The Manson Women and Me

Monsters, Morality, and Murder

By: Nikki Meredith

Narrated by: Andrea Gallo

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 Books

Wanted more substance

This book was really a vehicle for the author to write about her life, connections to the Manson family, and her friendship with Leslie Van Houten. There was some interesting revelations about the family and Van Houten but I wanted more professional analysis of the dynamics and causes. It is a very long book because of the superfluous details included about the authors life. I appreciate her friendship with Van Houten and observations of her character. I’ve thought Van Houten has truly rehabilitated herself and hope she can be paroled. The book was interesting enough to keep me listening but a lot of the authors personal story should have been edited.

Disappointing

This book was not about the Manson women, it was a memoir about the author. The author used first person narrative to relate every aspect of the women’s story, at the expense of enlightening readers on the lives of the women, post cult and in prison. I learned much about the author’s youth, but little else.

Deceptive Title

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.

Seamless weaving

I love the way the author was able to seamlessly weave the similarities of her life with the lives of VanHouten and Krenwinkel. The fact that she went to school with, and shared a similar life to Share, shows that it doesn't matter how "well" someone is raised, everyone should be vigilant about who they allow into their lives. I have always thought Bugliosi's narrative was self serving. Now, knowing what lengths the prosecutors went to continually circumvent the parole process...its an abuse of power.

Reflective, interesting, enjoyable

I noticed that a lot of the other reviewers were commenting on the author’s use of her own personal narrative in a negative way. I actually enjoyed hearing about the author’s life, and how she made connections between her own experiences, and those of the Manson girls experiences. To me, it was not egotistical, in fact, I really enjoyed the book I would say instead of this woman focusing on herself, she was reflecting on her life experiences, and comparing and contrasting those with the lives of Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie van Houten. It is true that the book is not entirely about the Manson girls, But if you look at the title, you notice that it says “the Manson women and ME“ if you are only looking to hear about the Manson girls, granted this book is probably not for you. The author was alive at the same time as the girls, and experiencing historical events that they were also experiencing, and reacting to them in similar (and different) ways, I found the book to be very enjoyable, and the narration charming.

Insightful

She did a great job. This book really made you think and I do agree with her on a lot of her opinions.

A wonderful book even if not interested in case

For once, the title is apt. This story is partly about the Manson girls; partly about the author's relationships with them; and partly an auto-biography of Nikki Meredith (author).

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.

Waste of a credit

Strange story of trying to make the whole thing about the author....don't bother, kept waiting for it to get interesting, sadly it never happened....

The title should be "ME,ME,ME."

This book was more about Ms. Meredith than it was about the the Manson girls, as if Pat and Leslie were an afterthought in the story of HER life. Save your credits.