I was
recommended this book from a friend to read, so I borrowed it from her and was
immediately interested in the subject.
I haven’t read a book like this before, but I definitely thought it was
interesting. Although it isn’t the
type of book I usually review, I thought it would still be fun since I
personally love to expand my reading genres!
Title: The Sociopath Next Door
Author: Martha
Stout
Genre:
Non-Fiction, Psychology
Publisher:
Harmony
Publication Date:
January 1, 2006
Pages: 256
Out in
Paperback?: Yes; March 14, 2006
My Rating: 4.5/5
Review:
Goodreads Summary:
Who is the devil you know?
Is it your lying, cheating
ex-husband?
Your sadistic high school gym
teacher?
Your boss who loves to humiliate
people in meetings?
The colleague who stole your idea
and passed it off as her own?
In the pages of The Sociopath
Next Door, you will realize that your ex was not just misunderstood. He’s a
sociopath. And your boss, teacher, and colleague? They may be sociopaths too.
We are accustomed to think of
sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door, Harvard
psychologist Martha Stout reveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary
people—one in twenty-five—has an often undetected mental disorder, the chief
symptom of which is that that person possesses no conscience. He or she has no
ability whatsoever to feel shame, guilt, or remorse. One in twenty-five
everyday Americans, therefore, is secretly a sociopath. They could be your colleague,
your neighbor, even family. And they can do literally anything at all and feel
absolutely no guilt.
How do we recognize the
remorseless? One of their chief characteristics is a kind of glow or charisma
that makes sociopaths more charming or interesting than the other people around
them. They’re more spontaneous, more intense, more complex, or even sexier than
everyone else, making them tricky to identify and leaving us easily seduced.
Fundamentally, sociopaths are different because they cannot love. Sociopaths
learn early on to show sham emotion, but underneath they are indifferent to
others’ suffering. They live to dominate and thrill to win.
The fact is, we all almost
certainly know at least one or more sociopaths already. Part of the urgency in
reading The Sociopath Next Door is the moment when we suddenly recognize
that someone we know—someone we worked for, or were involved with, or voted
for—is a sociopath. But what do we do with that knowledge? To arm us against
the sociopath, Dr. Stout teaches us to question authority, suspect flattery,
and beware the pity play. Above all, she writes, when a sociopath is beckoning,
do not join the game.
It is the ruthless versus the rest
of us, and The Sociopath Next Door will show you how to recognize and
defeat the devil you know.
Characters:
Although there
are no real characters in this book, the author provides several examples for
the different scenarios that she touches on. As she describes that a sociopath is more general that what
we tend to think, someone who does not feel shame or guilt, she provides
examples that can be seen in everyday life; this can be a little scary, but I
did find it helpful and interesting.
Plot:
This books
focuses on teaching the readers how to protect themselves from sociopaths that
they may cross in their everyday life.
By recognizing the characteristics and actions of someone who does not
feel shame or guilt, one can better avoid them as they can cause an unhealthy
relationship to form in one’s life.
Writing Style:
I thought that
the writing style was very well done.
As a non-fiction book about psychology, I feared the book would go right
over my head or I wouldn’t be able to understand several parts of it. However, Stout explained her findings
very well so that it was able to appeal to all readers. Also, the examples and scenarios that
she gave helped to illustrate her point.
Have you read this book? If you are interested in psychology, I
would definitely recommend it.
Very interesting!
FTC Disclaimer:
All items
mentioned were purchased by me. This is not a sponsored post. All
opinions are my own. No affiliate links were used.
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