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manikahemmerixh 's review for:
Sociopath: a Memoir
by Patric Gagne
I picked up this memoir hoping to get an understanding, or sense of what it would be like for a person to go through life as a "sociopath". It's a word that gets thrown around a lot, and as Gagne talks about in her memoir, has a negative connotation. I operate under the belief system that just because we may fear what we don't understand, doesn't make it inherently wrong.
Now, that said when someone writes a memoir I don't think it's their job to teach the reader anything if they don't want to. In this case though, including PhD on the front cover and titling the book Sociopath, I thought that it would be more informative. Spoiler alert: it's really not. There is psychology talk, and even some medical jargon, but it's very rudimentary and all related back directly to Patric. The accounts in the memoir are super sensationalized and almost glamorous, which makes for fine story telling but fell flat on a broader level for me. It felt too long and repetitive. I struggled to sympathize with Patric, and because she did very little to share how she's taken what she learned about her own "sociopathy" and used it to help others, I didn't learn anything about individuals who lie on the ASD scale or how to better empathize with them.
There's other media that would better suite my interests/preferences, I think, and I'll look into that. Reading this did not really serve any purpose for me though.
Now, that said when someone writes a memoir I don't think it's their job to teach the reader anything if they don't want to. In this case though, including PhD on the front cover and titling the book Sociopath, I thought that it would be more informative. Spoiler alert: it's really not. There is psychology talk, and even some medical jargon, but it's very rudimentary and all related back directly to Patric. The accounts in the memoir are super sensationalized and almost glamorous, which makes for fine story telling but fell flat on a broader level for me. It felt too long and repetitive. I struggled to sympathize with Patric, and because she did very little to share how she's taken what she learned about her own "sociopathy" and used it to help others, I didn't learn anything about individuals who lie on the ASD scale or how to better empathize with them.
There's other media that would better suite my interests/preferences, I think, and I'll look into that. Reading this did not really serve any purpose for me though.