Review: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A clever, engaging, and empathetic look at a gamut of cults from the truly horrifying to the mostly harmless (no worse than any other late stage capitalism company) and the importance language plays in creating and maintaining them all. As a hypermedia you know I am all for a good book about language, so there's that, but there's also a great deal of insight into the appeal of social groups at the edges, non-sensationalized recent history about which I was ill-informed: both the massacre in Jonestown and how that in turn lead to the deaths of nearly eighty Branch Davidians. As well, there's a clear-eyed view of MLM and exercise studios of which I knew nothing.

Quotes that grabbed me and that I have to actually type in because I read an actual print version.

"...she willingly heard the buzzwords and thought-terminators she wanted to hear, and tuned out the rest...I let him address my priorities, and put blinders on for other things..."

"These folks can be thought of as "nerds" because what they're really doing is experimenting in corners...that might not be considered conventionally cool or glamorous. Analogous, I like to think of certain cultists religious types as "spiritual nerds." They're the people who geek out on niche theological theories...who are willing to look outside the box..."

Because there's a bravery to that process I admire.

"In the end, some problematic leaders are really just followers of the larger system. But a truly, destructively cultish leader is one who wishes to overthrow the system and replace it with something that grants them ultimate power."

I recognize that there are people like this, but they feel alien to me in a way that fictional Martians never do.

"The group [Ramtha] was founded in the late '80s....But Ramtha devotees...hear what they want to hear and ignore the rest."

That's a recurring theme, obviously, and so relatable. Many people are forced to make their choices from the lesser of two (or more evils), and not only in elections. But while some of my thoughts were dire, I was often amused as well, as this line, when recalling the bizarre claims of a conspiracy theory:

"...baseless doomsday predictions and ideas of dark forces secretly controlling everything are practically trite."

I am becoming a little devoted to Montell's writing.

Library copy



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