Sharon Tate: A Life

Before the true crime publishing juggernaut that was Vincent Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter rather overshadowed it, there was Ed Sanders’ 1971 account, The Family. Sanders knows his stuff so I was delighted to hear he was penning a belated follow-up of sorts, a biography of the beautiful and talented Sharon Tate.However, this book was rather disappointing. It is peppered with inaccuracies that will jar any reader with more than a cursory knowledge of events, it is very repetitive (how many times do we need to be told that the past is like quicksand?) and it does occasionally go off on rather irrelevant tangents – i.e. detailing plots for films that have nothing to do with Sharon.Having said that, this is still worth buying if you have any interest at all in Sharon’s life and career, and what an absolute thrill to hear directly from her close friends Shahrokh Hatami, Sheilah Wells and – especially – Joanna Pettet, who was one of the last visitors to Cielo Drive before things went so sadly and horribly awry.Sanders has a bit of a hard time from some of Sharon’s more sanctimonious fans who accuse him of being a Manson apologist (which he isn’t – at all). There are no crime scene photos in this book and Sanders makes it clear in his introduction that he likes and admires Sharon. Yes, the book does delve a little into the salacious rumours surrounding the Tate/Polanksi/Sebring crowd at the time but it wouldn’t be a true reflection of the story if it didn’t.While I don’t buy the RFK/Manson theory touted in this book for a minute, many people feel – including Sharon’s late mother, Doris – that there is another story regarding the Tate/LaBianca case which has never come to light, so huge kudos to Sanders for continuing to dig.

ALTHOUGH OLDER RELATIVES INSIST SHE WAS NOT THE GREATEST ACTRESS AND MY UNCLE INSISTS THERE WERE MORE BEAUTIFUL CELEBS LIKE CANDICE BERGEN AND JACLYN SMITH....THE BOOK WAS PRETTY INFORMATIVE..HOWEVER..NO PICTURES JUST DRAWINGS~NEVER KNEW JAY SEBRING WAS IN A SATANIC CULT WHICH WAS NEWS TO MY OLDER RELATIVES..

I anxiously awaited this book from Ed Sanders. His The Family book was epic though jumbled and in need of an index. I was highly disappointed. Much of this is speculation and basically info he had in the Family. The beginning sections on Sharon left a lot to be desired and his oo-ee-oos that ran rampant in the Family were replaced by something concerning quicksand. The charm of the style of writing in The Family was not present in this book, and one can find a conspiracy in everything if one looks hard enough.I was really hoping for some revelations, and not the biblical kind. I did not find any. I will keep the book for my collection but it is one that I will not reread.

This is a very god book with a lot of details about Sharon's life before Manson. I found out a lot about her that was in no other book A++++

I wanted to love this book because I remember what an incredibly researched and insightful read "The Family" was. Though Ed Sanders' writing is solid as always (and I did enjoy the very scant tie in with the Son of Sam cult --THAT'S the book Sanders needs to write next, and pick up where Maury Terry left off!) what was very frustrating was the contradiction as to if Sharon was or wasn't supposed to be killed. On one side of the coin, Sanders is addressing this as a contract hit for a drug deal gone horribly wrong and Sharon was never the target so the killers, thinking she was not at home, moved ahead with the murder as planned but he also weaves in a very random substory about how Sharon WAS specifically killed because she overheard something she shouldn't have in relation to the killing of RFK. So which was it? She wasn't supposed to be at home but was so wound up killed or she was killed because of things she overheard? The story can't go both ways.I was also put off by the illustrations. That somewhat cheapened the effect of the book. Were illustrations chosen because they couldn't afford to license the actual photos or because the people involved wanted to distance themselves from the project because they weren't fully on board?

Ed Sanders does it again with this Sharon Tate book. I felt he held back some out of respect for the family and kudos to him for having class and integrity. Either way Sharon Tate A Life was an interesting read but the price does need to be lower.

The details of her life.

I love Sharon Tate as an actress. I collect books on her. I was happy to see a new book on her life. This book is a major disappointment. Lots of conjecture being reported as facts. No photos of Sharon, just drawings (they're good), but photos of the murderers and different scenes relating to the murders are used. If you're a die hard Sharon fan or follow the case, you may like this book, but it leaves more questions than it gives answers. "Sharon Tate And The Manson Murders" or "Restless Souls" are way better books than this one. A beautiful coffee table type book, "Recollections" by Debra Tate has the most gorgeous photos of Sharon. Buy any of those 3, leave this one alone!

I enjoyed the book. However it didn't tell me anything that I haven't read before about Sharon. Apart from some L A gossip that can't be substantiated. What I did like is that the book was mainly about Sharon, as a lot of the books I have read were more concerned with Manson. If you want to read about the murders, then Helter Skelter is the book for you. If you want to know more about Sharon and her family. I would recommend the book restless souls by Sharon's family members. This book is good if you don't know much about Sharon or the psychopathic murderers who took her life, and the life of her baby. It was spoiled for me by little snippets like telling us when Sharon bought her first vibrator. Why would I want to know that? I'm pretty sure that Sharon wouldn't want to see that in print . Secondly, the author constantly makes reference to life being like quick sand, over and over again. I'm not sure what he's trying to tell us? Other than life is like quick sand!

Finally there is a book on Sharon Tate, the victim of the horrendous crime perpatrated by Chatlie Manson and his family.

Ordine arrivato prima del previsto, molto soddisfatta.