Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell is a great first entry into reading nonfiction (4/5 stars)

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism (4/5 stars) is a nonfiction sociology/psychology book by Amanda Montell. The ebook version is 319 pages. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at eight and a half hours and is narrated by Ann Marie Gideon.

This book is an overview of cults and cult-like organizations, as well as an analysis about the language they use to influence others and convince them to join their flock. She extends this analysis past well-known cultish groups like Jonestown and Scientology to start-ups, social media influencers, MLMs, and SoulCycle.

This is a great first entry into reading nonfiction as it’s an easy read and quite humorous at times. Personally, I would have liked this to have gone a bit more in-depth into the language analysis, but I’m a word nerd. Folks who want to learn more about cults will probably like this book, as there’s more meat here about them than the language they use. I really did enjoy the author’s prose, though. I’ll definitely check out their other books. 

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