Sharon Tate: A Life

In 1971, Ed Sanders published The Family, his insider's account of the Manson family murders; it was an immediate sensation. Using the same investigative skills and insider contacts that informed his counterculture classic, Sanders delivers the definitive account of the brief and tragic life of Sharon Tate. The biography takes a close look at Tate's life—from her itinerant childhood and early career in fashion to her transition to film, passionate marriage to the brilliant and troubled Roman Polanski, and violent murder at the hands of the Manson family cult. Sanders's Sharon Tate offers new insights into what happened on the night of her death and explores new motives for the targeting of the Polanski household. Illustrated with Rick Veitch's evocative images, Sharon Tate is required reading for anyone fascinated by the dark side of the '60s.

About the Author :
Ed Sanders is the author of Fug You, Tales of Beatnik Glory, and numerous volumes of poetry. He is an American Book Award winner and lives in Woodstock, New York.

Review :
“The Bookworm Sez,” 1/25/16 There are many reasons to like this book. Author Ed Sanders writes about more than just Tate here; we also read about other people in her world, and we get a good feel for the feel-good '60s—drugs, sex, weirdness, and all…If you love a good crime story, you've come to the right place.” Milwaukee Shepherd Express, 1/19/16 “Sanders returns to the scene of the crime.” Connecticut Post, 1/15/16 “[A] gripping look back at the life and death of the actress who was murdered by the Charles Manson gang…Anyone with an interest in the pop culture of the 1960s should find this ‘Rashomon'-like portrait a fascinating read.” Chronogram, February 2016 “A touching biography of a young beauty…Sanders is meticulous and affectionate in his chronicle, its tone dry, wry, and journalistic…Was Tate specifically targeted? What were Manson's true motives? No one truly knows the answers, but Sanders has tried harder than anyone living to figure it out, and his exploration of all available sources is a fascinating look at chaotic times and a fitting tribute to a life cut brutally short.” Waterbury Sunday Republican, 2/7/16 “Will likely appeal to readers who enjoyed Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon.” Praise for Sharon Tate Elle, January 2016 “Sanders takes a look at the doe-eyed actress's life and death.” New York Post, “Required Reading,” 1/16/16 “If you were on the fence about Roman Polanski, Sanders' book is sure to push you to the thumbs-down side.” New Republic, 1/12/16 “Sanders seems to resist stepping in where he doesn't feel he can, or should, hold forth, and this feels respectful…Sharon Tate: A Life is a decent project, dutiful and worthy of acknowledgment; as a read, it has moments…The senseless violence of Tate's death superseded her; at least Ed nails that senselessness.” Closer Weekly, 1/18/16 “Sanders' book reveals new details of the star's last days.” Globe, 1/25/16 “A shocking new book.” Woodstock Times, 1/15/16 “An immersive journey into the life of the doomed actress that also touches on everything from New Age mysticism to the moon landing to the RFK assassination.” Hartford Advocate "Sanders ties all of his earliest threads–up to 1970–together in the most engagingly idiosyncratic memoir of the year. Indeed, now that his friend and mentor Allen Ginsberg is dead, Ed Sanders is the strongest living link between the Beat Generation, the hippies, and all other underground currents that have trickled along the countercultural pipeline since then." High Times "This brilliant memoir not only chronicles the band's early days, but paints an outrageous, inspiring picture of life among the artistic outlaws of New York's Lower East side in the '60s." Baltimore Sun "In short, impressionistic chapters, Sanders details his adventures, as well as his encounters with seemingly everyone who was anyone in the Beat and hippie scenes. Sanders provides a fly-on-the-wall view of many facets of a turbulent decade." San Francisco Book Review, 3/7/16 “Pulse pounding reading…[An] excellent biography.” Buffalo News, 4/10/16 “As a gripping, comprehensive, relentlessly involving revisiting of the Manson murders…it is a stunner…[Sanders] succeeds in shedding new light on the horrors of 1969. This is true crime lit at its most grimly compelling.” Washington Post, 4/10/16 “As a biography, Sharon Tate is thorough.”