Amanda Montell's Books

Cultish

The Language of Fanaticism

By: Amanda Montell

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Cultish

The Language of Fanaticism

By: Amanda Montell

“One of those life-changing reads that makes you see—or, in this case, hear—the whole world differently.” —Megan Angelo, author of Followers “At times chilling, often funny, and always perceptive and cogent, Cultish is a bracing reminder that the scariest thing about cults is that you don't realize you're in one till it's too late.”—Refinery29.com The New York Times bestselling author of The Age of Magical Overthinking and Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how “cultish” groups, from Jonestown and Scientologists 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 flimsy 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.

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Page Count

300

Publisher

HarperCollins

Published Date

ISBN 10

0062993178

ISBN 13

9780062993175

The Age of Magical Overthinking

Notes on Modern Irrationality

By: Amanda Montell

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The Age of Magical Overthinking

Notes on Modern Irrationality

By: Amanda Montell

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 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.

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Page Count

272

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1668007991

ISBN 13

9781668007990

Wordslut

A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

By: Amanda Montell

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Wordslut

A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

By: Amanda Montell

“As funny as it is informative, this book will have you laughing out loud while you contemplate the revolutionary power of words.” —Camille Perri, author of The Assistants and When Katie Met Cassidy A brash, enlightening, and wildly entertaining feminist look at gendered language and the way it shapes us. The word bitch conjures many images, but it is most often meant to describe an unpleasant woman. Even before its usage to mean “a female canine,” bitch didn’t refer to women at all—it originated as a gender-neutral word for “genitalia.” A perfectly innocuous word devolving into an insult directed at females is the case for tons more terms, including hussy, which simply meant “housewife”; and slut, which meant “an untidy person” and was also used to describe men. These are just a few of history’s many English slurs hurled at women. Amanda Montell, reporter and feminist linguist, deconstructs language—from insults, cursing, gossip, and catcalling to grammar and pronunciation patterns—to reveal the ways it has been used for centuries to keep women and other marginalized genders from power. Ever wonder why so many people are annoyed when women speak with vocal fry or use like as filler? Or why certain gender-neutral terms stick and others don’t? Or where stereotypes of how women and men speak come from in the first place? Montell effortlessly moves between history, science, and popular culture to explore these questions—and how we can use the answers to affect real social change. Her irresistible humor shines through, making linguistics not only approachable but downright hilarious and profound. Wordslut gets to the heart of our language, marvels at its elasticity, and sheds much-needed light on the biases that shadow women in our culture and our consciousness.

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Page Count

283

Publisher

HarperCollins

Published Date

ISBN 10

0062868896

ISBN 13

9780062868893

The Age of Magical Overthinking

Notes on Modern Irrationality

By: Amanda Montell

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The Age of Magical Overthinking

Notes on Modern Irrationality

By: Amanda Montell

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.

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Page Count

272

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1668007975

ISBN 13

9781668007976

Dirt Dollars Death

By: Amanda Sherrill

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Dirt Dollars Death

By: Amanda Sherrill

Inspired by true events, Dirt Dollars Death is a crime mystery novel about organized corruption in a rural county located in the Texas Hill Country and what happens when love, friendship, and loyalty don’t give up the search for a missing person. Missy, Clint, and Giselle arrive from Houston with plans to meet Missy’s boyfriend and then spend a long weekend touring The Three Sisters on motorcycles. They find strange behavior from the locals, and then a mysterious man gives them startling news. The little group, with its own personality dynamics, experiences most of the one-hundred-mile motorcycle route while they explore the small town of Leakey, travel across a mountain to Camp Wood, and eventually visit two other tiny communities (one not by choice). There are hostile encounters with the unfriendly locals, and then something happens, and their energies focus in a new direction that leads them to a fight for their lives. The story spans four days and includes missing people, real estate fraud, identity theft, money laundering, human and other contraband trafficking, betrayal, murder, and more perpetrated by a variety of interconnected crime syndicates as well as by individuals with their own agendas. The reader will not only ride along with the protagonists through scenic landscapes but will also see into some of the locals’ relationships and operations, all of whom will do the ultimate evil to keep their secrets safe.

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Page Count

478

Publisher

Covenant Books, Inc.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1638142823

ISBN 13

9781638142829

Wordslut

A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

By: Amanda Montell

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Wordslut

A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

By: Amanda Montell

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283

Publisher

HarperCollins

Published Date

ISBN 10

0062868896

ISBN 13

9780062868893

Josef Koudelka

Nationality Doubtful

By: Josef Koudelka,Stuart Alexander,Amanda Maddox,Gilles A. Tiberghien

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Josef Koudelka

Nationality Doubtful

By: Josef Koudelka,Stuart Alexander,Amanda Maddox,Gilles A. Tiberghien

A retrospective catalog featuring vintage prints as well as recent, unpublished work by an internationally acclaimed photographer This retrospective catalog features vintage prints as well as recent, unpublished work by internationally acclaimed photographer Josef Koudelka (b. 1938). A leading member of the photo agency Magnum, co-founded by his close friend Henri Cartier-Bresson, Koudelka has been a legend since the publication of his unforgettable eyewitness photographs taken during the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet-led troops in 1968. In addition to Invasion and Exiles, Koudelka's most ambitious project, Gypsies, is featured with the complete set of twenty-two prints first exhibited in 1967. Koudelka's impressive imagery is accompanied here by five essays that provide a thorough understanding of and appreciation for this outstanding artist, willfully independent and reclusive despite his renown.

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227

Publisher

Yale University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0300203926

ISBN 13

9780300203929

Celebutantes

By: Amanda Goldberg

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Celebutantes

By: Amanda Goldberg

Hollywood's a dog-eat-dog world, but you know who your friends are ... What would you do if you were born on Oscar night into Hollywood royalty? If you went to Vanity Fair parties rather than birthday parties? And if your life felt like a glamourous movie - but you were only an extra in it, playing boyfriendless, jobless hopeful no.310? Meet Lola Santisi. She's an Actorholic. Stuck in a pattern of dating beautiful actors then as soon as she's got over the dazzle of their teeth and the rockhard abs, realising they're just as self-obsessed as the last one. She's gone cold-turkey, and resolved to plough her energy into helping her friends instead. Julian, Lola's BGF (best gay friend), is a designer on the up. But he'll be down and out if he can't get someone to wear his designs on Oscar night so persuades Lola to become his Hollywood Ambassador. Lola's best friend Kate, is an ambitious young agent desperate to sign a big name. Together with their other friend, Cricket, a ditzy actress aspiring to play something other than a coma victims on ER, they must navigate through celebrity-hell if they're ever going to make it to the red carpet...

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Page Count

336

Publisher

Hachette UK

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409133540

ISBN 13

9781409133544

Winter Ball

By: Amanda Christie

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Winter Ball

By: Amanda Christie

Lucy has to decide wether she wants to do what what is right or popular.

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Page Count

196

Publisher

Random House Books for Young Readers

Published Date

ISBN 10

0375814302

ISBN 13

9780375814303

Book's by Amanda Montell

Cultish

Cultish

The Age of Magical Overthinking

The Age of Magical Overthinking

Wordslut

Wordslut

The Age of Magical Overthinking

The Age of Magical Overthinking

Dirt Dollars Death

Dirt Dollars Death

Wordslut

Wordslut

Josef Koudelka

Josef Koudelka

Celebutantes

Celebutantes

Winter Ball

Winter Ball

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