Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism

Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

11 reviews

cady_sass's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but don’t join that MLM.

In all seriousness this is EXPERTLY done and I’m blown away. I’ve always been drawn to cult history and I really, really appreciate the work the author did here to include “cultish” behavior (hence, the title) of non cult entities- MLMs, fitness & CrossFit culture, MAGA, etc.- along with the obvious identifiable cults like Jonestown, Heavens Gate, and Nxivm, among others.

Super important to give language to the behaviors and vernacular that are big red flags 🚩 so people can engage carefully and make informed decisions. Highly, highly recommend.

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ramhog's review

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dark funny informative fast-paced

4.5

This put into words so many conversations and thoughts I've had with my partner and friends! I don't feel like I particularly learned anything groundbreaking or new but having this exploration of the language of cults laid out so neatly and in an engaging way makes it a must-read imo. Bought at Firestorm Books.

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narpetcards's review

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informative medium-paced

4.75

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clawsandjaws's review

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Cults have been an interest of mine. I've listened to podcasts that are geared towards true crime that have done research about the events. Very few that I've heard focused on the mentality and the loaded language and the thought terminating cliches that Amanda Montell sheds light on.

With cited sources and plenty of references that allow insight to the thoughts that celebrities, scientists, politicians, etc. subscribe to.

This book ultimately is more of a reminder that language is a powerful tool and it's within the best interest of everyone to pay closer attention to the way language is used today. Especially today.

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dfbballinger's review against another edition

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medium-paced

5.0

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faeriekit's review

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adventurous dark funny informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

As someone who's been very into cults and cult history...this book was not very illuminating. I learned a few things on a few subjects, such as a few individuals' stories from the Jonestown massacre, but ultimately, I realized that this book was not as in depth or as exploratory as to the nature of cults in and of themselves as I wanted it to be. That's fine; I wasn't the target audience, the average reader, someone who may not be as familiar with the subject, is.

For the average reader, this strikes me as a good ground-level cult book to get into the topic with. The subjects are covered humorously, everything is given it's basic context, and the subjects run the gambit of your Applewhites and Jim Jones to modern Insta influencers with similar statused with their audience, which gives you a real variety of flavors of extremely niche and spiritual-oriented groups. It's a "dark" read, but no darker than the usual subject matter; I would actually consider it light fare, if not for, you know...the mentions of mass suicide. It's a pool read! But you're sort of sad! Crisis tourism in a beach read! The personal touch of the author's own Scient*logy story was a nice read as well. Most people don't know how to grapple with such a close brush to such an insular group. I think writing abook about the subject is a great way to do so.

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toofondofbooks_'s review

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dark informative slow-paced

5.0

This is a solid nonfiction book that is an examination of different types of cults within our society and how those who lead them use language to manipulate their followers. On the other hand, this book is also about how many of us have already fallen into cultish groups/dynamics. The inside flap reads, "We secretly want to know, 'could it happen to me?' Amanda Montell's argument is that on some level, it already has." From Instagram to Heaven's Gate, Montell describes cults and cult victims with both sensitivity and great intelligence.

I really enjoyed this one. It read easily for a nonfiction. I feel like even if you aren't a nonfiction person, you might like this. Anyone who has spent any time immersed in internet culture, interested in true crime, language, and obviously, cults will find something for them within these pages. I don't really have anything smart to say about it other than I really liked it.

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