Slonim Woods 9
A Memoir
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $23.31
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jay Myers
-
Written by:
-
Daniel Barban Levin
About this listen
An “extraordinary” (Nylon) firsthand account of the creation of a modern cult and the costs paid by its young victims: a group of college roommates
“Intense . . . [a tale] of hard-won survival, and creating a life after the unimaginable.”—Salon
In September 2010, at the beginning of the academic year at Sarah Lawrence College, a sophomore named Talia Ray asked her roommates if her father could stay with them for a while. No one objected. Her father, Larry Ray, was just released from prison, having spent three years behind bars after a conviction during a bitter custody dispute.
Larry Ray arrived at the dorm, a communal house called Slonim Woods 9, and stayed for the whole year. Over the course of innumerable counseling sessions and “family meetings,” the intense and forceful Ray convinced his daughter’s friends that he alone could help them “achieve clarity.” Eventually, Ray and the students moved into a small Manhattan apartment, beginning years of manipulation and abuse, as Ray tightened his control over his young charges through blackmail, extortion, and ritualized humiliation. After a decade of secrecy, Larry Ray was finally indicted on charges of extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, and money laundering.
Daniel Barban Levin was one of the original residents of Slonim Woods 9. Beginning the moment Daniel set foot on Sarah Lawrence’s idyllic campus and spanning the two years he spent in the grip of a megalomaniac, this brave, lyrical, and redemptive memoir reveals how a group of friends were led from college to a cult without the world even noticing.
©2021 Daniel Barban Levin (P)2021 Random House AudioYou may also enjoy...
-
Scarred
- The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life
- Written by: Sarah Edmondson, Kristine Gasbarre
- Narrated by: Sarah Edmondson
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The shocking and subversive memoir of a 12-year-NXIVM-member-turned-whistleblower, and her inspiring true story of abuse, escape, and redemption. "Master, would you brand me? It would be an honor." Scarred follows actress Sarah Edmondson's account of her recruitment into the NXIVM cult, founded by Keith Raniere. It narrates in detail the 12 years she spent within the organization, during which she enrolled over 2,000 members, chronicling her breaking point and her harrowing fight to get out, help others, and heal.
-
-
Eye opening and emotional
- By Ming on 2020-06-10
Written by: Sarah Edmondson, and others
-
A Billion Years
- My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology
- Written by: Mike Rinder
- Narrated by: Mike Rinder
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mike Rinder’s parents began taking him to their local Scientology center when he was five years old. After high school, he signed a billion-year contract and was admitted into Scientology’s elite inner circle, the Sea Organization. Brought to founder L. Ron Hubbard’s yacht and promised training in Hubbard’s most advanced techniques, Rinder was instead put to work swabbing the decks. Still, Rinder bought into the doctrine that his personal comfort was secondary to the higher purpose of Hubbard’s world-saving mission.
-
-
fascinating.
- By angieboo64 on 2022-11-11
Written by: Mike Rinder
-
Uncultured
- A Memoir
- Written by: Daniella Mestyanek Young
- Narrated by: Daniella Mestyanek Young
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Behind the tall, foreboding gates of a commune in Brazil, Daniella Mestyanek Young was raised in the religious cult The Children of God, also known as The Family, as the daughter of high-ranking members. Her great-grandmother donated land for one of The Family’s first communes in Texas. Her mother, at thirteen, was forced to marry the leader and served as his secretary for many years. Beholden to The Family’s strict rules, Daniella suffers physical, emotional, and sexual abuse—masked as godly discipline and divine love—and is forbidden from getting a traditional education.
-
-
Painful but incredibly powerful
- By Emma01 on 2024-05-07
Written by: Daniella Mestyanek Young
-
Unspeakable
- Surviving My Childhood and Finding My Voice
- Written by: Jessica Willis Fisher
- Narrated by: Jessica Fisher
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Using the written word as her witness statement, Jessica Willis Fisher tells a lacerating story of finding her voice after two decades of silence and an unforgettable story of risk and faith.
-
-
An absolutely harrowing but also inspiring story
- By Emma01 on 2024-02-15
Written by: Jessica Willis Fisher
-
Still Learning
- A Memoir
- Written by: India Oxenberg
- Narrated by: India Oxenberg
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Still Learning is India Oxenberg’s intimate, first-person account of how she was lured into and, seven years later, escaped from the NXIVM cult, DOS. As the secret sorority within NXIVM's vast Ponzi network, DOS was created by Keith Raniere and his acolytes to serve as a source of "slaves" to Keith and the other “masters”. Despite the fantastical headlines, the focus of Still Learning reflects what many parents and age peers of India’s will recognize as a far more familiar 20-something conundrum - a new adult trying to discover who she is.
-
-
Real, Raw & unabashedly truthful...
- By Ashley Schappert on 2020-11-05
Written by: India Oxenberg
-
Breaking Free
- How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs
- Written by: Rachel Jeffs
- Narrated by: Rachel Jeffs
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this searing memoir of survival in the spirit of Stolen Innocence, the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed Prophet of the FLDS Church, takes you deep inside the secretive polygamist Mormon fundamentalist cult run by her family and how she escaped it. Born into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Rachel Jeffs was raised in a strict patriarchal culture defined by subordinate sister wives and men they must obey.
-
-
Fascinating and Gribbing!
- By Sue Volpe on 2017-11-28
Written by: Rachel Jeffs
-
Scarred
- The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life
- Written by: Sarah Edmondson, Kristine Gasbarre
- Narrated by: Sarah Edmondson
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The shocking and subversive memoir of a 12-year-NXIVM-member-turned-whistleblower, and her inspiring true story of abuse, escape, and redemption. "Master, would you brand me? It would be an honor." Scarred follows actress Sarah Edmondson's account of her recruitment into the NXIVM cult, founded by Keith Raniere. It narrates in detail the 12 years she spent within the organization, during which she enrolled over 2,000 members, chronicling her breaking point and her harrowing fight to get out, help others, and heal.
-
-
Eye opening and emotional
- By Ming on 2020-06-10
Written by: Sarah Edmondson, and others
-
A Billion Years
- My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology
- Written by: Mike Rinder
- Narrated by: Mike Rinder
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mike Rinder’s parents began taking him to their local Scientology center when he was five years old. After high school, he signed a billion-year contract and was admitted into Scientology’s elite inner circle, the Sea Organization. Brought to founder L. Ron Hubbard’s yacht and promised training in Hubbard’s most advanced techniques, Rinder was instead put to work swabbing the decks. Still, Rinder bought into the doctrine that his personal comfort was secondary to the higher purpose of Hubbard’s world-saving mission.
-
-
fascinating.
- By angieboo64 on 2022-11-11
Written by: Mike Rinder
-
Uncultured
- A Memoir
- Written by: Daniella Mestyanek Young
- Narrated by: Daniella Mestyanek Young
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Behind the tall, foreboding gates of a commune in Brazil, Daniella Mestyanek Young was raised in the religious cult The Children of God, also known as The Family, as the daughter of high-ranking members. Her great-grandmother donated land for one of The Family’s first communes in Texas. Her mother, at thirteen, was forced to marry the leader and served as his secretary for many years. Beholden to The Family’s strict rules, Daniella suffers physical, emotional, and sexual abuse—masked as godly discipline and divine love—and is forbidden from getting a traditional education.
-
-
Painful but incredibly powerful
- By Emma01 on 2024-05-07
Written by: Daniella Mestyanek Young
-
Unspeakable
- Surviving My Childhood and Finding My Voice
- Written by: Jessica Willis Fisher
- Narrated by: Jessica Fisher
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Using the written word as her witness statement, Jessica Willis Fisher tells a lacerating story of finding her voice after two decades of silence and an unforgettable story of risk and faith.
-
-
An absolutely harrowing but also inspiring story
- By Emma01 on 2024-02-15
Written by: Jessica Willis Fisher
-
Still Learning
- A Memoir
- Written by: India Oxenberg
- Narrated by: India Oxenberg
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Still Learning is India Oxenberg’s intimate, first-person account of how she was lured into and, seven years later, escaped from the NXIVM cult, DOS. As the secret sorority within NXIVM's vast Ponzi network, DOS was created by Keith Raniere and his acolytes to serve as a source of "slaves" to Keith and the other “masters”. Despite the fantastical headlines, the focus of Still Learning reflects what many parents and age peers of India’s will recognize as a far more familiar 20-something conundrum - a new adult trying to discover who she is.
-
-
Real, Raw & unabashedly truthful...
- By Ashley Schappert on 2020-11-05
Written by: India Oxenberg
-
Breaking Free
- How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs
- Written by: Rachel Jeffs
- Narrated by: Rachel Jeffs
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this searing memoir of survival in the spirit of Stolen Innocence, the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed Prophet of the FLDS Church, takes you deep inside the secretive polygamist Mormon fundamentalist cult run by her family and how she escaped it. Born into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Rachel Jeffs was raised in a strict patriarchal culture defined by subordinate sister wives and men they must obey.
-
-
Fascinating and Gribbing!
- By Sue Volpe on 2017-11-28
Written by: Rachel Jeffs
-
Hey, Hun
- Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing
- Written by: Emily Lynn Paulson
- Narrated by: Emily Lynn Paulson
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She signed up for the sisterhood, free cars, and the promise of a successful business of her own. Instead, she ended up with an addiction, broken friendships, and the rubble of a toppled pyramid . . . scheme. Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing is the eye-opening, funny, and dangerous personal story of author Emily Lynn Paulson rising to the top of the pyramid in the multilevel marketing (MLM) world, only to recognize that its culture and business practices went beyond a trendy marketing scheme and into the heart of white supremacy in America.
-
-
Important look behind the toxic and harmful culture of MLMs
- By Lindsay Johnson on 2023-07-22
Written by: Emily Lynn Paulson
-
Beyond Belief
- My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape
- Written by: Jenna Miscavige Hill
- Narrated by: Sandy Rustin
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was raised as a Scientologist but left the controversial religion in 2005. In Beyond Belief, she shares her true story of life inside the upper ranks of the sect, details her experiences as a member Sea Org - the church's highest ministry - speaks of her "disconnection" from family outside of the organization, and tells the story of her ultimate escape.
-
-
Excellent description of Sea Organization
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-11-26
Written by: Jenna Miscavige Hill
-
The Program
- Inside the Mind of Keith Raniere and the Rise and Fall of NXIVM
- Written by: Toni Natalie, Chet Hardin
- Narrated by: Toni Natalie
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many have heard of NXIVM and its creator, Keith Raniere, the unassuming Albany man now prosecuted for ensnaring tens of thousands of people in the US, Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere to do his bidding and pay millions of dollars to participate in his self-improvement methodology. But where did Keith Raniere begin? Enter Toni Natalie, Keith's Patient Zero, the first one indoctrinated into Raniere's methodology and the first one to escape.
-
-
Very interesting story
- By kim elliott on 2020-10-16
Written by: Toni Natalie, and others
-
Captive
- A Mother's Crusade to Save Her Daughter from a Terrifying Cult
- Written by: Catherine Oxenberg, Natasha Stoynoff
- Narrated by: Catherine Oxenberg
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2011, Catherine joined her daughter, India, at a leadership seminar for a new organization called NXIVM. Her 20-year-old daughter was on the threshold of building a new company, and they both thought this program might help her achieve her dream. But quickly, Catherine saw a sinister side to what appeared to be a self-help organization designed to help its clients become the best versions of themselves. Catherine watched in horror as her daughter fell further and further down the rabbit hole, becoming brainwashed by the organization’s charismatic leader.
-
-
Inspirational
- By Joy Mainer on 2020-12-31
Written by: Catherine Oxenberg, and others
-
In Pursuit of Love
- One Woman’s Journey from Trafficked to Triumphant
- Written by: Rebecca Bender
- Narrated by: Rebecca Bender
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born and raised in a small Oregon town, all-American girl Rebecca Bender was a varsity athlete and honor-roll student with a promising future. Then a predator pretending to be her boyfriend lured her into a web of lies that sent her down a path she never imagined possible. For nearly six years, Rebecca was sold across the underground world of sex trafficking in Las Vegas. She was branded, beaten, told when to sleep and what to wear, and traded between traffickers. During that time, God began revealing himself to her.
-
-
A very real testimony and life story
- By Anne on 2021-11-15
Written by: Rebecca Bender
-
Unveiled
- How the West Empower Radical Muslims
- Written by: Yasmine Mohammed
- Narrated by: Yasmine Mohammed
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since September 11, 2001, the Western world has been preoccupied with Islam and its role in terrorism. Yet, public debate about the faith is polarized. One camp praises "the religion of peace", while the other claims all Muslims are terrorists. Canadian human rights activist Yasmine Mohammed believes both sides are dangerously wrong. In Unveiled: How Western Liberals Empower Radical Islam, Yasmine speaks her truth as a woman born in the Western world yet raised in a fundamentalist Islamic home. Despite being a first-generation Canadian, she never felt at home in the West.
-
-
I feel depressed listening to her story.
- By audrey descamps on 2022-06-04
Written by: Yasmine Mohammed
What the critics say
"Disturbing, extremely vulnerable and extraordinary. . . . A biting, observant memoir about his experience, as he excavates the reasons he was so drawn into Ray’s grasp.”—Nylon
“An intense tale of coercion, humiliation, gaslighting, and physical torment. It's also one of hard-won survival, and creating a life after the unimaginable.”—Salon
“Insightful and often heart wrenching . . . This book will be a tremendous help to others who have gone through something similar.”—Bomb
What listeners say about Slonim Woods 9
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brandie hadfield
- 2023-03-26
An absolute masterpiece
Daniel, you are quite possibly the most talented writer I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I can imagine the excruciating difficulty of having to, in a sense, relive such a horrific time in your life. Still, I'm optimistic that this book will help many people recognize abuse and find within themselves the courage to seek support in healing. Thank you for writing this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cheryl
- 2023-06-07
gratitude to the author
Thank you, Daniel, for using your experience to give voice to the victims of coercive control and for so clearly detailing how this form of mind control can be used against most anyone...even the brightest among us. Your voice paves a way for society to unite against those who would choose to abuse, rather than leaving their victims to suffer in isolation and shame.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!