From Jonestown and Heaven’s Gate to CrossFit and Multi-Level Marketing schemes, this book covers it all. But unlike many books and documentaries that tackle the topic of cults, Amanda Montell isn’t looking to turn over every rock and figure out how each of our culture’s favorite cults came to be and how, if they have, met their end. Instead, Montell is focusing on one major thing: language. What is the language of cults? What even constitutes a cult? Where do we encounter or even use the language of cults in our daily lives? Montell briefly explores some of our country’s most widely known cults, not through the lens of an investigative journalist but through that of a sociologist and a linguist. I found her book to be a compelling and interesting read.
Review by Andrew
Cultish:The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
The author of the widely praised Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power.
What makes "cults" so intriguing and frightening What makes them powerful The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we're looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join--and more importantly, stay in--extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me Amanda Montell's argument is that, on some level, it already has . . .
Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of "brainwashing." But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear--and are influenced by--every single day.
Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities "cultish," revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven's Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of "cultish" everywhere.