First Book of 2012

My goal is to read 100 books this year.  Given the reading year I had in 2011 I know the goal is borderline ridiculous but I've had plenty of years in my life when I did read 100 so I figured, why not "swing for the fences" this year?  If I come up short of the 100 I know for sure I will read more than if I set a low goal and don't push myself forward.  I'm sure you can all look forward to hearing me ruminate throughout the year about how far behind I am in meeting my goal!

So, here's the first one...99 more to go (she says optimistically)!


A Thousand Lives by Julia Scheeres is the story of The People's Church led by Jim Jones and the fate they met when they moved to Guyana and attempted to set up their version of a socialist utopia in the jungle.  Jim Jones and his congregation had their church in San Francisco, California for many years so when the story broke that over 900 of the church members had killed themselves in a mass suicide in the jungles of a faraway country, it was front page news in the San Francisco Bay Area where I grew up.  I can remember poring over the articles and asking myself how something like this could have happened and more importantly I kept asking myself WHY?

I always thought that Jim Jones was a well-intentioned minister who fell prey to drug abuse and began having more outlandish views at the end of his life.  Ms. Scheeres makes the case that he was corrupt from the beginning.  He began declaring himself to be God, even in the early years of his ministry.  However, he did espouse a powerful message of peaceful co-existence of races during a time in the U.S when there was still segregation in churches.  Many African Americans were drawn to his ministry and to his message of racial harmony as were others who looked at the world around them and wanted to make it a better place.

Jim Jones was a savvy leader.  He understood he needed to be tied to the political powers in his community.  He managed to get appointed to be the head of the San Francisco Housing Authority and rubbed elbows with the movers and shakers in city hall.  His proximity to power allowed him to perpetrate a great deal of fraud on his congregation and get away with it.  There were always complaints about the church but since he was friends with the local power brokers, they were always stamped out before they became a problem.

The people who followed Jim Jones and joined his church wanted to help others, they were searching for racial equality, and many were lonely and looking to belong.  Many were those that lived on the fringes of society like ex cons, the mentally ill, the elderly.  They craved love and acceptance and The People's Church gave it to them. When Jones suggested that they should go to a faraway country and set up a different kind of society where all were equal,  they couldn't wait to leave. 

By the time Jones moved his most faithful followers to Guyana to set up a socialist utopia, many were in too deep to become disillusioned.  He controlled many aspects of their lives including who would raise their children, who they could have sex with, etc.  He convinced them that the rest of the world was against them and they had to stand together or fall together.  When they arrived in Guyana he confiscated their money and passports, thereby making them virtual prisoners.  They were isolated from their families at home, had no way of leaving the commune and may not have even realized that they wanted to.  If anyone gave any sign of trouble or started to disagree he would threaten them or simply drug them so they would become more compliant.

Doesn't it all sound crazy or unreal?  Unfortunately, it really happened.  900+ intelligent, good minded, idealistic people put themselves in a position to be controlled by one megalomaniac with a God complex and a small inner circle that had their own mental health issues they were probably acting on.   In the end, they all committed suicide.  Many had to be forced but most did it on their own and that is the part that is the most unbelievable.

I couldn't wait to read this book when I saw it at the library.  I couldn't wait to get answers to questions that I had been wondering about for over 30 years.  While I think the book does an excellent job of telling WHAT happened I do feel like it fell short of explaining the WHY.   Maybe it is because the WHY can never be known or understood so I can't really fault the author for that. The author listened to hundreds of audiotapes of Jim Jones and the church and went through thousands of documents so the book is well-researched and thorough. I enjoyed learning more about Jim Jones and the people who followed his ministry and ultimately sacrificed their lives for it and can recommend the book to anyone who is curious about this event and wants to know more about it.