Book Review: The Sociopath Next Door: The Ruthless Versus the Rest of Us (2005). Martha Stout, PhD.

I first read this short but indispensable book a number of years ago.  I consider it to be one of the most important and eye-opening books I have read in recent years.  I have revisited it several times since, because it addresses an apparently permanent part of the human condition we must be aware of to understand much of the destructive and unbearable behavior we see around us.

 

As Dr. Stout points out, psychological research has shown that 4-5% of the human population, consistent across different cultures, is utterly lacking in a conscience.  The one person in 25 with this condition is simply unable to feel or comprehend common human emotions like guilt, remorse or empathy for anyone else.  This is what it is to be a sociopath, almost like an alien species among us that is threatening and dangerous to the rest of us, and that needs to be understood and recognized for us to be able to protect ourselves from them, whether in our personal relationships or in our larger social and political choices.

 

The author wrote this book after more than 25 years of working as a clinical psychologist with patients with disorders in the sociopathy range.  She brings many insights based on this personal experience, as well as her familiarity with the research on these disorders.  To begin, she explains that sociopaths exist along a spectrum, from the exasperating neighbor or co-worker who is always trying to “win” some pointless argument, to the demeaning and degrading boss, to the cold-blooded serial killer, and the monstrous autocratic leader of an oppressive dictatorship. 

 

She describes different aspects of typical sociopathic behavior: the fact that lacking all human empathy and connection, their only possible satisfaction is an endless search for “wins” over other people; their frequent high intelligence, and awareness of the common human emotions, but only as tools for manipulating others, not something they can ever feel; their belief that normal rules and laws of human civilization and society don’t apply to them; and their willingness to lie continuously without remorse.  

There is so much more valuable insight and illustrative stories from her case histories, but rather than recounting it all, I would just say: read this book.  Very highly recommended.

TV Review: The Morning Show. Apple TV+ Series, Seasons 1-2.

Starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Crudup and Steve Carrell among others, this is the definitive dramatic series so far about the age of #METOO.   It takes place at a fictional New York TV network (UBA), which has a problem similar to the one NBC found itself in with Matt Lauer, when the male co-anchor of their major national morning news show (played by Steve Carrell) is exposed as a sexual predator by a staff member.  

It features an outstanding performance by Witherspoon in particular, but the whole cast, plotting and script are strong, the suspense builds relentlessly, and all the workplace relationship complexities, ethical compromises, collateral damage and political ruthlessness to be found in a bad workplace environment with a tolerance for sexual harassment are on full display.  

This was a very good socio-political thriller and dramatic series, particularly throughout the first season. By the end of the second season, though, I found myself not really liking or caring very much about any of the characters, male or female – it seemed that every one of the major characters was so deeply flawed and compromised that it became hard to relate to their problems. I hope there isn't a Season 3 -- it's enough already.  But still recommended.

Book Review: The Cold Dish (2004). Craig Johnson.

The Cold Dish is the first of 24 Western mystery novels in the Walt Longmire saga, which was the basis for the Longmire series I binged and enjoyed in TV form (all six seasons) on Netflix in 2021.  And this is truly a wonderfully well-crafted murder mystery.

 

Through the often amusing and ironic first-person story-telling of Sheriff Walt Longmire, a modern lawman nearing retirement who is cut from the mold of old-time Western frontier heroes, we set off on a search for the killer of first one, then several of a group of four young white men convicted a few years before of the brutal rape of a young Indian girl from the nearby reservation.  

 

Along the way, we also meet (for the first time) a rich cast of local characters and oddballs in the rural small-town community of Durant, Wyoming, and get to read a lot of funny and occasionally  serious dialogue in the local dialects. There’s also a pleasing mix of action, interesting relationships among the characters, some entertaining flirtations, sexual attractions and diversions, and of course, a murder mystery to be solved.

 

Fans of the Netflix TV series Longmire will know most but not all of these characters, and will likely be impressed (as I was) by how brilliantly the TV show's lead actors nailed the essential qualities of each of the main characters as they appear in this book.  A can't-miss series opener for murder mystery fans who also love a great modern Western adventure.  Recommended.

Book Review: The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War (2021). Malcolm Gladwell.

This most recent book by one of my favorite non-fiction writers departs from his usual book topics of social psychology, and instead turns to a fascinating analysis and history of one of the most devastating aspects of modern war, beginning with World War II: the mass aerial bombing of civilian populations.   

Gladwell, who delights in upending conventional wisdom in his writing, as well as in his popular podcast, Revisionist History, takes us back to the pre-war era in the 1930s, when a small group of influential young RAF leaders began advocating for the idea of “more humane” pinpoint bombing, as a way to destroy enemy infrastructure and war production without hurting the civilian population.   It sounded great, and found adherents among the more progressive young U.S. military leaders of the time too.    

The problem as Gladwell explains it, though, is that the technology of the time – including the much-vaunted American Norden Bombsight – was utterly unable to support the level of accuracy required to make the strategy actually work.  The early results of these tactics as used by the Royal Air Force and the United States against Germany were that the bombing was so inaccurate that little harm was done to German war production, but enough random destruction was visited on the civilian population near target sites that it only served to stiffen German resistance.

From this point, he does a wonderful job of comparing this approach, and the idealistic men in both Britain and the U.S. who tried to implement it, with that of the person most associated with barbaric, indiscriminate bombing mayhem against populations – General Curtis LeMay – and then asking hard questions about which approach actually ended up being the more militarily effective, and the more "humane" in terms of total loss of life, minimizing human suffering and winning the war, given the limitations of the technology then available.

It’s a brilliant piece of historical research and analysis, with the usual Gladwellian twists and counter-intuitive musings.  And as always, he's more interested in raising and examining the questions under the light of different perspectives than providing the reader with firm answers.  Very highly recommended.

TV Review: Inventing Anna. Netflix 9-part miniseries. 2022.

This engrossing "based on a true story (except what they made up)" docudrama series is the lightly fictionalized story of "Anna Delvey",  a 23-year old mystery woman and con artist who arrived in New York a few years ago, claiming to be a wealthy young German heiress on a mission to start an exclusive club for the super-rich elite.  

 

The series started out a little slowly, but once it got going, it was riveting. The story of Anna's two-year wild ride, living a social-media fueled life of wealth and celebrity through New York high-society using other peoples' money, unfolds primarily through the eyes of a pregnant, disgraced journalist, who latches on to Anna's sensational story as a vehicle to save her career. 

 

Episode by episode, we see the journalist steadily peeling back the layers of the story, as she interviews Anna, her friends and various victims.  Through flashbacks, we watch as a whole cast of major players from the top tiers of banking and finance, real estate, high fashion, and the wealthy art world are pulled into Anna’s orbit, and taken in by her web of lies.  

 

Through it all, it was astonishing to watch how Anna was able to take in so many supposedly smart and sophisticated people for as long as she did.  By the end, she seemed to be a young woman with a narcissistic personality, and an extraordinary talent for manipulating others reminiscent of another more famous celebrity, the former reality TV star and President.   

 

Obsessed with always displaying the symbols of ostentatious wealth and expensive taste, she also knew instinctively how to exploit the modern tools of social media and celebrity self-promotion to build her personal brand and social network. She combined all that with a sociopath's gift for surrounding herself with followers and admirers, who seemed to become addicted to her and the glamorous image of herself she created.  In that context, it all seemed so sadly familiar.

 

Anna’s marks appeared to be in awe of her self-confidence, and her refusal to follow anyone's rules but her own.  Each one of her victims, including even the journalist who investigated her frauds and the lawyer who devoted himself to her defense, seemed to envy Anna’s strength of will, while at the same time hoping somehow to benefit from being close to her, and her apparently vast wealth, connections, celebrity, and success.  She understood this power very well, and continued to use it to get what she wanted from many of them, even after she was arrested, tried and convicted.

It’s a fascinating and chilling story for our times, with a good script and fine acting, especially by Julia Garner, who played Anna with disturbing conviction and authenticity.

 

This series is a Shonda Rimes production.   Highly recommended.

TV Review: Home Before Dark. Apple TV+ Series, Seasons 1-2.

This offbeat mystery and family drama series tells the story of Hilde, an 11-year old journalist with her own little news web site, who investigates a local small-town murder, and ends up scooping the police and “real” journalists when she solves the mystery through her dogged pursuit of clues and information.  

Surprisingly enough, this story is based on a real young girl’s investigative work and experiences, but has been spiced up with lots of other dramatic threads about her disillusioned journalist father, the family’s sometimes-strained relationship to the community, and other interesting small-town sub-plots. Very enjoyable, with a winning performance by the young actress in the lead role (Brooklynn Prince).  Recommended.

Movie Review: Munich: The Edge of War (2022). Netflix.

This is a taut, well-paced pre-World War II spy thriller movie, based on Robert Harris's novel Munich.  It's about Neville Chamberlain's Munich negotiations with Hitler over the fate of Czechoslovakia, and an attempt by two estranged friends from pre-war Oxford, one British and one German, to get critical information about Hitler's true expansionist intentions to Chamberlain before he signs the "Peace in Our Time" agreement with Hitler.  Jeremy Irons gives an excellent performance as Chamberlain.  Recommended.

Book Review: The Rose Code (2021). Kate Quinn.

A very good historical thriller and mystery about three very different young women in England who become friends while working at the Bletchley Park code-breaking facility in World War II.  Each of the young women comes from a different background, with different personalities and talents that contribute to the code-breaking effort, and to the community of their friends and colleagues, in different ways.  

 

Of course, it has the obligatory spy thriller sub-plot about a betrayer in the community, and the race to figure out who it is and to expose the traitor.  There was also another intriguing thread about the romantic relationship between one of the women and the young naval officer Prince Phillip, that lasted through most of the war.  It all added up to a rich historical novel about one of the great British technical and organizational triumphs of World War II, and the important role that women played in it.

 

What was even more surprising was to find out in the Afterword how closely the fictional story adheres to the real lives and experiences of several of the actual female veterans of the Bletchley Park code-breaking team (and of Prince Phillip!).  A well-researched and entertaining novel of women's contribution to the Allied war effort in this very unique time and place.  Recommended.