People Farm [Paperback]

Steve Susoyev (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2002

A largely true story of exploitation, redemption and organic sex in a therapy cult of the early Aquarian age.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A profound and ethically challenging tale of desperation... reminds us of the corruptibility of good intentions." -- Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, Sept-Oct. 2003 / Reviewed by Michael Cornelius, author of Creating Man

A world beyond mainstream publishing is telling the real gay stories, and I am proud to be part of it. -- Recent News From Belhew Press / reviewed by Perry Brass, author of Angel Lust

Beautifully crafted. The author is an example of the gay man as seeker, as victim, and as redeemed and redeemer. -- White Crane Journal, Summer 2003 / Reviewed by Toby Johnson

Compelling as hell. Touching, funny and very, very sad. -- Sands Hall, best-selling author of Catching Heaven.

The gut-wrenching power of this personal testimony warns against the seductive embrace of controlling groups. -- The Midwest Book Review, June 2003

From the Author

People Farm tells the true story of a brilliant man whose tragic flaws destroy him, and the young man who wants nothing more than to be like his mentor.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 396 pages
• Publisher: Moving Finger Press (November 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972722505
• ISBN-13: 978-0972722506
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,963,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Therapy Gone Bad, June 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: People Farm (Paperback)

I honestly couldn't put PEOPLE FARM down; and when I did it was only to call my bookclub and tell them we were going to read it for our next meeting. Then I picked up the book and reread it.

Cy Aarons therapy community, Rancho Vista, attracted troubled but gifted young people who had come to the end of their ropes. It attracted Steve Susoyev, the author, who was at the time the youngest person ever accepted into Columbia University, and who regularly rehearsed a suicide ritual of filling his mouth with stolen amphetamines and barbiturates and then spitting them out before it was too late. He met Cy Aaron the day he was buying the final lethal drugs for his suicide cocktail. Instead of drifting into a hallucination of pain free death, he heard Cy Aarons words of understanding and acceptance. Steve abandoned his suicide plans and hitchhiked through a Colorado snowstorm to Cys community, the 'farm' referred to in the title. There Steve found healing and growth. Eventually it was in this community where he also was trained to be a sexual surrogate and a felon.

The memoir unflinching examines the deepest concerns of the human soul and follows the story of these gifted and troubled people to the extreme lengths they go in their quest for unconditional love. It is a story so insightful and personal that it could never have been imagined and the fact that the author survived the ordeal to tell his remarkable story is a cause for celebration and gratitude.

Readers should know that there are some explicit descriptions of sex, and some of them may seem brutal.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling tell-all which is very hard to put down, June 21, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: People Farm (Paperback)

Steve Susoyev's People Farm is the memoir of a participant in a early Aquarian Age "therapy cult" and a "human relations laboratory" which degenerated and deteriorated into patterns of sexual abuse, corruption, and psychopathy. Names and even the models of vehicles have been changed, but the raw, gut-wrenching power of this personal and eyewitness testimony shows through clearly as a warning to the seductive embrace of overly close-knit and controlling groups. A compelling tell-all which is very hard to put down, People Farm is especially recommended reading for anyone (including their families and friends) who finds themselves tempted by a cult community.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book - Captivating read!, March 10, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: People Farm (Paperback)

I'm half a generation too young to have been involved in the commune movement of the 60's and 70's -- I was still in grade school -- but this book shows all the great, wonderful, and horrifying aspects of a therapy-cult-commune, and entertains throughout! A GREAT read -- I immediately brought it to my reading group!