The Long Hard Road Out of Hell

While Manson is obviously an intelligent man, I think the fans attesting that this book proves that fact have been at best hoodwinked. A ghost-written book full of deliberate shock guided by the man who wrote The Dirt (a book that trades in the same slick layering of excess) is not a testament to the man himself.

I read this book in two sittings and was greatly engaged by it - I was alternatingly disturbed and amused throughout while being consistently entertained.
But despite that, the whole way through I couldn't help shake an awareness of when this book was released - this isn't an honest biography, it's at least partially if not entirely a long-winded advertisement reinforcing the overall myth of Manson that existed in the popular imagination at the time. I spent a chunk of my early teens under that spell, which makes this reflection seem all the stranger now. The vivid and somewhat ham-fisted misanthropy and deliberate erasure of self that was a hallmark of the aesthetic comes across as buffoonery and petulance in hindsight.

But all that aside, I loved reading it. There was an urgency throughout and the hedonistic ride remains enthralling, if not a bit choppy. I just don't know whether I'll ever get much more out it now that I've read the last page.

Highlights:
Enthralling tales of utter excess and degeneracy
The later chapters showing developing self-awareness that almost starts to repudiate his earlier misdeeds, and threatening to reveal more of Manson than any amount of description of his childhood could
A real sense of a driven man working towards something profoundly affecting the public consciousness

Low points:
Endless whining about other bands, other people, and especially women.
Hammy over-emphasis of how soulless and empty Manson was and how little he cared about people - comes across as completely unconvincing
Constant hinting at a deeper philosophical or moral system that is never developed and instead used as a justification for doing drugs