Paradise Incorporated Synanon David U Gerstel 1982 1st Ed Cult Memoir

by David U. Gerstel

$60 · Offered by eBay

First edition

First edition hardcover of Paradise, Incorporated: Synanon — A Personal Account by David U. Gerstel, published by Presidio Press in 1982. This is an insider account of Synanon, the controversial organization founded by Charles Dederich as a drug-rehabilitation community before evolving into an experimental communal movement and eventually being widely characterized as a cult. Gerstel recounts his own five years inside Synanon, including its leadership, communal enclaves and coercive practices. Subjects include The Game, The Stew, The Squeeze, Synanon City, Charles Dederich, thought control, forced conformity and the organization's transformation from rehabilitation program to authoritarian community. This is the original 1982 Presidio Press hardcover, ISBN 0-89141-112-7, with its distinctive original silver dust jacket. Bibliographic records identify the 1982 hardcover as the first edition and 288 pages. The book itself appears solid with some age-related toning/spotting. Original dust jacket is present but substantially worn, with creasing, rubbing, tears, chips and losses along the edges, particularly across the top and at the corners. The jacket's presence still matters because many inexpensive copies are ex-library or lack a decent original jacket. Please review photographs carefully for condition. An increasingly interesting primary-source memoir for collectors and researchers of Synanon, Charles Dederich, cults, coercive groups, addiction treatment and American counterc

• Publisher: Presidio Press
• Year: 1982
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.