Rating: 🤷🏻‍♀️

I don’t know what to think about Cultish, by Amanda Montell.

It was fine. I learned a few things (like the term “thought-terminating cliché”) and the writing style was pretty conversational and accessible.

But it didn’t deliver on its premise? For being a book supposedly about cultish language, it was far more focused on just talking about a variety of cultish things. I’m not even sure what the thesis was, as the intro section was drawn out and didn’t identify a clear argument. There was also a lot of self-insertion that at times felt in lieu of research (even though I’m sure the book was well-researched).

While it made sense for Montell to insert herself into the narrative at times given her father grew up in a cult, it came with consequences. By identifying herself as someone incapable of falling for anything cultish so early, she undermined any point she tried to make later about who, how, and why people are susceptible to cultish manipulations. Her discussion of MLMs in particular felt very judgmental. Having just read Selling the Dream and knowing how MLMs can bankrupt people, I felt her choice around who to interview for the section (an old friend that knew it was a scam but was getting what she needed out of it) made it seem like she thought herself superior to anyone who does fall for an MLM’s scam.

So yeah, I don’t know. I would still suggest this book to friends interested in learning more about cultish things broadly. But it wasn’t my fave. I feel like there are better books out there about the specific topics Montell covered.