 3rd and 4th wave. The "all women are abused" or "victims," stuff. If you're accepting of a certain amount of feminist thinking you'll be fine (or you may love that part), but I certainly could see some listeners getting irritated and perhaps even quitting the book.
Much of the author's personal memories concern her mother, who made sure her daughter knew she was Jewish (well, a little Jewish). To put it bluntly, while her mom certainly has a laudable moral and ethical character, she would not have been fun to be around in real life. However, there are also parts of her Jewish experience which are truly interesting and entertaining.
As for the Manson girls, the writer does not lie when she claims to know them. This isn't just an interview or a short-term project. She visited these girls for years upon years. The insight she is able to give about the real Van Houten and the real Krenwinkel (and to a lesser extent Atkins and even Watson) is rewarding for those engrossed in the case.
As is the case in every book about the subject, there is new information that can be hard to believe given that you haven't read it anywhere else. And as always, parts of the story are told differently. There are some interesting tidbits though which will require further research (at least for me).
The most enjoyable parts of the book were the chapters which covered psychology/psychiatry reports and findings, both concerning the Manson family directly, as well as just attempting to explain how it all came to be.
There is one other negative I just have to mention. Late in the book there is a truly huge error which is shocking to the point that you may hit rewind several times to make sure you heard it. Meredith, while discussing events of the turbulent years of the late 60's and early to mid-70's, states that Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed in Atlanta. Sure, it's one slip up (one that the editors somehow missed as well), but up to that point I was actually wondering why I had never heard of the author before. Even if it was just a mix-up in her brain where she confused the city of his birth (Atlanta) with the city where he was killed (Memphis), just the thought that Meredith might actually not know she was wrong, made me trust her less.
The narrator is totally solid. She has a very interesting and refreshing style.
A wonderful book even if not interested in case
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.