The Age of Magical Overthinking - by Amanda Montell (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A BookPage Best Nonfiction Book of 2024

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.

Review Quotes

"[Montell] turns her erudite eye to the inner workings of the human mind and its biases in her most personal and electrifying work yet. . . razor sharp, deeply funny . . . Montell's prevailing message is one of hope, empathy, and ultimately forgiveness for our anxiety-addled human selves."--Sunset

"An engaging package suitable for anyone who wants to better understand the chaos of our modern society. Montell's take on how irrationality went mainstream is informed by erudite wit and an eye for telling images."--Kirkus, starred review

"Anyone who's ever been trapped in their own head can find solace in Amanda Montell's latest work, a delightful blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative that explores the modern information age, our brain's overloaded coping mechanisms, and societal irrationality." --NYLON

"Have you noticed you have a tendency to overthink? Join the party because we've all been living in an analytical bubble, but there may be hope! In The Age of Magical Overthinking, author Amanda Montell breaks down the things we tend to overthink and why they occupy our brain so much."--Brit+Co

"If you've ever wondered how social media has changed how you see the rest of the world, The Age of Magical Overthinking is exactly the book for you. Montell explores how the Internet and constantly being online has made us chronic overthinkers and anxious, irrational beings. And, of course, she offers a reprieve from the chaos of the modern age."--Men's Health

"In her latest, [Montell] unpacks the loopholes in the mental tricks and cognitive biases that we all tend to use as coping mechanisms. Montell connects the halo effect to Taylor Swift, the way sunk cost fallacy keeps us in situations we simply should not be in anymore, and so much more. And she writes about it all so gorgeously that you'll be reaching for a pen to annotate."--The Skimm

"Montell combines erudition with humor and self-deprecation...Reading The Age of Magical Overthinking feels like listening to your smartest friend give excellent advice. Hopefully, we'll take it."--BookPage

"Refreshingly entertaining and informative...[Montell] exemplifies the power of compelling stories by employing her own memorable metaphors and disclosures as an invitation to consider more deeply what we choose to consume and share."--Booklist

"With her nonfiction books Wordslut, Cultish, and most recently, The Age of Magical Overthinking, and her popular podcast Sounds Like A Cult, Montell has opened broad avenues for her fans to track the race between language, psychology, and their own bizarre behaviors."--Elle

"Written with wit, smarts, and self-deprecating charm, The Age of Magical Overthinking is at once a guidebook for the era of misinformation and an illuminating, palm-to-the-forehead reveal of the delusions that underlie our own beliefs. Rarely have so few pages explained so much, so entertainingly." --Mary Roach, New York Times bestselling author of Stiff, Gulp, and Fuzz

About the Author

Amanda Montell is a writer and linguist from Baltimore. She is the author of the acclaimed books Wordslut, Cultish, and The Age of Magical Overthinking. Along with hosting the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and more. She holds a degree in linguistics from NYU and lives in Los Angeles with her partner, plants, and pets. Find her on Instagram @Amanda_Montell.