Cultish
By Amanda Montell
- Genre
- Art, Culture & Creative Life
- Publisher
- Harper Wave (HarperCollins)
- Publication year
- 2021
- ISBN
- 9780062993151
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism is a nonfiction book by the linguist Amanda Montell, published by Harper Wave in June 2021. It examines how language operates in cults and 'cultish' groups from megachurches to fitness brands. An instant New York Times bestseller, it was an NPR best book of 2021.
Why do we say a workout has a 'cult following,' or that a start-up drank the 'Kool-Aid'? In Cultish, the linguist Amanda Montell argues that the thread connecting Jonestown, Scientology, SoulCycle and multilevel marketing is language - the loaded jargon, thought-terminating cliches and us-versus-them vocabulary that bind members and blur judgment. Rather than asking why people are foolish enough to join, she shows how ordinary the machinery is, and how the same techniques operate in fitness studios and Instagram brands as in doomsday sects. Montell is a lively, funny guide who implicates herself and her reader alongside the true believers. intendle recommends it as a smart, unsettling look at the words that shape belief. An instant New York Times bestseller and an NPR best book of 2021, it will leave you listening more warily to the next enthusiastic pitch. You may recognize more of your own vocabulary in it than is entirely comfortable.