The Sociopath Next Door

De: Martha Stout

Narrado por: Shelly Frasier

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 25, 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 25 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.

©2005 Martha Stout (P)2005 Tantor Media, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Stout is a good writer and her exploration of sociopaths can be arresting." (Publishers Weekly)
"A remarkable philosophical examination of the phenomenon of sociopathy and its everyday manifestations....Stout's portraits make a striking impact and readers with unpleasant neighbors or colleagues may find themselves paying close attention to her sociopathic-behavior checklist and suggested coping strategies. Deeply thought-provoking and unexpectedly lyrical." (Kirkus)

Interesting

I liked the book, easy to listen to. I like the stories of different people with explanations of what was going on in between. I would have even liked if it was longer.

Wish I would have read this when it came out

I now know the sociopaths that have crossed my life’s path and glad that I was able to avoid them most of the time …. Now it seems the USA is raising more Sociopaths every generation:/

The human stories

I enjoyed how the author turned her experiences with working with patients into a series of short stories that can be relatable to various readers. I expected the book to have a more clinical tone than it does.

My Life - My Husband :(

SO WELL DONE!

Explains SO MUCH about what I have suffered, and continue to suffer, in my marriage.

Now to write the book on how to depart and recover from the sociopath. Please.

Good but a bit off-topic

First, let me say there is a lot of good and interesting information in this book. I learned a lot of things about sociopathy from the author. That said, I have a few bones to pick.

The author goes off-topic. She does not just go a little off-topic, either, she starts rambling into areas that have absolutely nothing to do with her topic, much less with her thesis for the book. It almost seems as if she ran out of material and just started spening time adding filler to make the book a little bigger.

Also, it's hard to identify with any people in her stories knowing they are composite. Am I supposed to believe there were no examples of real sociopaths that would provide the examples she needs? If not, it kind of invalidates her points.

I gave the book three stars, but it easily could have been a much better book with some better editing, more succinct writing, and real examples.

I will add that Shelly Frasier did an excellent job of doing the narration, thouh.

Starts Strong and Finishes Silly

The first half of this book is enlightening, as Stout takes us on a tour through the mind of the Sociopath living next door. Sadly, her tome quickly degenerates into a not-too-subtly veiled commentary on conservatism, Bush and the War on Terror (all quite sociopathic, apparently). Evidently, Stout believes that the minds of the most moral among us are apparently distinguished by rabid environmentalism and the merits of the welfare state - all the while missing the point that these "causes" can too serve as vehicles for sociopaths to dominate others while cleverly disguising their motives as "pure."

This, Dr. Stout, is why professionalism and logic should not be carelessly intermixed with personal political opinion. I fear the good doctor's book illustrates another interesting psychological phenomenon - that of projection. Save your credits or resign yourself to only listening to the first half of this book. A pity.

Everybody should read this book.

This was a fabulous and informative book about a darkly fascinating topic -- the 4% of the N. American population that have no conscience whatsoever. I strongly recommend it if you want to understand the snakes-in-suits you’ve worked with and other inexplicably and extremely unpleasant people you’ve known (excluding narcissists).

The author gets into it early with composite case studies. Later she gets into some of the underlying concepts and that part is really interesting, too.

Read this and a good book on narcissism and the causes of much of the bad craziness you’ve experienced in the workplace will be revealed! That won’t fix the bad craziness, but it’s much better to understand these devils than to be dumbfounded by them.

I highly recommend this book. Please consider taking the opportunity to learn about this destructive phenomenon that touches almost everybody’s lives in negative ways, both big and small. You’ll be glad you did. Knowledge is power.

Everyone should read this book!

Any additional comments?

This is an incredible well written and well performed book. The format of composite case studies is very easy to understand, compelling, and serves to explain the complex varieties of sociopaths out there. The performance by Shelly Frasier is top notch other than minor pronunciation errors.

Foremost, the book seeks to grapple with such a damaging and baffling mental illness as sociopathy. It offers a counterbalance in describing what is so socially and psychologically valuable in the goodness of care and those who are the opposite of sociopaths, the greatly conscientious and caring. It is also ultimately a survival guide and tool you can use to protect yourself against the sociopath next door, at work or school or right under your roof.

I have two critiques though. First, in terms of content, there are moments when the author relies too heavily on some of the oft repeated pop psych studies and cute quotes from famous figures. Milgram Experiment again? Even with that said, the book is so well written and well edited that even the overplayed Milgram Experiment is well utilized within the text. Secondly, in terms of the performance, there is one awful pronunciation error that stood out to me as a Romanian. For some odd reason Shelly Fraiser, mostly likely under erroneous instruction, was pronouncing Romanian dictator Ceaușescu's name as if it were a French instead of a Romanian name. He was only mentioned a few times but it is a silly and avoidable error on the part of the production.

I can't recommend this book enough! Martha Stout's deep thoughts and brilliant mind truly shine here. With her work, we are one step closer to understanding human nature.

accurate and clear illustrations

Dr. Stout gives examples of Sociopathic behavior, and then describes what might motivate them and why. It is fascinating, and and at times scary.

If you have ever had a sociopathic personality in your life, at work or otherwise, you would probably already know it.
It is not a question of reading this text and looking to identify people you may know who might fit the description. This book instead affirms what you probably already knew. More importantly, it gives clues for how to curb the sometimes destructive influence a Sociopath can have on your life.

Spine tingler

Is your boss, neighbor, co-worker a socio-path? You will have a new view of the world and your life. I now see more clearly the madness in the world. I can see it's players in my small world and know how to deal a lot better.