Peggy Riley is the author of the incredibly intriguing Amity & Sorrow. Although I have not reviewed Amity & Sorrow here on the blog, I did write it up as a feature for the She Knows Book Lounge. Peggy is here today talking about cults and utopias.
I was five when Charles Manson was given the death penalty for the Tate-La Bianca murders committed by his followers, The Family. I was too young to understand how a longhaired, crazy-eyed man could inspire such passion in his commune of young female hippies, but I wouldn’t forget his face. I was thirteen when I saw the bodies of nine hundred and fourteen worshippers strewn across the dirt of the jungle compound of Jonestown; they had drunk poison at the command of their leader, Jim Jones. In between there were catastrophes: earthquakes and oil spills, riots and serial killers, even as the Beach Boys still wished everyone could be a California girl, singing at rundown county fairs between hog calls.
When I was born in California, people were still moving west, still pursuing the American Dream at its very edge. Even before it was a state, California was the destination for dreamers: pioneers and gold diggers, wannabe movie stars and fanatics, Midwesterners and émigrés’ intent on political, economic, and religious freedom. It was also a hotbed for cults.
The Summer of Love filled California with utopian hippies, cut off from their families and looking to be a part of something. From the Midwest came Charles Manson and Jim Jones, both with their own troubled family backgrounds: Manson’s mother sold him for a pitcher of beer then put him into care; Jones’ mother believed she had given birth to a messiah. Both were intent on becoming charismatic leaders, creating new families through communal living, left-wing political activism, and lots of sex. In California, they found a state full of fresh-faced and down-and-out followers, people with a great capacity to believe and a greater need to belong. In Manson and Jones, in charismatic leaders throughout history, they found a modern messiah, able to be both father and God. We all want to belong to a person, a family, a group. I can understand the yearning, if not the commitment to the violent outcome when all that utopia goes wrong, as it always does - as it must.
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Cults are a fairly fascinating subject. It’s very human to search out a group to belong with, and obviously it can lead to some pretty dark places. Great post!
I find cults so fascinating - I guess because I’ve never had to search for a place to belong since I’ve always had one.
Powerful post.
Cults are fascinating, while you didn’t mention more Mormon type compounds in this guest post I find their missions scary. I just began reading AMITY & SORROW and it’s very compelling.
Great post
Amity & Sorrow is a very engrossing read. I recently finished it and I enjoyed it very, very much.
Argh, I had a hard time getting past the first sentence … boy am I old. Let’s just say I was well beyond 5 when Mason was sentenced. Anyway, cults — those plus the Moonies and others of the time are fascinating to me.
She had me at Charles Manson. Helter Skelter is hands down the creepiest and one of the most fascinating books I’ve ever read. Plus, I have this book on my TBR list! Thanks for the interview post!
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