I recently read Manhattan Cult Story by @officialspencerschneider and what a wild ride that was! This one had been on my TBR for a long time and I'm really glad I finally got to reading it.

Manhattan Cult Story follows the author's experiences as he is introduced and initiated into a cult in the form of an underground esoteric school for highly successful New York (And Boston) professionals. Spanning over decades, Schneider shares a unique and largely untold story of the lives of members of this cult. From monopolizing their free time, to requiring them to recruit new followers, to charging huge 'tuition' fees, to verbal abuse and paranoia, to complete control over member's entire lives and decisions, the leaders had the tools to indoctrinate and assume absolute control over their followers. This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in cults, especially if you want to learn about a cult that is not your stereotypical commune hyper-religious sect that is much more commonly known.

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher, @skyhorsepub for giving me the chance to read and review (way later than planned) this fantastic book!

This one was a wild ride. I really appreciate learning more about cults. The author was appropriately wary initially but as cults do, it brought him into the folds quickly. It definitely was interesting to hear about how the group functioned and still appears to function today after the leaders death. The mistreatment both mentally and physically was sometimes hard to hear. But ultimately it was an interesting look into a group that doesn’t have quite as much notoriety as some of the other cults. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fascinating, disturbing and brutally honest, Manhattan Cult Story is brilliant.

Spencer Schneider is unflinchingly honest. I flew through this autobiography quickly and was amazed by his story. Highly recommend.

Schneider makes us all wonder what we would give up for power, wealth, access and to be seen as one of the elite.

I tried many times with this one but the writing was poor. Pity since it sounded so interesting but life is short.

Truth really is stranger than fiction. How do you judge a story that's hard to read, not because of the topic necessarily, but because it's someone's actual experience. You can sit back and go, "I would never have done this... I would never have joined this... I never would have put up with this..." and yet here is someone cracking open their story for others to look in to, to shed light on something no one really understood was going on. Sharon was a real piece of work. I'm surprised Spencer stayed as long as he did, but I guess it just speaks to the power and control that the School had on his life. I'm glad to know he is no longer involved with this cult, but it saddens me to learn it still goes on. I'm sorry for your experiences, but grateful for you telling your truth.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*

I have a particular interest in reading about cults and this memoir was fascinating. This was a well paced memoir about the author's time joining and being in The School - a cult that I hadn't heard of before. I appreciated the author's honest and fairly detailed account of his time within the group and it is a book that will stick with me.

This is another book that has opened my eyes to just how easy it can be to get wrapped up in a cult before even realizing it. It definitely kept me interested and I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about cult mentality.

Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I agree with others who have commented that the pacing can seem slow, but this story will stick with you after it's over. If you enjoy reading about cults, please read this. Schneider starts from the beginning with the cult's interesting recruitment practices and ends with his escape, and you won't be able to put it down along the way.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.

Schneider's memoir recapping his time as a member of a Manhattan based cult stood out from the crowd. While many of the cult memoirs I have read are from children who have left the cults as adults, this one is written from the prospective of someone who joined in adulthood. It was especially interesting as Schneider is a lawyer - educated, well-spoken, and seemingly successful. That is exactly who this cult targeted. I found it insightful to see how anyone, no matter how smart or successful, can be lulled into a cult when it seemingly offers that one missing piece they are looking for. The intertwining into all aspects of your life and the limited time and availability that you have for anyone outside of the organization is explored as well, giving us a glimpse into how difficult it can be to walk away, even when you fully begin to recognize all of the red flags for what they are.

A man's tale of his time in a cult and what led him there, told candidly if presented a little luridly. Discussions o the methods of recruitment and a spelling out of the cult's functioning, how it kept members on edge and took advantage of them. The details are broken down. Although there's less mention of a more general theory, the book doesn't set out to make one. A true crime story worth reading for anyone with an interest in the topic.

The School exists under the noses of everyone in Manhattan. The members never acknowledge each other outside of the School. They meet two times every week. In the name of inner development, they endured the horrors of mental, sexual, and physical abuse, forced labor, arranged marriages, swindled inheritances and savings, and systematic terrorizing. Some break the law, others just give all of their money to the leader, Sharon Gans. Spencer Schneider gives up everything all to Gans and the School. His life disintegrates. Then he realizes that he needs to get out. This is the story of how he got out.

Manhattan Cult Story was absolutely fascinating. I had never heard of the Gans "School," and it was so interested to read Schneider's account of how he was gradually pulled into the cult, and eventually got out. A must read for anyone who's interested in memoirs or cult survival stories!

The whole idea of being a part of a cult, having your life controlled by others and believing the normality of this, is bizarre to me. I wanted to explore the details.
This book is a great read for anyone interested in learning about how the ‘normal’ person could be drawn into a double life.
The author explains the secrecy, the recruitment and interestingly, his justification for being involved in the School!
The pace keeps flowing, the story is well written and the character description is appealing, my interest was satisfied!
I particularly enjoyed the detail and honesty of the author, as he separated himself from the cult. The personal recovery would be painful and traumatic, but also therapeutic.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have always been fascinated by cults. In this tale of deception, Spencer takes the reader from the beginning to the end of his time spent devoting his life to an underground, "invisible" cult. Before this read, I had never heard of Sharon Gans and her cult. Spencer gives great detail about the program used, School, to lure people in and make them give up family and friends until their entire world is secret.

Spencer Schneider’s account in Manhattan Cult Story is strange and fascinating at the same time. The use of the term “school” was a clever way to distract from the group’s indoctrination into a cult. I have some knowledge about cults from growing up in the Jim Jones era and have always been curious about how people blindly follow someone. In the book, Schneider gives a detailed list of the criteria used for recruiting, which explains a lot. The group’s premise reminded me of Etiquette -Charm school in the beginning, but I soon learned that this is not that type of school.

This is a book that will stay with me for a while because I have unanswered questions. The thought of this group and other cults still in existence today is terrifying to me. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about cults.

3.5 stars rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing for providing me with a complementary electronic copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving this review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a review of a NetGalley advance ebook.

As soon as I saw the title and cover of this book I knew it was right up my alley. Although I usually read heavier material on the subject of cults and secret societies, this was a relatively fast paced and entertaining read for a nonfiction title that I thoroughly enjoyed. It begins with the author's roots and works it's way rather quickly up to his recruitment into a secret society, simply called School, which studies the philosphy of Gurdjieff and his disciple Ouspensky. I have read several books (see Gary Lachman for elaboration) mentioning this philosophy so I was somewhat familiar with it. I found it interesting being put to use in a practical manner, and I do believe some of it is true, as is the case with many, many philosophies. And of course, much of it could be fraudulent or used perversely. I found myself even wondering how interesting it would be for me to be approached with such a proposal. The book does not go too deep into detail about the philosophers or the various texts penned by them which was/is required reading for School, which was just fine with me because I enjoyed the story and I believe too much detail in that area would have made for a dry read. This book was to be a nice break from what I usually read and I was happy that it stayed that way. I was surprised that this group had evaded my radar as it had been fairly widely publicized. That being said, I think most who find the title appealing will be pleased with the story. In a way I think this book can be taken as a statement on contemporary American society as a whole, even upper echelons, in that we are starved for something more than what we are presented with in everyday life. There has to be something more, right? And, unfortunately, there are sociopathic predators out there looking to take advantage of that thirst for knowledge and self-development; syphoning money, free labor and energy out of people and who want all out devotion and submission from their associates or disciples and meddling with their personal lives. This has a bit of everything; a fascinating story with history, deception, greed, lust, abuse and more. It certainly well written and has me wanting to know more about this so-called School. Also, I appreciate the author's seeming honesty as well as the coverage of his post-School recovery. Recommended.

I was really not expecting this book!! Such an interesting story. I don't like much non-fiction but the cover on this one grabbed me, thankfully. It was so good!

What an insane ride about a cult that I knew nothing about. This was fascinating, and I appreciate the author's personal perspective. I do wish the pacing was a little better, as it dragged a bit in the middle for me. Still very interesting!

I was really excited to read this book so I'm disappointed I didn't like it more. The author does a great job sharing his story about joining the School and his motivation for staying in it. I found the writing to be a bit slow.