Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism

Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

34 reviews

alexisdillon725's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

3.75

Audio. It was an interesting and good book, but it was a little underwhelming. That may be because a lot of the things in the book I was already familiar with as a cult/cultish nerd. However, I did learn some new things which were really fascinating! I also don’t think the reviews that imply there isn’t any talk of the language of cults is ridiculous. There was a lot of focus on the language of cultish things or cults themselves but you do have to give background to the topics you’re talking about for the audience who hasn’t ever been exposed to the topic. Would still recommend this book!

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katie0528's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

An exploration of language. The first half discusses how cults and religious groups use language tactics like "us vs. them" language creating their own codes/abbreviations to entice followers and keep them in line. The second half focuses more on "Cultish" language in everyday life, from brands and movies with cult followings, to passionate communities like fitness clubs to social media influencers to QAnon, and how "Cultish" language can be used to build solidarity for good and for ill and ways to recognize and interrogate it.

I did listen to the audiobook and wish it was read by the author. The narrator was fine, but Amanda Montell hosts a podcast called Sounds Like a Cult, and she is so much more engaging when discussing these topics.

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itisnatal's review

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dark informative medium-paced

4.5

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goldkat's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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claireh6's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.5

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rainbopagn's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

While there is something endearing about the way Montell breaks down all things “cultish,” there wasn’t anything really I didn’t already know. It was neat to hear about the origins of things like MLMs though I do think she oversimplified by describing everything cultish as a result of Protestant reforms and changes. I do recommend as an “intro” to thinking critically though.

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unluckycat13's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

4.0

This is not a true crime book, this is a sociological look at how cults and the rhetorical/linguistic techniques affect the average things in life; and when it becomes a problem.

I'm unsure what people want in regards to intersectionality. You could probably go into depth in a lot of topics, but the author does talk about a lot of things that affect minorities of all sorts even when she's not directly shouting that group out. She does directly shout out minority groups often though.

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