Charles Manson Coming Down Fast: A Chilling Biography by Simon WellsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
There are so many books about Manson out there, it is refreshing to read one that is so recent yet high quality. Wells, despite all the Briticisms made more odd to this American ear by narrator Peter Curran (for instance, giving Geraldo Rivera a soft "g", etc.), treads a line on the Helter Skelter issue. Were the slayings an attempt to start a race war, or mislead police and free Bobby Beausoleil in the aftermath of failed drug deal? Wells allows for both with more emphasis on the drug deal swirling in the preludes of Gary Hinman and Lotsapoppa. This feels closer to the truth to me from my other reading. Wells leaves intriguing bread crumbs about possible LaBianca mafia connections without getting into gambling debts so much and the possibility of a Manson hit list around Manson notes separated from him at the scene of the rest without also suggesting too much about broader conspiracy. I wonder if the web of coincidence and conspiracy will ever be untangled. From Manson's institutionalization and potpourri of philosophy out of Scientology and The Process church, Wells charts the influence of the Beatles album by album, the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson, and more.
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