Cultish

The Language of Fanaticism

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published June 15, 2021 by Harper Wave.

ISBN:
978-0-06-299315-1
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3 stars (2 reviews)

The author of the widely praised Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power.

What makes “cults” so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has . . .

Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of “brainwashing.” But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, …

4 editions

Conversational, Shallow Treatment of the Subject

2 stars

This is non-fiction as beach read, and felt more like a book-length Slate article that a serious attempt to understand or make an argument. The sources are the author's personal experience and a few interviews, so it comes off like a memoir of escaping a cult written by someone who was never in a cult.

The fitness and online influencer sections taught me a few new things, but the early parts of the book about religious cults gave high level summaries of the cults that are already the best know to any reader who has an interest in the subject.

At its worst this felt like the downscale kind of true crime or cult podcast where the hosts riff over a Wikipedia summary.

I was hoping for more depth, better research, and a clearer thesis. I would have stopped somewhere midway if this weren't as short as it was.

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4 stars