Wow. I apparantly did not read the excerpt of this book before requesting it. That being said, this book was all over the place. I did not like it. I finished it, but did not like it. I did learn something on the subject at hand though.

I received an audio copy of this book from Net Galley and HighBridge for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Sullivanians by Alexander Stille.

Unfortunately this is a DNF for me. I was initially very excited to learn about this upsetting culture of tearing families apart under the guise of therapeutic benefit. However, after feeling like I was just reading sometimes family tree, I had to put it down. It's too rambly, and I really struggled to stick with the point of the book.

4 stars

This book is a fascinating look at a large non-religious psychotherapy cult in NYC that lasted from the 1950’s to the 1990’s in various iterations. I had never heard of it before, but it influenced several prominent people as well as many more ordinary ones.

[What I liked:]

•How had I never heard of the Sullivanians before this book? It is definitely worth a read for anyone interested in cults. Although it was not a religious group, it has many hallmarks of a high control group & I’m pretty sure it would be classified as a destructive cult by Hassan’s BITE model.

•I appreciate how detailed this book is, starting with the origins of the group in early 20th C psycho analysis & tracing its evolution step by step over decades. It was a very weird and controlling group, & yet you can still kind of sympathize with why some of the members joined.

•The writer interviewed many of the people involved as well as their family members & children, & does a good job balancing sometimes conflicting views to tease out what most likely happened based on first hand accounts, court documents, & other research.

•One of parts I liked best was the conclusion where the writer examines why some of the members joined, stayed, & did certain unethical things. He also covers the difficulties many of the children faced. It was poignant to hear different former members try to make sense of their experiences & choices.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•This book is on the long side, and at times felt a bit repetitive or slow, but I do appreciate how detailed and thorough it is.

CW: racism, sexism, ableism, substance abuse, infidelity, sexual assault, child abuse, psychological abuse, physical violence

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

The Sullivanians is a fascinating, exhaustive and thoroughly researched history of a little known group that seems to be a critical missing piece in the culture's hard look at "cults" in recent years. Stille's set up is long but inescapable, in terms of digging into the psychological theories and leaders that led to the formation of this group, but it does also do the job of showing how insidiously academic thought can be twisted in the service of narcissistic and megalomaniacal group leadership. The ramifications for the children of the group and their genealogy journeys are important to hear and illustrate the complexities and realities of generational trauma.

This work is an examination of The Sullivan Institute. It was founded in the 1950s in New York City with the goal of starting a revolution against social norms. The focus was to be on creativity, sexual liberation, and freedom from constricting and overbearing family structure. With these goals, a sort of commune was started with therapists and patients constantly interacting, and patients living with other patients, free from their family structure.

I learned some interesting things from this read about the Sullivan Institute and its shift into a cult-like group during the 1970s. The exploration of how a counter-culture experiment turned into something so controlling and harmful to people was fascinating. I also enjoyed the interesting insights the author included about how the utter control of the therapists and their rules were even more harmful to the few Black members of the group. Though I would have loved to have more of an explanation and analysis of this aspect included. It was impossible to not feel sorry for the children of the adults who got caught up in this cult as well, as they were often mistreated and ignored in order to “free them” from the ”repressive forces of parents.”

This book needs a thorough editing. There was so much repetition throughout the entire read, even down to hearing the same quote, verbatim, multiple times throughout the book. And this usually occurred when the author was going over information that had been discussed previously in the book, which became frustrating and boring. There were many extraneous details included that bogged down the facts and the main focus of the work, which unfortunately made it difficult to stay engaged with this read. It is also not set up in an approachable way. It seemed to jump around often in time and with who it was focused on. I think this read would benefit greatly from some reorganizing, trimming, and general editing to make it more approachable and interesting.

The author tried to write this in a narrative form and as an in-depth history; I think this read would have been better if he’d stuck with one approach. There’s a lot of good information here, but until it undergoes some editing and reworking, I don’t necessarily recommend this read. My thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/books/nonfiction-summer-books.html?campaign_id=69&emc=edit_bk_20230704&instance_id=96646&nl=books&regi_id=33158710&segment_id=138356&te=1&user_id=9c330266ce1f91d750180ef307adb7b0

Really enjoyed this audiobook about a cult/commune I had never heard of before! The Sullivan Institute started out as a psychotherapy collective before devolving into a full-blown cult, falling into your classic stereotypes of group sex, familial/child separation and leaders taking advantage of their followers. My only note is that some of what was shared was a bit repetitive, although I know the goal in doing so was to point of the hypocrisy of the group’s rules and the leaders who imposed, but did not follow them.

The narration for this audiobook was great! The narrator’s voice and tone suited the subject matter of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Highbridge and FSG for the ALC!

This nonfiction book follows an odd cult/commune that existed for decades in New York City. This group of individuals followed a form of therapy that ultimately turned into a form of authoritarianism, cutting individuals off from their families and sending their children to boarding school as young as three. Some aspects of this group's lifestyle in child rearing was so incredibly unlike what is seen as appropriate that it borders on child abuse. This book was difficult to listen to but also incredibly interesting as an outsider.

This book was incredibly dense, and thoroughly researched. Many details come from interviews with people who were a part of this community, whether by choice or by birth. This was somewhat of a difficult audiobook to listen to at times, purely because it felt very academic. Further, it was often difficult to tell when the narrator was reading that author's words versus a quotation. This did not take away from the book, but I believe this would be best ingested in the written form.

Thank you to Netgalley and HighBridge audio for this audio ARC in exchange for my review!

The leader, Saul Newton, a raving narcissist (and sexual predator) based his “movement” on therapy and he and his therapists controlled every aspect of his patients lives – they created a communal living concept – they dictated (1) who would have children and who would parent the children (who would be in the sperm pool) (2) who you would live with and where you would live (3) what you would eat – literally everything all under the guise of therapy and wellness and being a better version of you and certainly a better person than your parents. were

One of the tenets of the Sullivanians was the hands off approach to parenting – parents were not supposed to create bonds with their children (kids didn’t even really know who their biological fathers were due to the polyamorous lifestyle). Nuclear families and ties to another person were forbidden. It was heartbreaking to hear the now-adult children tell their stories about isolation, sexual abuse and the utter lack of parental figures in their lives. Another tenet was that everyone had to break away from their families; vicious letters were written to innocent family members.

Hearing the abuse of the leaders of the group to the patients and even how the members abused other members (psychologically) was really hard to hear but also fascinating to listen to. Humans adapt to their environment in such interesting ways.

This is a portrait about people’s choices. I thought it was very well written and it kept my attention the entire time. I listened to the audio and I was able to follow all of the “characters”.

This is definitely a 4 star review for me.

Thank you Net Galley and Highbridge Audio for allowing me to opportunity to review

Both fascinating and deeply disturbing, The Sullivanians recounts the founding and evolution of a radical cult in New York City over the decades from the 1950s through its dissolution in 1991. It’s appalling what certain people will do in their desire to exert control over others, and the founders of this cult are no different in that regard. Claiming to be “grounded in ideals of creative expression, sexual liberation, and freedom from societal norms,” these leaders forced their members into “therapy”- with mostly unlicensed therapists, and where forced/ coerced sexual acts were a regular feature during appointments, especially for women. Not to mention the fact that the appointments also served to further indoctrinate members. Add to it all the other normalization of rape and sexual coercion, the forced “breeding” of members and then separating parents from their children, and it brings to mind some of the hallmarks of a cultural genocide (designed to break the bonds between people and destroy the individual’s sense of self) - but in a microcosm, all in a major city, not at war. It boggles the mind that in this case, people consented to it (mostly) willingly.

I found this narration captivating but also a bit hard to listen to add times. The narrator, Jamie Renell, did a good job as well.

Thank you Alexander Stille, HighBridge Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ALC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

I listened to about 27% of this before ending. It was very dense but interesting. I really enjoyed the interviews with former Sullivan Institute patients. and the background on the therapists. The Jackson Pollock stories were great. It just was way too long. It felt more like a reference material than a tight story

If someone wrote a fiction novel outlining this institute, I would not have found it believable! The fact that its an incredibly researched non-fiction has my jaw dropping. Great investigative journalism on a crazy topic!
Thank you so much to HighBridge Audio for the ALC of this one!

I really enjoyed this! It’s a fascinating and clearly well-researched look into a NYC commune & cult that ended in 1991. The author writes about people’s experiences in it, why they joined, how they were manipulated, the impacts it had on their lives, and then the eventual end of it all. I had somehow never heard of Sullivanians and was captivated, it is WILD and sad to hear some of the things people were made to believe and do.

The Sullivanians gives a thoughtful and in-depth at an interesting and under-discussed aspect of American culture and history. I found the writing to be occasionally dry, but overall entertaining.

Gosh, I'm so intrigued by this one and cannot wait to fully jump into the historical lore that surrounds cults and communes, and the more spiritually-aware decades in the United States. I am so thankful to FSG and Highbridge Audio for granting me access to this bittersweet trip into the past and I look forward to June 20th which is publication day!