About this item
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.
About the Author
Amanda Montell is a writer and linguist from Baltimore born in the winter of 1992. She is the author of two nonfiction books: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism (forthcoming from Harper Wave in June 2021) and the critically acclaimed Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language (Harper Wave, 2019) . Wordslut has earned praise from the New York Times, Kirkus Reviews, and Publisher's Weekly, among others, and Amanda is currently developing the book for television with FX, serving as creator, writer, and executive producer. As a reporter and essayist, Amanda's writing has been featured in Marie Claire, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Nylon, Bustle, The Rumpus, Byrdie, and Who What Wear, where she formerly served as the Features & Beauty Editor. Amanda holds a degree in linguistics from NYU and lives in Los Angeles, where she enjoys learning impractical languages and doting upon her spoiled pets. Find her on Instagram @amanda_montell.
