About this title: HELTER SKELTER is an exhaustive account of Charles Manson's crimes, as well as the investigation and trial that led to his conviction. The story is told in the affable voice of Vincent Bugliosi, Manson's prosecutor. Bugliosi provides information on a host of characters involved in the crimes--from the wealthy and glamorous victims to the hippie ...
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780553574357ISBN:0553574353
Description: Acceptable. Considerable shelf wear and tear. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam
Date Published: 1975
Description: Good. HELTER SKELTER by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry. Bantam, 1975. Binding: Mass Market PaperbackDust Jacket: . NOTES: Fifth printing. Showing some exterior wear/creasing, overall clean and tight with no owner markings. Images available upon request. Please email us with any questions. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam
Date Published: 1975
Description: Good- HELTER SKELTER by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry. Bantam, 1975. Binding: Mass Market PaperbackDust Jacket: . NOTES: Later printing. Showing some exterior wear/creasing, closed tear on front cover, overall clean and tight with no owner markings. Images available upon request. Please email us with any questions. read more
Edition: Reprint. 34th pr. 1975 Bantam edition.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: A Bantam Book
Date Published: 1976
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Considerable wear to covers. Page edges soiled, foxed. Age-toning. Single spine crease. 676 p. Includes illustrations. 64-page photographic (B&W) record. True Crime. Beginning August 9 and 10, 1969, seven people were shot, stabbed, bludgeoned to death in Los Angeles. Charles Manson and his "family" of killers were tried and convicted. Bugliosi was the District Attorney who prosecuted the case. ISBN 0553122229 not recognized as correct by this program. read more
Edition: REPRINT
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books, United States of America
Date Published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780553022223ISBN:0553022229
Description: Photos & Drawings. Good. No Jacket. Good. No Jacket 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. HELTER SKELTER is an exhaustive account of Charles Manson's crimes, as well as the investigation and trial that led to his conviction. The story is told in the affable voice of Vincent Bugliosi, Manson's prosecutor. Bugliosi provides information on a host of characters involved in the crimes--from the wealthy and glamorous victims to the hippie-cult perpetrators, along with Hell's Angels, cowboys, Scientologists, and ... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 1994-11
ISBN-13:9780393087000ISBN:039308700X
Description: Good. 1974 1st edition. Binding is a little loose. Small slit in front hinge. No DJ. Has some light edge and corner wear. Text is clean, bright and unmarked. We recommend EXPEDITED MAIL for even faster delivery! Careful packaging and fast shipping. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Fine. 0393322238 NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black ink mark on outside edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Description: Used: Good. Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi With Curt Gentry, Published by Bantam Books 1975, Paperback 13th Printing-Showing some exterior wear/creasing, previous owner signature on endpaper, otherwise contents are clean with no other owner markings. Images available upon request. Please email us with any questions. read more
Edition: Seventh Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, New York
Date Published: 1974
ISBN-13:9780393087000ISBN:039308700X
Description: Fair in Poor jacket. Non Fiction. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. This is one of the most scary books available. The writing is so wonderful, that you start looking at your neighbors to see if they may be the next Charles Manson! This is a must read for anyone who loves reading about real criminals and deranged people. The book is in good shape. The binding is tight. The spine has a crease nearer to the front with some wear to the lettering. The dust jacket has much wear and tear and is in new clear ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, New York
Date Published: 1994
Description: Acceptable. Soiling to end-papers, page edges and cover, edges worn. Initials on bottom page edges. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
"I read ugly, crazy and unbelievable news stories every day but this story is just too incredible. I don't remember ever having nightmares because of something I'm reading until I read this book. And not just scary nightmares but the book just totally got into my dreams. Beyond the unbelievable, twisted and horrible crimes committed by Manson and his family - and the insanely twisted fact that an army of twenty-somethings were willing to butcher innocent people on command - the cool part of this book is the way it's told by prosecuting attorney Vincent Bugliosi. The story is really well told. Even though you probably basically know the story, what happens and how the trial turns out, the journey of the investigation and the trial is just incredible. The best part of the book is Bugliosi's investigation into Manson's motive for the killings which is so totally bizarre and far out it would never work in fiction. But it's true and it convinced a half dozen acid head runaways to murder innocent rich white people. Coincidentally, I was reading the book as the 40th anniversary of the murders was approaching and updates and "where are they now" stories were all over the TV. Maybe that had something to do with the dreams. I give this book five stars because it's an incredible story perfectly told - and it is really and truly scary."
"This is the best true crime/courtroom drama I have ever read. The story is amazing, creepy, detailed, unparalleled, eerie, horrifying, and so well-told by the prosecuter of the Mason trials, it was hard to put it down. I have recently re-read this book, after many years of thinking about it and telling people to read it. If one doesn't want to get pulled into such groups, one must know about them. I read it when I was 16, and was looked upon very strangely by the extended family, and my mother was asked why I was allowed to read such a thing. She basically said the more I knew, the better. Manson was indeed a brilliant mind gone bad, like many brilliant minds before him. A powerful charisma used in such a terrible way, leading easily-led girls and boys who were searching for love and acceptance down the path of murder and punishment. I have heard the Squeaky Fromme has just gotten out of prison, so this is why I was thinking about this book recently. I am not usually a fan of crime books, but this one takes all exceptions. The pictures alone are chilling enough to make you watch your back!!"
"'Enjoyed' is clearly the wrong way to categorize my response to Helter Skelter, but I can say that I was utterly consumed by it. For the five days I was reading the book, I just wanted to blow off the rest of my life, so that I could obsessively keep reading. There's a reason Helter is considered the 'best' true crime book; it makes for incredibly powerful reading.
Helter starts off in typical true crime style, with rather unpleasantly-graphic descriptions of the crime scenes where the Tate and LaBianca murders took place in 1969. The book really becomes fascinating, however, when the POV switches to that of DA prosecutor, Vince Bugliosi. The rest of the book is an intricate look at criminal justice, as Bugliosi struggles to piece together evidence to form a narrative that will convince a jury that Charles Manson and his 'girls' were guilty of the murders. Since the motive is ostensibly so absurd and the evidence so poorly collated by the police, it's a truly nerve-racking journey through the eight-month-long trial.
Recommended, even if you're not usually a true crime fan."
"This is a wholly fascinating and disturbing book. It really lead me to understand, in a way I never had before, why Charles Manson is such a big deal. I mean, all told he lead to the deaths of 9 people or so (many fewer than a lot of other serial killers) and he didn't actually kill any of them personally. But that's not really what makes Manson extraordinary. After learning about the historical context, the random choice of his victims, and the fanatical devotion of his followers, I understand it more. And in that way, this book is very good. However, I have some reservations about it, in that I feel Bugliosi is playing to common conceptions and, consciously or not, hyping up the case.
Manson's followers are the most disturbing part of the whole case--most notably "Sadie May" who gets a lot of coverage in this book. It is utterly terrifying that they were able to commit these murders without any feeling of remorse, simply because Charlie wanted them to, and that they could then laugh and sing about it. But I think while a lot is made of Manson's magical mind control (including by Bugliosi who mentions, for example, his watch stopping while Manson was looking at him), it helps to look at who these people are: they were primed for fanaticism--habitual hard drug users with no personal attachments to the world at a time of great political and ideological instability. Manson offered them what they were most lacking--a family that saw them as inherently good and worthwhile. I don't think these folks were good little boys and girls who were converted to pure evil by Manson. They were people desperately seeking some sense of purpose, not inherently different from the animal activists who firebomb labs or the fundamentalists who hijack planes.
After all, other criminals and outcasts, such as the bike gang member who lived with the family for a while, failed to convert to Manson mania, and even some of those who really did, didn't get into it enough to kill for him. Also, those who joined his inner-circle have shown that even when Manson is not commanding them, they are fanatical ("Squeaky" pulled a gun on President Ford in hopes of saving some trees, and both "Tex" and "Sadie May" have refuted their worship of Manson only to become exceedingly devout born-again Christians). It is true that without Manson's influence, none of his followers would have committed these murders, but I think to pretend they were even slightly stable before he got to twiddling with their brains is a bit disingenuous.
I think when we talk about Manson now, it's as a mythological figure of sorts. He's a blending of the real and the mystical. And while that's great for campfire stories, I find it problematic in what's supposed to be the sober-minded prosecuting attorney's account of the case.
All in all, a good story, an interesting snapshot of the times and of the case, but it should be viewed with some skepticism."
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