Book Recommendations

[DVV]

Same difficulty with the Sanders and Saunders we encounter in the JtR case.

In fact, it's Sanders, like the medical student, and not Saunders, like the doc.
Sanunders was an ugly typo.

What interests me is the different levels of responsability and guilt. And the individual fate of each member.
The period is good too.
Indeed, I was born in August 69.

Must say I can't wait reading Atkins and Tex Watson.
I've seen a TV program showing Tex and the LaBianca daughter talking together. In fact, they became friends.
Poor Tex has become a born-again.
Not sure it's better than Charlie, for what I've seen in Africa.

Amitiés,
David

[Tom_Wescott]

I believe it's Saunders and not Sanunders. Let us know what you think of these books.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[DVV]

Not yet, Tom.
San(u)nders book is already ordered, I'll get it within days, with Atkins and Watson.

I've read that Family member Bruce Davis (one involved in the Shorty Shea murder) had been suspected in the Zodiac case.

Amitiés,
David

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi DVV. Have you read Zodiac/Manson Connection or the controversial 'The Family' by Ed Saunders? I have a VHS that shows the actual unedited crime scene photos. It's a mess.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[DVV]

Hi Tom,

it just happens that I've read Lionel Dahmer a few weeks ago (and truly enjoyed it).
I'm aware of what Manson said, still, a good part of it can only come from him. (In fact, as usual, he has offered various judgements.)
The way the various Family members are portrayed, for example. Manson's contempt for Atkins is genuine and obvious.
His omissions are also most telling (just compare how he comes into details when he is raped, and how he escapes the topic when he rapes...).
More importantly, I take it as an antidote against Bugliosi and his Helter Skelter theory as the motive. It's certainly part of it, but should seriously be balanced. The motive given by Manson/Emmons (an attempt to have Beausoleil released by committing copy-cat murders) is no more outlandish than the Beatles.

But whatever its veracity, as you said, it's a great book.

I've also ordered the book of Susan Atkins and that of Tex Watson. And also that of Sanders.
Mansonology?!

Amitiés,
David

[Tom_Wescott]

Just finished "Manson in his own words as told to Nuel Emmons".
Absolutely fascinating.
Feel like reading it again right now!

I read this 20 years ago. It is a great book, but Manson says it's crap and that much of what he says was edited down for sensationalism or completely left out. You should read the book by Jeffrey Dahmer's father, Lionel. That one is very fascinating.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[c.d.]

I just read "When Pride Still Mattered" by David Maraniss. A biography of the legendary football coach Vince Lombardi. I enjoyed it a lot. Lombardi was a very complex man and had human failings like the rest of us, but at turning losers into winners, he was unequaled. If you are a football fan, I highly recommend it. The description of the famous "ice bowl" game when the Green Bay Packers played the Dallas Cowboys was unbelievable. A game time temperature of 13 degrees below zero with a wind chill temperature of 46 degrees below zero.

c.d.

[DVV]

Just finished "Manson in his own words as told to Nuel Emmons".
Absolutely fascinating.
Feel like reading it again right now!

[Celesta]

I just got an old copy of Betjemen's Victorian & Edwardian London from Old Photographs. It's one of the best purchases I've made on the era. So many classic photos and many I've not seen 'til now.

[DVV]

I'm currently reading "Helter Skelter" by Bugliosi (about the Manson Family) and I really enjoy it.
Of course it's a classic and most of you may have read it already, but for those who haven't, highly recommended.

[Craig]

'Marching Powder' by Rusty Young.

The story of Thomas McFadden, an English drug smuggler, arrested in Bolivia and locked up in San Pedro prison. Its one of the most interesting books I have read and tells some amazing stories about the bizarre and corrupt world inside Bolivias most notorious prison.

[Steve S]

'Rabble in Arms' by Kenneth Roberts,about the 1777 Saratoga campaign....I don't read too much modern fiction................

[DVV]

Anything signed Mo Hayder, from "Birdman" to "Skin" (haven't read this one yet, but I'm sure it's excellent).

[Suzi]

'Cell' Stephen King

[c.d.]

Just finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It won the Pulitzer prize in 2007 I believe. 2,120 reviews on amazon.com with 233 of those being one star reviews. It is a very simplistic book in terms of plot and language. Set in post-apocolyptic times. What happened is never really explained although it would seem to be a nuclear war. Very repetitive and strange punctuation. As I was reading it, I kept switching back and forth between "this is really good" and "huh?" In the end, I did like it but I can see that not everybody will feel the same way.

c.d.