Summer 2015 was a strange time for me. I lived as a hermit in a studio apartment on Lake Michigan that I couldn't really afford. I ran to work nearly every day and didn't change my clothes after getting there. I read a few books I didn't care for. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I'd like my life to look like after graduating college. Helter Skelter helped me rule out being a mass murderer, though helped establish cult leader as a solid possibly in my life's ambitions flowchart.

The book, along with Bonfire of the Vanities made up for whatever deficiencies and uncertainties were present in my life at that time. I fondly recall this story, which is equal parts horrifying, historically significant, and just a really tight read. It is a timeless classic nearly impervious to critique.