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A review by balfies
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.0
About the language used by cults, and defining what makes something culty.
The first few chapters hewed a bit too close to true crime for me (I am very squeamish and the Jonestown murders are deeply distressing), but it picked up a bit in the chapters in MLMs and SoulCycle.
I'd greatly enjoyed Montell's first book Wordslut, about linguistics from a feminist lens, and was really keen to read this. It has its moments, but overall this is the weaker book, I think.
The first few chapters hewed a bit too close to true crime for me (I am very squeamish and the Jonestown murders are deeply distressing), but it picked up a bit in the chapters in MLMs and SoulCycle.
I'd greatly enjoyed Montell's first book Wordslut, about linguistics from a feminist lens, and was really keen to read this. It has its moments, but overall this is the weaker book, I think.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Cultural appropriation, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Suicide