It All Started With a Cult

Growing up in the 1960s below the Sierra Nevada mountains, from time to time we'd see people shopping in town who were very different from, well, everyone at that time that we ever saw. These people wore overalls but all had shaved heads, and the women wore long earrings. You just never saw that back then. We learned that they were from a group called "Synanon" and that this facility was a drug rehab program. We were fascinated, repulsed, and kept our distance.

In this book, author Mikel Jollett tells his story of starting life in this very group, which maybe started out with good intentions but morphed into a cult. Surprise, surprise! The story is not primarily, however, about Synanon, but about his own family and the evolution of his life outside the confines what you might think would be the worst chapter of his life. Well-written, informative, heartbreaking and hopeful, it is a read you don't want to miss. The book, and the song inspired by this remembrance, will stay with you.