Confessions of a Sociopath

A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight

By: M. E. Thomas

Narrated by: Bernadette Sullivan

Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

As M. E. Thomas says of her fellow sociopaths, we are your neighbors, co-workers, and quite possibly the people closest to you: lovers, family, friends. Our risk-seeking behavior and general fearlessness are thrilling, our glibness and charm alluring. Our often quick wit and outside-the-box thinking make us appear intelligent - even brilliant. We climb the corporate ladder faster than the rest, and appear to have limitless self-confidence.... Who are we? We are highly successful, non-criminal sociopaths and we comprise 4% of the American population (that's 1 in 25 people!).

Confessions of a Sociopath takes listeners on a journey into the mind of a sociopath, revealing what makes the tick and what that means for the rest of humanity. Written from the point of view of a diagnosed sociopath, it unveils these men and women who are "hiding in plain sight" for the very first time.

Confessions of a Sociopath is part confessional memoir, part primer for the wary. Drawn from Thomas' own experiences; her popular blog, Sociopathworld.com; and current and historical scientific literature, it reveals just how different - and yet often very similar - sociopaths are from the rest of the world. The book confirms suspicions and debunks myths about sociopathy and is both the memoir of a high-functioning, law-abiding (well, mostly) sociopath and a roadmap - right from the source - for dealing with the sociopath in your life, be it a boss, sibling, parent, spouse, child, neighbor, colleague or friend.

As Thomas argues, while sociopaths aren't like everyone else, and it's true some of them are incredibly dangerous, they are not inherently evil. In fact, they're potentially more productive and useful to society than neurotypicals or "empaths", as they fondly like to call "normal" people. Confessions of a Sociopath demystifyies sociopathic behavior and provides listeners with greater insight on how to respond or react to protect themselves, live among sociopaths without becoming victims, and even beat sociopaths at their own game, through a bit of empathetic cunning and manipulation.

©2013 M. E. Thomas (P)2013 Random House Audio

Enlighten yourself

I needed this book! I dated a man I believed to be a sociopath, the book gave me clarity so I no longer doubt. My biggest regret is not knowing the information beforehand so I could relate better to him. Too late now, but I'm happy to have experienced him, even the hell it put me thru.

For real?!! She is scary as hell. Pyscho literally

Wow. Just damn. The introduction pissed me off ...poor lil opossum...CRINGE! I am literally having a hard time listening, she upsets me. I think that she should be put under a watchful eye, in case she needs to hold a net over a person to see what 'happens' . The narcissistic attitude of herself is funny. I doubt highly that I'd like you M.E. T. EVER. I appreciate the book for what it is, well written. Interesting, frightening and a bit sad.

I appreciate you

I want you to know how much I appreciate everything you have written in this book. My son is on his way to being 15 and I have tried since she was born to figure out what is wrong with him. Every word of this book I can relate to use with him. At first I was distraught and upset but then realized it helped me with the future plan and also those around me that also have the same personality. I also in a medical provider and this perspective has also helped me and my patience. Thank you again. I was also curious to know how to find your blog thank you.

Profoundly misunderstood. Frightening.

I loved this book, but judging by the reviews, I don't think a lot of people "get it." I so rarely write reviews, but they're very helpful for me when trying to figure out what to buy, here I am.

It is a first person memoir written by a "diagnosed sociopath". It is questionable the extent that she has psychopathic anti-social personality disorder, or whether she is just a extreme, malignant narcissist with lots of anti-social traits.

Some are fixated on whether or not statements she makes are "true or false," or the nature of her diagnosis. The whole point of it though is that it's written by someone who -- herself -- has a hard time with parsing her own narrative, who admittedly has no "self," who is constantly engaging in self-deception both unknowingly and knowingly. The book exists on three layers. (1) What "actually happened" (which you can sometimes read between the lines of her stories), (2) what "she really believes happened" (which is completely opaque and impossible to know), and (3) what she "tells us happened" which is what you get here: every detail is completely self-serving, cherry picked for facts that prove her points, etc.

Just one of elements that makes the book great: the intense unreliability of the narrator who lucidly and repeatedly explains her constant need to manipulate but also seems to have a complete blind spot that the readers wouldn't read the entire contents of this book as overt manipulation.

Looking past the manipulation, the book is pretty amazing because it captures narcissism so well. A lot of people on Goodreads and Audible hate it because it's so mundane. I imagine they're looking for a serial killer memoir or the like. But this truly captures the mundane inanity and contradictions of narcissism.

The endless repetition to the point that entire sentences are repeated from one chapter to another. The casual lying. The constant contradictions: "I'm a very good driver" in one chapter followed by many examples of her self-acknowledging that she is a very bad driver but that doesn't matter. The appeals to "logic" when every logical connundrum basically is resolved by allowing her to do whatever she wants in the moment. Her vision that she is infinitely rational when every action she describes is arbitrary and impulsive.

The only place where true darkness of the book comes through is the chapter on her childhood. She is adamant that she was never abused by her parents and credits her parents with how successful she is as an adult. But she casually describes patterns of abuse, neglect, psychopathy, and narcissism in her parents. Her vision of this as perfectly normal and her describing this as basically good parenting suggest that what she describes in that chapter is very real.

The book is ostensibly written to "clear the air" on negative feelings toward sociopaths. But in reality, it's her narcissistic self aggrandizement of someone who -- on some level -- believes that their diagnosis is actually a superpower. For a book where although almost nothing "of interest" happens, it's genuinely frightening. And it's surprisingly well written. But I guess that should be the case because her internal world is the only subject that she considers worth intimate study.

This is not a book about a killer, but it is a book about someone who would kill if a reasonable opportunity for social mobility through killing presented itself. It's a book about someone who excels at guile and cunning who makes one of the strongest cases I've read to *support* avoiding relationships with sociopathic people (or at least narcissists). Probably not something if you're interested in a "true crime" potboiler. But this is the real life American Psycho: but only the 85% of the book that people forget about where Bateman isn't killing people, and instead just talking about how good he looks in brand name business suits. That's where the real demon is.

I imagine she probably reads every review of the book, so hello Ms. Thomas. Thank you for a fantastic 10 hour experience.

Extremely interesting and enlightening

Authentic story, with appropriately creepy/cold delivery. 9/10

I needed 8 more words for this review.

thank you!

i would like to say thank you to author for this awesome book. And to audible as well

Fellow Mormon with psychopathy

This was really cool to hear someone with a similar life experience. You are a dang coward M.E. Thomas. Staying in the Mormon church.

Probably ridiculous of me to expect anything else

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I liked this book but I did get tired of hearing the author talk about herself SO very much. But, hey, now that I listened to this book, I realize that's what sociopaths care most about! It was really interesting and I have now diagnosed one of my friends with sociopathy. I didn't like her much because of some of her moral decisions, now I realize that she couldn't help it. She has no empathy.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

By the end I was tired of listening to this book.

What about Bernadette Sullivan’s performance did you like?

I liked most of the performance but I think her "breathlessness" reading made me tire of the author more than I normally would have.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would not listen to this in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

It was very educational and I am happy with the information I gained listening to it. I have told several friends about it. It definitely made an impression on me.

interesting book

been wanting to read this one for a while now one of my favorites glad I did the audio version

Absolutely terrifying. Wanted to vomit at times.

it gives you a gross perspective from the sociopaths point of view. I've been torn in two. I'm not sure if I'm sickened with the valuable information within this book on weather I'm against the authors words, or horrifically coming to the realization that I agree with her.