Nonfiction

Daniella Mestyanek Young & Amy Reed present "The Culting of America"

Name: Daniella Mestyanek Young & Amy Reed present "The Culting of America"
Start: 2026-08-26T22:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-08-26T23:00:00+00:00
Location: Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe

Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe

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Details can change. Please confirm the date, time, location, and ticketing directly with the organizer before attending.

About this event

Join us in-store when Daniella Mestyanek Young and her co-author Amy Reed present their new book "The Culting of America: What Makes a Cult and Why We Love Them". You're probably in a cult. You just don't know it yet. In "The Culting of America", cult survivor, scholar, and former Army intelligence officer Daniella Mestyanek Young—author of the bestselling memoir "Uncultured"—teams up with award-winning writer Amy Reed to dismantle the illusion that cults are rare or easy to spot. Blending gripping personal narrative, cultural critique, and deep research, they introduce the cultiness spectrum: a ten-part framework that reveals how coercive group behavior shows up across all kinds of groups—from extremist movements to our most trusted institutions—exploring the fine line between community and control, devotion and exploitation, and leadership and manipulation. Whether you're part of a church, company, fandom, or political movement, the question isn't if you're in a cult. It's how much of yourself you've already lost. (via Malaprop's Bookstore)

Featured readers

Amy Reed

Amy Reed is best known for writing critically acclaimed (and often banned) young adult novels, including The Nowhere Girls, Beautiful, Clean, and Tell Me My Name. She also serves as editorial director at Otterpine, based in Asheville, North Carolina. Most recently, Amy co-authored The Culting of America: What Makes a Cult and Why We Love Them with Daniella Mestyanek Young. Her debut novel for adults is forthcoming.

Daniella Mestyanek Young

Daniella Mestyanek Young is a cult survivor, U.S. Army veteran, Harvard-trained organizational psychologist, and the author of two books about high-control groups—Uncultured, her critically-acclaimed memoir, and The Culting of America: What Makes a Cult and Why We Love Them. She now lives in Maryland with her 10-year-old teenager (it’s a vibe), a retired special operations helicopter pilot turned plant scientist, and a Republican dog. She can be found online as KnittingCultLady.