Taming the Beast: Charles Manson's Life Behind Bars [Paperback]

Edward George (Author), Dary Matera (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 16, 1999

Edward George understand Charles Manson as few others ever will. Former prison counselor to the messianic killer, George enraged Manson as an agent of the state's criminal justice system, listened to him as a trusted confessor, spoke for him as an erstwhile press agent-and-almost-connected with him as a friend. George saw Manson in a way the public never would, witnessing the method to his madness, the charisma that underlies his sickness, the pathetic abandoned boy within the homicidal man. If you read Helter Skelter and think you know the whole story about Charlie Manson, think again. You don't know it all until you've read Taming the Beast: Charles Manson's Life Behind Bars.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Edward George, who was Charles Manson's prison counselor for eight years during the late 1970s and early '80s, offers an insider's look at the creepy cult leader's day-to-day life behind bars. Although Charlie is literally a graybeard now, he's lost none of his knack for oddball ranting and dark and compelling personal magnetism. George conveys the riveting persona of the convicted killer--complex and arcane, by turns violent and easygoing, and in some ways even sensitive. In one bizarre incident, Manson, upon discovering a bird's nest outside his cell window, procures an egg from the nest to protect it from the prison's cleaning crews, who routinely swept such nests off the building. George stumbles upon Charlie expectantly warming the egg with his hands, hoping for a hatchling to emerge. "Charles Manson held that egg in his hands for weeks, cherishing it, talking to it, waiting for that bird to emerge," George writes. "It never did."

The portrait of Manson that emerges from Taming the Beast is largely one of a defanged, eccentric, and even comical man, a man who goes before parole boards every few years and, like an actor leaping onstage, performs for his captive audience, then chuckles about it afterward. Still, the author is careful to remind readers of the harsher reality of Manson's past, at one point promising to stick a "shank into that bastard's black heart" if Manson ever came after his daughter. Though George struggles mightily to emphasize Charlie's sociopathic nature, it becomes obvious very early on in the book that he has a fairly big soft spot for his former charge. Manson, it seems, despite being confined, still has his infamous powers of persuasion after half a life on ice. --Tjames Madison --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

The latest entry in the canon of a true madman. George, a retired corrections officer who met Manson in 1975 at San Quentin, says up front that his Jesuit training led him to believe that the beast could indeed be tamed. His years of knowing Mansonwhom he frequently describes as devilish or demonic, a wicked trollled him to believe otherwise, and as both George's narrative and the parole board hearing transcripts cited here make clear, Manson is as monstrously sick as ever; he builds cockroach cages and voodoo dolls and rants about himself as a Christ-like figure. This volume (coauthored by true-crime writer Matera) gives us an ugly, ugly look at a man whose entire life has been a study in sickness. George advances a few theories about Manson's childhood and relationship with his father, then admits he doesn't know if Manson actually knew his father. George also has little to offer about Manson's motivations, though he does provide a chilling glimpse of Family members like Lynette Squeaky Fromme, who showed up at the prison regularly in her red cape, begging to be allowed to see Manson. George saw her just days before she attempted to assassinate then-president Gerald Ford. George also gives updates on the women who still follow Mansonand there are quite a few of themand it's scary how active the Family still is, nearly 30 years after they rose to infamy. While it's tough to see the rationale behind yet another book about this particular psychoManson himself counts 58 books on the topicGeorge has some items of interest to those who want to know all the details of Manson's prison life. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 2nd edition (July 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312209703
• ISBN-13: 978-0312209704
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,093,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, February 27, 2000

By 

Mark Charles (America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taming the Beast: Charles Manson's Life Behind Bars (Hardcover)

For anyone who has ever wondered what life is really like for one of America's most infamous criminals, Charles Manson, I would suggest you pick up a copy of this fascinating book. This booknot only presents to the reader a very thorough look into Manson's life behind bars, but it also shines a bright light on what life is like at some of America's most dangerous penal institutions. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book. You won't regret that you did!

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Continues where Helter Skelter left off, August 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Taming the Beast: Charles Manson's Life Behind Bars (Paperback)

I read Helter Skelter decades ago and watched the gripping television mini-series and was fascinated by both. Since then, no other Manson book has compared until this one. Taming The Beast takes off right where Helter Skelter ended without missing a beat and shows us what Manson has been doing since. Despite being in prison, his family remains alive after all these years and both he and they are just as frightening as ever. Great book!

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost as fascinating as Helter Skelter, September 28, 2003

By 

K. Bentley "amateur critic" (Stratford, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taming the Beast: Charles Manson's Life Behind Bars (Paperback)

The 'mystique' of Charles Manson that was brough out in Helter Skelter pretty much goes away w/ this book, written by Edward George, a former prison counselor. It gives the reader a glimpse of Manson's life as he was incarceratedfor the Helter Skelter murders. Whereas Helter Skelter was more about the trial, this book reflects a lot more on Manson's life both in and out of prison. It also contains transcripts from several of Manson's parole hearings. Serves as the perfect companion piece to Helter Skelter.