Amanda Montell

The author of the widely praised Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power. What makes "cults" so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we're looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join--and more importantly, stay in--extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell's argument is that, on some level, it already has . . . Our culture tends to provide pretty lame answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of "brainwashing." But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear--and are influenced by--every single day. Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities "cultish," revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven's Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of "cultish" everywhere.

The Language of Fanaticism

Cultish

A brash, enlightening, and wildly entertaining feminist look at gendered language and the way it shapes us, written with humor and playfulness that challenges words and phrases and how we use them. “I get so jazzed about the future of feminism knowing that Amanda Montell’s brilliance is rising up and about to explode worldwide.”—Jill Soloway The word bitch conjures many images for many people, but is most often meant to describe an unpleasant woman. Even before its usage to mean a female canine, bitch didn’t refer to gender at all—it originated as a gender-neutral word meaning genitalia. A perfectly innocuous word devolving into a female insult is the case for tons more terms, including hussy—which simply meant “housewife”—or slut, which meant “untidy” and was also used to describe men. These words are just a few among history’s many English slurs hurled at women. Amanda Montell, feminist linguist and staff features editor at online beauty and health magazine Byrdie.com, deconstructs language—from insults and cursing to grammar and pronunciation patterns—to reveal the ways it has been used for centuries to keep women form gaining equality. Ever wonder why so many people are annoyed when women use the word “like” as a filler? Or why certain gender neutral terms stick and others don’t? Or even how linguists have historically discussed women’s speech patterns? Wordslut is no stuffy academic study; Montell’s irresistible humor shines through, making linguistics not only approachable but both downright hilarious and profound, demonstrated in chapters such as: Slutty Skanks and Nasty Dykes: A Comprehensive List of Gendered Insults How to Embarrass the Shit Out of People Who Try to Correct Your Grammar Fuck it: An Ode to Cursing While Female Cyclops, Panty Puppet, Bald Headed Bastard and 100+ Other Things to Call Your Genitalia Montell effortlessly moves between history and popular culture to explore these questions and more. Wordslut gets to the heart of our language, marvels at its elasticity, and sheds much-needed light into the biases that shadow women in our culture and our consciousness.

A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

Wordslut

From the bestselling author of Cultish and host of the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative that explores our cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages, and highlights of magical thinking. Utilizing the linguistic insights of her “witty and brilliant” (Blyth Roberson, author of America the Beautiful?) first book Wordslut and the sociological explorations of her breakout hit Cultish, Amanda Montell now turns her erudite eye to the inner workings of the human mind and its biases in her most personal and electrifying work yet. “Magical thinking” can be broadly defined as the belief that one’s internal thoughts can affect unrelated events in the external world: Think of the conviction that one can manifest their way out of poverty, stave off cancer with positive vibes, thwart the apocalypse by learning to can their own peaches, or transform an unhealthy relationship to a glorious one with loyalty alone. In all its forms, magical thinking works in service of restoring agency amid chaos, but in The Age of Magical Overthinking, Montell argues that in the modern information age, our brain’s coping mechanisms have been overloaded, and our irrationality turned up to an eleven. In a series of razor sharp, deeply funny chapters, Montell delves into a cornucopia of the cognitive biases that run rampant in our brains, from how the “Halo effect” cultivates worship (and hatred) of larger than life celebrities, to how the “Sunk Cost Fallacy” can keep us in detrimental relationships long after we’ve realized they’re not serving us. As she illuminates these concepts with her signature brilliance and wit, Montell’s prevailing message is one of hope, empathy, and ultimately forgiveness for our anxiety-addled human selves. If you have all but lost faith in our ability to reason, Montell aims to make some sense of the senseless. To crack open a window in our minds, and let a warm breeze in. To help quiet the cacophony for a while, or even hear a melody in it.

Notes on Modern Irrationality

The Age of Magical Overthinking

Cultos

O poder dos cultos está por toda parte e nasce na linguagem O que torna os cultos tão intrigantes e assustadores? O que os torna poderosos? A razão pela qual tantos de nós assistimos documentários sobre Charles Manson e Jim Jones aos montes e caímos em tocas de coelho pesquisando sobre pessoas que se afiliam ao QAnon é a busca por uma explicação satisfatória para o que faz com que elas se juntem — e, mais importante, permaneçam em — grupos extremos. Nós secretamente queremos saber: isso poderia acontecer comigo? Cultos: A Linguagem Secreta do Fanatismo, novo livro da Macabra em parceria com a DarkSide® Books, examina minuciosamente a forma como as palavras podem ser manipuladas para construir um senso de comunidade, reforçar valores coletivos, impedir o debate, ou até mesmo incentivar comportamento nocivo em nome da ideologia. Montell reconta histórias de seitas bastante conhecidas e grupos cultistas para examinar como a linguagem tem, historicamente, colaborado com práticas coercivas. Por meio de narrativas suculentas e pesquisas profundas, originais e afiadas, Montell expõe os elementos verbais que transformam um amplo espectro de comunidades em “cultos”, revelando como afetam os seguidores de grupos tão notórios quanto os de Jim Jones e Heaven’s Gate, mas também como eles permeiam startups modernas, estratégias de marketing, academias de crossfit e gurus de mídias sociais. Incisiva e com um humor ácido, a abordagem arrebatadora de Montell vai fazer você questionar até mesmo o seu feed de Instagram. Enquanto provoca a universalidade da influência cultista, a autora defende a humanidade daqueles que foram arrebatados por suas crenças. Tudo isso em uma edição macabrenta em capa dura e repleta de colagens da artista Carol Nazatto. Às vezes arrepiante, em outros momentos engraçado, mas sempre perceptivo, crítico e muito convincente, Cultos: A Linguagem Secreta do Fanatismo é uma leitura fascinante, acessível e muito informativa sobre o poder da linguagem, e como ela faz nascer e ruir impérios com a escolha certa de palavras. A Colheita Macabra na DarkSide Books A Macabra Filmes e a DarkSide® Books selaram um pacto eterno e inauguraram, no início de 2020, o selo Macabra para apresentar livros e quadrinhos transgressores ao público brasileiro. Casa de obras como o inusitado Medicina Macabra, que reúne casos médicos escabrosos, e o completo Grimório das Bruxas, do estudioso Ronald Hutton, a Macabra apresenta ao público um livro esclarecedor sobre o poder da linguagem para dominar mentes. A fazenda está pronta para uma nova temporada com seus leitores macabros.

Amanda Montell

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