Andy Warhol's "Chelsea Girls"

https://www.amazon.com/POPism-Warhol-Sixties-Andy/dp/0156031116

this book gives a really good first-hand account of the factory scene. people love to portray Warhol as this master svengali but it seems a lot more collaborative than all that (well, understanding that this book was written by him)

no idea what you mean by "counterpart to the Manson Family". one was an isolated drug murder cult in the desert the other an urban art scene with legit writers, artists, actors, drag queens, promoters, etc. creating venues, films, reords, etc.

if you meet it on its own terms, TCG is kind of a perfect film.

Roger Ebert hated it, but he was kind of a dope.