Brandice's Reviews > Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism

My nearly life long fascination with cults is inexplicable — Why do I find them so interesting?

In Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism Amanda Montell explains how cults establish their influence using the power of language. As someone who has long been intrigued by the idea of cults, I knew I had to read this book. I’m a skeptic by nature and quick to drop a polite yet firm “No” when solicited for anything I’m not interested in, but recognize, of course, not everyone operates this way.

Montell talks about traditional cults like Jonestown, Heaven’s Gate, and Waco, in addition to modern forms of cults like SoulCycle, MLMs (aka pyramid schemes), and more. The stakes may not be as high as they once were, but the cultish principles remain. She highlights the influence language has on people and how cults have continued to use this to their advantage from recruiting to establishing power, and who the ripe targets tend to be. If you, like me, loathe the demeaning terms of “boss babe” and “girl boss”, you may find the latter chapters about cultish behavior in its more contemporary forms especially interesting.

“Rather, because words are the medium through which belief systems are manufactured, nurtured, and reinforced, their fanaticism fundamentally could not exist without them. ‘Without language there are no beliefs, ideology, or religion … these concepts require language as a condition of their existence. Without language, there are no cults.’”

Cultish was great book and one I know I’ll continue thinking about.