Cultish by Amanda Montell

It took me a little bit to get into this book, but once I did, I really enjoyed Montell's writings. She grew up with a father who had escaped a cult and his stories fascinated her. She feels like growing up with parents like that meant that she had a better chance of identifying a cult. I really liked that she mentioned that it is usually optimistic people who end up staying in cults, not under or overly educated people (though those two things seem to help). 

In her talking about cults, she touches on Jonestown (and the fact that a-the people drank Flavoraid and b-most didn't want to drink it) and how that happened.  There is also discussion of the Heaven's Gate group. Both times, she talks about how, viewing people as being in cults seems to dehumanize them, that others can judge them based on that. However, it is easier than many people think to join a cult. Reductive language, creating a we/they attitude, shaming people for wanting to leave are all tactics. Of course, there are things that could be argued whether or not they are cults: MLMs, CrossFit, QAnon.

Four stars

This book came out June 15, 2021

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own