Dont Call it a Cult, Sarah Berman
Dont Call it a Cult, Sarah Berman
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Don't Call it a Cult
The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM

Author: Sarah Berman

Narrator: Ewa Wolniczek

Unabridged: 10 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Steerforth

Published: 04/20/2021


Synopsis

As seen in Season Two of the HBO docuseries THE VOW

They draw you in with the promise of empowerment, self-discovery, women helping women. The more secretive those connections are, the more exclusive you feel. Little did you know, you just joined a cult.

Sex trafficking. Self-help coaching. Forced labor. Mentorship. Multi-level marketing. Gaslighting. Investigative journalist Sarah Berman explores the shocking practices of NXIVM, a cult run by Keith Raniere and many enablers. Through the accounts of central NXIVM figures, Berman uncovers how dozens of women seeking creative coaching and networking opportunities instead were blackmailed, literally branded, near-starved, and enslaved. Don't Call It a Cult is a riveting account of NXIVM's rise to power, its ability to evade prosecution for decades, and the investigation that finally revealed its dark secrets to the world.

About The Author

Sarah Berman is an investigative journalist based in Vancouver covering crime, drugs, cults, politics, and culture. She is a former senior editor at VICE and past contributor to Adbusters, Maclean's, The Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Sun and other publications.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sharon on June 22, 2023

What the Bleep??!! What the Bleep is the name of one of the chapters in Don't Call It a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM but it could also be the name of the book. I was not aware of Keith Raniere and NXIVM, a self-help company that appealed to dreamers with deep pock......more

Goodreads review by Alex.andthebooks on March 19, 2023

3.75/5 Nigdy wcześniej nie słyszałam o tej sprawie, ale audiobook przesłuchałam na raz — przerażajace, że tak zwyrodniały oszust działał bezkarnie przez tak wiele lat.......more

Goodreads review by Helen on April 30, 2021

Don't Call It A Cult provides a comprehensive overview of the case of Keith Raniere and NXIVM. There is a lot of information packed into this 320 page book. While I’d been following the case on the news, the story is presented in such a way that someone could easily enjoy it even if they didn’t k......more

Goodreads review by Ellen Gail on March 13, 2021

Unputdownable and fantastically written. Easily five stars and likely one of the best nonfiction reads of 2021. "NXIVM was all about teaching people how to be more honest, honorable, forthcoming, and genuine. So nobody ever expected that the leadership were all liars." Nonfiction written by invest......more

Goodreads review by Jessica on February 01, 2021

3.5 stars. If you've kept tabs on NXIVM in the news and pop culture, you will still find a huge trove of information here that hasn't been included in a lot of other reporting. And it's not so rudimentary that people who watched THE VOW or other shows won't be bored. I sped through it in a fury. At f......more


Quotes

One of Oxygen.com's Best Crime Books of 2021

“Sarah Berman’s Don’t Call It a Cult is a thoroughly reported work that details a staggering amount of relevant information the TV series left out.”
The Atlantic

“This investigative endeavor is riveting from start to finish.”
HuffPost

“Investigative journalist Berman front-loads her startling, comprehensive exposé on the NXIVM group with key information on how the association became popular yet remained elusive to law enforcement...the author’s engrossing reportage meticulously reveals the tumultuous rise and fall of NXIVM after numerous criminal indictments and prosecutions...File this alongside Lawrence Wright’s Going Clear and Jeff Guinn’s The Road to Jonestown...An incendiary, serpentine report on criminal manipulation of staggering proportions.”
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Investigative journalist Berman debuts with the definitive look at the NXIVM cult, which victimized dozens of women for more than a decade ... This deep dive behind the headlines isn’t to be missed.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Berman demonstrates the tactics cults use to manipulate and control without casting judgment or blame on the victims. Truly gripping, this is the definitive book on NXIVM.”
Booklist

“Journalist Sarah Berman brings her signature gimlet eye and impeccable reporting to the story of the NXIVM women in Don’t Call It a Cult, a chilling true crime account...Don’t Call It a Cult is the nightmarish, unflinching true story of the women who survived NXIVM—and the women who didn’t.”
Foreword Reviews (starred review)

“A new book reveals the shocking ways that "self-help guru" Keith Raniere trapped women into his sick scheme.”
Eric Spitznagel, The New York Post

“This true crime is for readers of stories about cults and anyone looking for a deep dive into the recent news stories regarding NXIVM.”
Bookriot

“Both captivating and frightening, Don’t Call it a Cult will astonish most readers.”
New York Journal of Books


“Her [Berman’s] engrossing narrative style humanizes the victims in a way not fully realized during the trial itself, and most certainly not allowed during their involvement in NXIVM. She skillfully incorporates personal testimonies from the women targeted by Raniere, probing issues of power, consent and agency on an individual level while also zooming out to investigate the nature and dynamics of what we call cults as a whole.”
Law & Crime

Don’t Call It A Cult is the most detailed, well-reported, and nuanced look at NXIVM’s history, its supporters, and those left destroyed in its wake. If you want to understand NXIVM—and other groups like it—reading Sarah Berman’s account is essential.”
Scaachi Koul, bestselling author of One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter

“Sarah Berman is absolutely fearless in Don’t Call It a Cult. Her determination to not only tell the difficult, often disturbing story of NXIVM, but tell it right, shines through in every aspect of this gripping book. I simply could not put it down.”
Alicia Elliott, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

“Berman has crafted a tour-de-force and powerful homage to first-person reportage. A riveting page-turner, Don’t Call It a Cult is a must-read for anyone who is fascinated by the long term effects of cult culture, abuse, and pseudoscience.”
Lindsay Wong, author of The Woo-Woo

“Sarah Berman’s reporting on the inner workings of NXIVM and its secret, coercive ‘women’s group’ fully elucidates how scores of incredibly talented, smart young women fell under the spell of a mousy, volleyball-playing con man. Don’t Call It a Cult is an incisive, empathetic page-turner.”
—Andrea bennett, author of Like a Boy But Not a Boy

Don’t Call It A Cult is a thorough and compelling examination of a terrifying organization. Berman understands and brilliantly conveys the complexity of abuse, assault, and the lasting effects of each, and delivers a book that says as much about human nature as it does about NXIVM. Required reading!”
Anne T. Donahue, author of Nobody Cares

Don’t Call It a Cult explains Raniere’s dark charisma and why so many people were attracted to NXIVM and stayed on, even as the manipulation, exploitation, and abuse got extreme. A thoughtful, deeply reported take on a sensational story, one that I won’t soon forget.”
Rachel Monroe, author of Savage Appetites
 
“Berman lays bare this longest of cons: lost souls and ambitious young people drawn into NXIVM’s vortex of sexual assault, child exploitation, fraud, manipulation, and blackmail. This too-crazy-for-fiction tale is expertly spooled out with journalistic precision and a screenwriter’s sense of scene and story. I couldn’t put it down.”
Lorimer Shenher, author of That Lonely Section of Hell and This One Looks Like a Boy

SHORTLISTED for the 2022 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
FINALIST for 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book