Charlie and Me: Charles Manson and the Reporter Who Came to Know the Most Famous Mass Murderer in History

This posthumous memoir from Pulitzer finalist Neiswender (Assassins, Serial Killers & Corrupt Cops), who died earlier this year, adds little to the conversation about Charles Manson. Neiswender developed a decades-long relationship with Manson, who’d become notorious for orchestrating the 1969 murders of six people, including actor Sharon Tate, while working as a reporter for the Long Beach Press-Telegram and seeking to prove to her male colleagues that she could do more than “covering weddings and society events.” In January 1970, a source helped Neiswender convince Manson to call her from jail. After she told him she “could get his side of the story out,” Manson added her to his list of approved visitors. Their conversations offered Neiswender exclusives on Manson’s childhood, defense strategy, and devoted young followers, leading her to conclude that, while Manson “did some very bad things,” he wasn’t “evil,” like other murderers she’d interviewed. Her descriptions of the circuslike atmosphere of the Manson family trials intrigue (especially a tidbit about jurors wearing clown masks during their deliberations), but her acceptance of Manson’s version of events can make for uncomfortable reading, and she doesn’t shed much new light on the case. The result is best suited for the most hardcore true crime obsessives. (Dec.)

Correction: A previous version of this review incorrectly stated that the author died in 2015.