Charles Manson: Coming Down Fast
by Simon Wells

A detailed study of a disturbed icon

As a footnote – or occasionally more – in Beatles and Beach Boys biographies, Manson still casts an uncomfortably fascinating spell over many music fans, 40 years after the bloody crimes he masterminded. No other killer has ever come close to Charlie’s rock star status, but Wells makes a spirited effort to understand his subject’s allure, while trying to avoid romanticising him.

Through thorough detective work and interviews with former members of the Manson “family”, the author paints a picture of a driven, if misguided, individual who craved celebrity almost all his life. His links to the music world are examined in full, though Wells lays to rest the longstanding rumours about Manson auditioning for The Monkees – he was serving jail time when the tryouts took place.

Unlike the best-known Manson book, prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi’s vivid but clinical Helter Skelter, Wells works from a wider brief, assessing the cultural and political climate of America at the end of the 60s. What emerges is an overview of a time and place, and the fingerprints left on them by one man.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

ISBN 9780340977019, 440 pages

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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