Written in short, delicious chapters, this tangle with sisterhood lodged in my chest as I read. Every sentence reshapes the mundane bits of life through the the heart-tugging questions of what faith means and where we find it, whether that's in a bright green halfway house, a donut shop, or a church filled with feathers just to make someone laugh. Gorgeous!
This book moves beyond the spectacle of the 'cult' in order to desimplify and expand our understanding of the cult phenomenon. From Jonestown to Crossfit to Instagram influencers, Montell looks at the linguistic tools utilized to appeal to and shape ones thinking. An accessible and fascinating book full of information that proves useful in times like these, when so many voices are calling for followers.
I read the first chapter of this book at a nightclub and I did not dance that night. Instead, I sat transfixed and overwhelmed with feelings of recognition. Discovering the works of Mary Daly was like being heard and seen for the first time. I always thought I was crazy, I always thought I was extreme in my thinking, both are true but neither make me wrong.
Ann Leckie is so intelligent and so wise about the way she crafts her stories. What we have here is a slow burn fantasy novel told from the perspective of an ancient god that resides in a huge rock, a plot summary which does not sound even remotely exciting. But friends, I'm here to tell you that it is. You will see life evolve, languages emerge and change, cultures form and get subsumed, and religious worship come into being. There is war, there is blood sacrifice, there are fully developed queer / trans characters. There is the deep, echoing feeling that life existed before you were born and will continue after you die.
