Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cultish is a book about the language used by people and on people in cults. It was an easy read and opened my eyes to a lot of moments in life, that upon more careful observation could be deemed very suspicious.

The book is organized into six parts. The first gives an introduction into the concept of language and the how and the why certain words and turns of speech are used to lure people into feeling accepted by groups. Parts two and three expand on cultish organizations that center around making you feel like you can ascend to another level above humanity and how language is manipulated – especially by the likes of Scientology and other pseudo-religious organizations. There were a lot of things I had already come across in podcasts and documentaries, but it would probably be amiss to write a book on cults and omit some of the most glaring examples. I did take away some elements of Heavens Gate and Scientology that I had never heard.

The second half of the book was the most interesting to me. It focuses on multi-layer marketing and how that has evolved from Tupperware parties to stay-at-home moms wanting to sell leggings. It segues into how religion is being replaced by cultish fitness clubs and how cults can thrive in the realm of social media. I enjoyed this because I could relate to it the most. It basically says as much with statements like, “The audience to which ‘cult fitness’ primarily caters– urban dwelling millennials with income to spare – overlaps quite precisely with the contingency that has renounced traditional religion.” I’ve seen the #bossbabes in my social feeds and have seen how certain ‘influencers’ can hijack someone’s beliefs.

The examples provided throughout the entire book were interesting and easy to understand. The one thing I didn’t like (and is a personal pet peeve) occurred mostly in the beginning of the book. There was a lot of content briefly mentioned and then hinted that it would be followed up later in the book. More on that in chapter 5, but you’ll hear more about that when I talk about X, which we’ll get into later, etc etc. This popped up a lot in the front half almost to the point of being distracting.

There was a lot to take away from this book, especially in the second half. It got me thinking how many times I’ve brushed up against cult-like organizations – or even how non-cult organizations that utilize the same linguistic tricks- and managed to come out unscathed (Texas A&M University, Landmark Worldwide, Barrys Bootcamp, even the gay community to some extent). My takeaway from this book is that language is incredibly powerful and can be manipulated if you’re not paying attention.

I’d recommend this book.



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