Customer Review
- Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 1999Twenty-five years after its initial publication, *Helter Skelter* remains the definitive book about the Manson family and the murders it committed in 1969. There are flaws in the book, for sure: the readers are getting a partial and biased viewpoint, that of the successful prosecuting attorney, who rarely misses a chance to congratulate himself for his triumphant strategies and victorious moments; and some of the historical/cultural interpretation regarding the significance of the Manson family and its historical role is not overly impressive. However, given that Bugliosi worked extremely hard to put together his case and then was indeed triumphant, is it not understandable that he would "crow" just a bit?
In reading this book, I was struck by the apparent incompetence of the Los Angeles Police Department in terms of its handling of evidence, its sloppy and lazy investigative techniques, and its indifference to criminological rigor in dealing with the case generally. Apparently by the time the O.J. Simpson case emerged decades later, their basic *modus operandi* had not improved one iota.
The "Afterword," added in 1994, brings the case up to date, including an interesting recounting of the fates of some of the principals. What's interesting is that some of those involved in the various Manson crimes have apparently matured and demonstrated real remorse for their acts, whereas others have not. In particular, Leslie van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel certainly are not the same persons they were back in 1969-70, and in my opinion, deserve to be paroled sooner or later. On the other hand, Manson himself remains unrepentant and bizarre, and two of his most loyal followers, Squeaky Fromme and Sandra Goode, have remained under Manson's spell all these many years. Squeaky and Sandra now call themselves "Red" and "Blue," respectively, and cloak their bizarre, misanthropic right-wing philosophy in the rhetoric of "deep ecology." This shows how what in many respects is a noble cause, that of "saving the earth," can be used instead as "the last refuge of scoundrels."
For those interested in learning the details of this most grisly and yet fascinating of all recent U.S. murder cases, Bugliosi's book is definitely the place to start.
