A review by ashalucienne
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

5.0

this book was a surprise pick up and wow! like most of America, I've had a special interest in cults since I first encountered the religious cults of our country after I read a book on the FLDS in 9th grade. I've seen countless YouTube documentaries (not sure if they should get the title "documentary," but alas) on wacky cults and fell deep into Wikipedia rabbit holes ten too many times. the term "cult" gained a new meaning to me with the recent fanaticism of the American far-right (ie Pizzagate, Qanon, etc). I read The Cult of Trump and highly recommend for those interested. Montell's Cultish tells us what we've always known, that language is one of the greatest tools of unification, through a six-part tale of American cult-ure (see what I did there). the book is researched, yet concise, and feeds that insatiable craving for cult stories I know you search Youtube for in the early hours of the morning. entertaining and non-fiction, a win win! from Jonestown to Scientology to MLMs to Soulcycle, your favorite cult (or cult-adjacent group) will be covered in Montell's deep dive into the language of fanaticism.