Happy book birthday to DON’T CALL IT A CULT: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM by Sarah Berman, out today from Penguin in Canada and Steerforth in the US!
“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’s rigorously sourced narrative brings this über-creepy story to life . . . This deep dive behind the headlines isn’t to be missed.”
—Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
“…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’s account is a standout . . . Truly gripping, this is the definitive book on NXIVM.”
—Booklist
“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
“An absolute work of art”
—Vancouver is Awesome
Sex trafficking. Self-help coaching. Forced labour. Mentorship. Multi-level marketing. Gaslighting. Investigative journalist Sarah Berman explores the shocking practices of NXIVM, an organization run by Keith Raniere and his high-profile enablers (Seagram heir Clare Bronfman; Smallville actor Allison Mack; Battlestar Galactica actor Nicki Clyne). In her deeply researched account, Berman unravels how young women seeking creative coaching and networking opportunities found themselves blackmailed, literally branded, near-starved, and enslaved. With the help of the Bronfman fortune Raniere built a wall of silence around these abuses, leveraging the legal system to go after enemies and whistleblowers.
Don’t Call It a Cult shows that these abuses looked very different from the inside, where young women initially received mentorship and protection. 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. It explores why so many were drawn to its message of empowerment yet could not recognize its manipulative and harmful leader for what he was–a criminal.
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, Reuters, Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Sun and other publications. Sarah is represented by Carolyn Forde.