Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
Reviewed by: Beth Weimer, Communications Specialist
Genre: Nonfiction
Suggested Age: Adults
What is the book about?: Cultish examines the power of language and how it’s wielded by certain leaders and organizations to draw in followers and retain their loyalty and reverence. It provides examples from well-knowns like Scientology and Heaven’s Gate, drawing connections between their mantras, codes, buzzwords, and tactics to those of more seemingly benign groups like SoulCycle and MLMs to illustrate the continuum of cultish control and manipulation beneath the slick branding. The author also explores how normal people can succumb to these tactics when seeking to belong to an exclusive community, as well as the sometimes insidious influences of social media, marketing, and pop culture. Using interesting anecdotes, survivor interviews, and personal experiences to present her theories, Mantell offers a broad view of how language can drive or effect our behavior and the culty elements surrounding us every day.
My Review: I was so hyped for a book exploring two of my favorite things (language + cults!) that while I enjoyed it overall, I was disappointed in how extremely light the book is in terms of actual linguistics and research. I love that she connects the smarmy toxicity of fitness clubs, wellness gurus, and corporate culture to the exploitation foundational to almost every nefarious cult, but this is by no means a deep dive into anything… (and so little QAnon, with no mention of incels and Proud Boys?) The author makes no attempt at objectivity and her rather white/female/privileged viewpoint permeates the writing. She also takes a weirdly strong stance (borrowed from another author) that brainwashing does not exist, ignoring the entirely metaphorical use of the term to refer to recognized tactics of manipulation and coercive persuasion (I don’t think anyone uses that word literally or scientifically). She discusses some of the Protestant roots of cultish language but barely acknowledges the culty elements of established religions, the western bastardization of many Asian traditions, or the harm that respectable groups like AA can cause. She also keeps insisting that anyone – intelligent, successful people! – can fall prey to cultish groups without discussing factors like emotional intelligence, past abuse, or co-dependent personalities. Despite all of this and some questionably glossy summaries of the circumstances of cases like Waco, I did enjoy the book, I swear. (I probably wouldn’t take issue with any of the above if the author didn’t repeatedly describe herself as a linguist with “cutting original research.”) It just honestly felt more like a pop culture podcast or an ambitious Salon article than anything earth shattering or solidly based in scholarly linguistics or social science. Lucky for me, Montell is savvy enough to cohost a coordinating podcast called Sounds Like a Cult, which is funny and super enjoyable in its self-aware, snackable format.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Ambitious, Entertaining, Diet Coke
Give This a Try if You Like… Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell, The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control by Steven Hassan, Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch
Rating: 3.5/5
