Did not finish. I think it just wasn't my cup of tea at the moment - I don't think there's anything wrong with it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Sullivanians by Alexander Stille!

Really well-reported story of an ALLEGED cult that I hadn't even heard of before this. Did begin to drag on a bit toward the end as I think it was hammering home a lot of the same points that had already been made, but I suppose that's what happens when you have so many interviews you want to include.

Meticulously researched, Stille's "The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune" tells the fascinating true story of the New York cult, from its idealistic beginnings to its inevitable demise.

The psychoanalysis practiced by the Sullivanians is provided in the context of historical therapeutic practice, from Freud to Harry Stack Sullivan from whom the leaders derived its moniker. There is a ton of detail, and reinforcement (repetition) of the principles - at times the book is a dry, academic read. The fascination kicks in with the beginnings of the group going against the establishment of the late 50's, dangling the carrot of self-actualization in the time of both Ozzie & Harriet and Rebel Without a Cause. In other words, the group couldn't have manifested in any other time or place. New York was cheap, abounding with alternative lifestyle creative types. The scene was ready, and Sullivanian leadership took full advantage. The leaders offered "...a more exciting and hedonic variation on traditional psychoanalysis": sleepover "dates", polyamory, group living, all under the advisement of members' "therapists" (many were not licensed).

Stille outlines the hallmarks of a cult: a charismatic leader in Saul Newton, rejection of family, communal living, divestment of personal funds, fear of surviving on one's own, divestment of personal agency as the therapists (barely trained, all reporting up to the top four leaders) basically told their patients how to live their lives, where they should live, who they should sleep with, when to have children (if allowed). The early stages attracted New York artists like Jackson Pollock, Richard Price, and Judy Collins (each of their stories are covered). The message of sexual freedom was magnetic, and hundreds of members broke ties with family.

As the group grew (400 members at its peak in the 70s), Stille goes into the impact it had on the members' children, both those brought in when the parent(s) joined or those born after. The damage done to this generation can't be overstated. They grew up separated from their biological parents, raised by babysitters, sent to boarding schools, didn't know most of the time who their biological parents were, Oh, except for the four leaders. They were able to decide when to have children without permission, those children lived with them, the leaders lived with their chosen partners. The hypocrisy was maddening as the outlandish rules did not apply to the leaders. Ultimately the pyramid scheme started to crumble, the power hold weakened as members started to break away, seeking custody of their own children, and exposing the group to the scrutiny it had mostly escaped until the mid 80s. There was a disgusting abuse of power at the top.

Thankfully in today's day and age there's genetic testing and the offspring can get answers.

Some minor gripes about the book - many asides deep dive down rabbit holes to reinforce a theme (everything from a Rosebud reference to a scuba diver's decompressing, describing PTSD, and King Lear). Some of these were longer than the originating statement. Overall the book could have used some tightening, the repetition got old. Other than that, text like this: "A picture from the trip shows the once clean-cut seminarian with a shaggy mountain-man beard and a tie-dyed T-shirt" begs for those pictures to be included. A documentary about the group, which called itself The Fourth Wall premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this year, with input from Newton's son, should be an interesting complement to The Sullivanians.

My thanks to NetGalley and FSG Books for the ARC.

I absolutely love anything that is even cult adjacent but I love it even more when it’s something I haven’t already heard of endlessly. The Sullivanians is exactly that, the best kept cult secret of the upper west side.

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.

..."Endlessly absorbing, readers will appreciate this in-depth history of an obscure cult." - full review to appear in Booklist.

I had no idea that the The Sullivan Institute was a thing and this non-fiction was as bizarre as the description suggests! Anyone who is interested in the 70s and cults can find fascinating things here! Thank you FSG for the ARC of this one.

"The Sullivanians" by Alexander Stille tells the true, stranger than fiction history of the Sullivan Institute - a once revolutionary commune that transformed into a cult. Stille tells the story through interviews to give an all access glimpse into the inner workings of the cult. A fascinating exploration of group psychology and corrupted ideals which also serves as a time capsule of American history.

This was a huge no for me. While i did read the book in it's entirety, i did so sluggishly. There were too many characters and the writing was all over the place. I feel like there was too much, yet i wanted more.

A comprehensive and detailed account of The Sullivan Institute — a (somewhat secret) urban commune in New York City that ran a 35 year “experiment” to reengineer family, sex, and social life. Starting in the 50s as a combination of psychotherapy and radical politics, it evolved into an oppressive cult before finally crumbling in the early 90s (largely as a result of various salacious court cases).

Stille compiled the narrative from extensive interviews, written member accounts, and court case documentation. He proceeds linearly through time covering various motivations and experiences as well as the long dissolution into a bit of a nightmare and the “waking up” of those who went mainstream once it all fell apart.

Begun in the 50s by avowed Marxists, the goal of the Institute was partially to bring the “human” into Marx. The founders came to see: “the nuclear family as the basic unit of capitalist production, the means by which the system perpetuated itself to the detriment of individual growth. Parents tamed and squelched their children’s most vital needs in order to turn them into obedient and productive citizens.” They felt that growth could only occur only through interaction with others. Unusually for therapy at the time, therapists encouraged complete patient dependence — telling patients what to do in every aspect of their life. Members were forced to break all bonds with those outside the group, they were not allowed to form pair bonds, and were not allowed to raise their children, being told that they would be “poison” to those children.

What fascinated me was how the group fit into the times — starting with Marxist theories and communal living and progressing through the 70s where alternative therapies— EST, TM, rebirthing, etc. — were thriving. And the way initial egalitarianism devolved into hierarchical conformity with a controlling personality at the top. The pattern matches those of cults, certain religious orders (ultra-orthodox Jews, strict evangelical Christians, …), and true communist countries as a whole: impose a demanding lifestyle on members, maintain a boundary between the group and the outside, and ostracize those who want to leave. And the people in this group were intelligent and well-educated. In its heyday, the group boasted famous members such as Jackson Pollack, Lucinda Childs, Richard Price, members of the musical group Sha Na Na, etc.

Completely fascinating.