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A review by leyavh
Sociopath: a Memoir by Patric Gagne
3.0
Very mixed review for me. Great read by an author whose credentials so far haven’t been verifiable by many including myself. Society needs to be able to trust that mental health researchers and professionals are who they say they are and I’m therefore extremely concerned there have been issues in verifying her PhD degree and identity.
This book held my attention from the first page. I was curious to learn more about sociopathy after reading the WSJ article the author wrote.
I appreciate the desire to normalize the range of human experience. I therefore understand why the author uses the term “sociopath” to increase people’s empathy for the term even though sociopathy is not a formal diagnosis. Every diagnosis, especially mental health diagnoses, have at one time been questioned before being research backed. For that reason, I hungrily read this description of experiencing sociopathy. Whatever is going on with the verification of this book as a memoir and its author, I grew in empathy for how challenging such a lack of access to emotion would be in our highly social world.
I have concerns though. A 4-star review by Brandon aptly noted many of the stories, while noted at the beginning they have been reconstructed, do “stretch the bounds of believability.” It is also highly abnormal that her PhD program, identity, and research aren’t easily fact checked by a quick internet search. While she notes at the end that she wouldn’t be believed unless she wrote a memoir (as opposed to a self-help for sociopath book), this is to her detriment. Memoirs are easily skewed (research based manuals should not be) and in this author’s case it would be pretty essential to make sure your credentials are bona fide before releasing a memoir.
Loved reading but not quite sure if it’s legit.
This book held my attention from the first page. I was curious to learn more about sociopathy after reading the WSJ article the author wrote.
I appreciate the desire to normalize the range of human experience. I therefore understand why the author uses the term “sociopath” to increase people’s empathy for the term even though sociopathy is not a formal diagnosis. Every diagnosis, especially mental health diagnoses, have at one time been questioned before being research backed. For that reason, I hungrily read this description of experiencing sociopathy. Whatever is going on with the verification of this book as a memoir and its author, I grew in empathy for how challenging such a lack of access to emotion would be in our highly social world.
I have concerns though. A 4-star review by Brandon aptly noted many of the stories, while noted at the beginning they have been reconstructed, do “stretch the bounds of believability.” It is also highly abnormal that her PhD program, identity, and research aren’t easily fact checked by a quick internet search. While she notes at the end that she wouldn’t be believed unless she wrote a memoir (as opposed to a self-help for sociopath book), this is to her detriment. Memoirs are easily skewed (research based manuals should not be) and in this author’s case it would be pretty essential to make sure your credentials are bona fide before releasing a memoir.
Loved reading but not quite sure if it’s legit.