Michelle Dowd

As a cult book aficionado, I had to read this book. This one was quite interesting because it involved nature and living off the land. The author of the book was the granddaughter of the leader of the cult. This cult was based in the Angeles National Forest in California. There really wasn't a name for the group. They were a religious cult where men were superior to women. The men went on "Trips", which were traveling revivals. Sometimes these revivals were used for proselytizing and other times they had a circus act. The women stayed back at the "Field", which was where the church was located, or on the "Mountain" which was the home of the author and her family. They also had a campsite nearby that housed many of the boys involved in the cult. The book was very informative in that it discussed the flora that you could consume safely. It was also sad reading what the author had went through. It was a good book. Although, some of the things she wrote about could have been explained more.… (més)

This memoir brings some of my favorite topics together--Southern California (and the Southwest in general), unusual family dynamics, religion, and nature. It is a fascinating and disturbing look at a doomsday cult, led by one man. I do not understand how these leaders manage to attract followers, or keep them, though this group seems to have been a core of family with others cycling in and out.

Dowd grew up in the mountains north of Los Angeles as part of her maternal grandfather's doomsday cult. They were isolated from the general public--though adults like her mother did have jobs nearby to bring in cash. The kids in the community were both very very sheltered and somehow, at the same time, given near-total freedom. She can navigate through the mountains and survive off the land for some period of time. Their schooling was handled within the community. The moral code was very strong, but its enforcement was very weak and seems to have laregly consisted of making examples of individuals on occasion.

Dowd did not have an easy childhood--there were multiple crimes committed against her and other children. She was fortunate to have a few relatives who were fairly close but not involved in her grandfather's cult. She did receive a few years of formal schooling, and her mother did continue teaching all of her children a curriculum of sorts. It also seems that her stints at Children's Hospital gave her the knowledge and ability to fit in to the outside world. When she left, she left for good, and she has built a very normal life for herself.… (més)

Forager details one woman's childhood surviving in a cult. Michelle learns to live from the land - which plants to eat, where to get water, how to survive - all while dealing with the misogyny of her grandfather's faith. She grew up on a mountain in the Angeles National Forest and called the outdoors her home and refuge. Her grandfather's followers and family were preparing for the end times and being able to survive off the land was a must. Michelle and her siblings learned how to deal with starvation of resources and of love. Each chapter opens with an illustrated plant and its many uses which help add to this autobiography. Eventually Michelle gathers the courage and the strength to flee the cult and develop her own wings. Of interest to those who enjoy reading about cults and to naturalists and those who love to live off the land.… (més)

This is one of the most beautifully written memoirs that could also be called "spare" so for that I give full accolades. Dowd's childhood was horrifically abusive and cruel. She relays it in chapters named for the wild plants she foraged to eat. I mean, goodness, what a horrific heuristic to use yet what an affecting one.

I wish we got to learn more about Dowd's grandfather's cultic beliefs and how they led to her parents' abusive behavior as well as the interaction that her nuclear family had with the rotating cast of cult members. While this book isn't precisely about the cult's beliefs, the fact that Dowd gives us so little information makes it hard for readers to piece together how these things connect, particularly the reveal toward the end that her mother was a somewhat well known local expert. I mean, how? How does this fit with the gender roles internally?

Not for the faint of heart. I liked it and I hope it was cathartic for Dowd to write.… (més)