Required Reading for the Official TLB Murders Blog

We are getting inundated with new readers recently and are gonna start a big push for new readers soon. You'll tell two friends and so on and so on. So it is best to finally get this out of the way.

If you are going to understand most of the things we talk about here, you should have read the following books at least twice.

Now, the following books are actually full of a lot of shit. But they are the CORE reading for anyone interested in TLB. If you don't understand everything in these books, you cannot follow a lot of the questions that will come up.

The first two of these books are available online if you look sometimes for $2.00. That is what thet are worth. Any used bookstore should have them. Or www.ebay.com . Or www.bookfinder.com.

HELTER SKELTER by Vincent Bugliosi is a very good nonfiction novel about the case, Sold millions of copies. It is a novel in the same way that IN COLD BLOOD is a novel. The book is SOLELY Bug's point of view. Any facts that don't fit, he ignores or even twists and bends. People who worked with him are run over. It is all to the glory of the BUG. But it is a compulsive read and will make you familiar with a lot of the facts of the case too.

THE FAMILY by Ed Sanders is a messy collection of "facts" hastily assembled. There is the 1972 version, the 1989 update and the 2002 tome. The first two are fine, and really cheap. The 2002 one costs more but that is the one I use. Many factual things here but narrative style is akin to a three year old. Very hard to follow. Also, morons like Larry Melton were used as a source, so a lot of bullshit here, like Family splatter films and stuff.

MY LIFE WITH CHARLES MANSON by Paul Watkins. A compelling read by a ghost writer of the day to to day on the ranch from Little Paul's perspective. Hard to find book. Paul has a untrustworthy point of view. He worshipped Charlie, betrayed the Family, then tried to take it over again. But the books FEEL real.

It is hereafter assumed that all readers have read these books. Twice. Because without reading them how can you come with the Col and question things?