Sarah Berman

A solid, fast-moving account of the bewilderingly strange NXIVM cult, its followers -- some of whom were beautiful, wealthy, and talented -- and Keith Raniere, its shockingly unimpressive leader. Berman, a journalist who covered the story for Vice, describes Rainere as a teenage try-hard who slapped together some shoddy ideas he mostly borrowed from Scientology and some very basic psychological gamesmanship to come up with his own cult. Despite the fact that he was neither physically show more impressive nor a particularly magnetic personality, he managed to grow this into an organization that swallowed multiple millions of its followers' money and, often as not, years of their lives. In retrospect, it's rather amazing that such a nonentity managed all of this: Rainere seems to have declared himself the smartest man in the world and gone about finding others who'd buy this line of bullhockey. Like Scientology, he seems to have attracted young actors desperate to get ahead and, like many other cults, he drew young heirs who felt guilty about the ultra-privileged lives that they were born into.

The evil that eventually followed seems to have deepened as things went on, however. What started off as a buyers' club Ponzi scheme eventually become a sex cult that involved real physical and sexual abuse, and Rainere's fantasies and ambitions seem to have grown weirder and much more ambitious over time. It's an indisputably good thing that he was stopped when he was. Berman's book is clearly a journalistic account and not a theoretical or forensic take on the cult: it's still difficult to understand why a number of successful actors and other talented professionals agreed to injure others on Rainere's behalf. Despite the crimes the committed, one gets the idea that his followers might have genuinely wanted to make the world a better place. It's a shame that they ever met Rainere, or that they didn't show even a gram of prudence when they did. "Don't Call It A Cult" is a useful document of our time, from an era that seems to be overrun by scammers, conmen and, tragically, a seemingly infinite supply of unsuspecting victims. Recommended. show less

I've watched multiple docuseries about NXIVM, but this book laid out everything Keith Raniere from the beginning, not just focusing on the sex slave DOS group.

Keith Raniere is so much more evil than these docuseries like The Vow show. Berman starts with Raniere's early scams, lays out the aspects of NXIVM that were stolen wholesale from Scientology, and manipulative ways they garner support.

About halfway through the book, a Mexican family is introduced. They have three smart, talented and show more beautiful teenage daughters and a young son. Raniere grooms them all to be his girlfriend, manipulating them into sex, forcing them to have abortions, and generally controlling their behaviour. He groomed the middle sister, Daniela, for two years until she turned 18, at which point he immediately manipulated her into a sexual relationship. She didn't know that he was doing the same thing to her sisters, including the youngest who was only 15 when Raniere began a sexual relationship with her. Daniela eventually, in her 20s, decided she no longer wanted to one of dozens of girlfriends to Raniere and attempted to leave him. His control over her family was so strong that they went along with locking Daniela in a room with nothing in it, no bed, no furniture, nothing. They did not speak to Daniela and she only saw Lauren Salzman's face for nearly 2 years. Literal serial killers get treated better in prison solitary confinement than Daniela was treated for wanting to break up with Raniere. I could barely contain my fury at these chapters.

I liked this book a lot, it went into a lot of aspects of NXIVM, some I was familiar with and some I wasn't. I actually wish it was longer. show less

Straightforward but devastating account of Nxivm, from Keith Raniere's early days as a multilevel marketing scheme con man to his later role as the sadistic, sociopathic leader of Nxivm and the hundreds of individuals, mostly women, whom he ensnared along the way. I had read a NY Times article about a "weird sex cult" that involved women branding each other, but I had no idea that Raniere was literally trafficking young girls and controlling them through intimidation, blackmail, and the show more eager collusion of other Nxivm members. He was also bankrolled by two heiress sisters, so for many years he was able to avoid any legal repercussions for his actions by suing anyone who left his orbit.

The horrifying, compelling story doesn't require any embellishments. Even so, I wish Berman had delved a little deeper and explored why so many rich, successful women were taken in by this waste of human flesh. But I guess there is no simple answer to that question.

I haven't watched either of the documentaries (on HBO and Starz) that recently aired about Nxivm, but to me there's nothing more chilling than reading the words, and imagining for myself what these women endured in the name of self-improvement. What the hell is wrong with our society that evil can flourish unchecked for so long? show less

This book was fine. I read it too soon after Going Clear, I think, and it was just hard for it to compare — on the scale of the cult, the depth of the reportage, etc. Of course, that is also part of what is disturbing about his book. Keith doesn't have the whole force of a religion, dozens of books, multiple institutions propping up his legitimacy. He's just a guy, who was able to convince people to accept and perpetuate absolutely ridiculous and abusive behavior.

One thing this case does show more have over Scientology is a more satisfying ending — a list of guilty verdicts, a considerable fine, and a 120-year prison sentence. show less