A well written memoir by a woman diagnosed with sociopathic personality disorder, who tried her whole life to be “good.” When she enters college and learns about this disorder the first time she connects with it and decides to learn more, and eventually ask to be evaluated, and realizes more and more how little information there is, no treatment, and how misunderstood it is. She even talks about how one professional in this story stated they’d rather have a child with cancer than a child diagnosed as a sociopath. Personality disorders are definitely stigmatized heavily even among professionals. How she decided to pursue a doctorate to research this and help herself and others is very inspiring. An educational, insightful, and uplifting book.

If you did not give this 5 stars, I do not understand why?!

I found this memoir compelling, well written, enlightening, and an intriguing, packed with self-reflections and the drive to understand. Author, Patric Gagne, did a phenomenal job of proving thought-provoking questions, the varying spectrum of mental health diagnoses, and being one to step out and challenge the “norms”.

I found the author to be well humored and appreciated her taking other perspectives of those around her for deeper understanding from her lens. There is such a drive for understanding, not just for herself, but for the bigger picture of life.

I do think her goal of being able to help others with similar, if not the same diagnosis, will be accomplished with this memoir. There is still so much we do not know, but it is reassuring there are others out there with similar life challenges, on the path to understanding.

Sociopath A Memoir by Patric Gagne, Ph.D. is the story of a young woman struggling to understand and live with her mental disorder. As a child the author knew that she was different from other people. Normal feelings were not a part of her makeup. It is only after taking a college psychology course that she realizes that she is a sociopath. She embarks on a difficult journey to find out how to cope with her disorder. And more importantly how to have fulfilling relationships and a happy life. A fascinating story that had me rooting for the author from beginning to end.#netgalley

I was so excited to pick up this memoir considering the subject matter, but the pacing felt a bit off to me.

This is an intriguing and enlightening memoir written by a diagnosed sociopath. The author skillfully blends personal anecdotes with psychological insights, inviting readers on her journey of self-discovery, distinguishing between right and wrong.
Her remarkable perseverance, curiosity, and inner resilience shine through. I was struck by the bravery it took to share her story, and will suggest this book to anyone who suspects they may be a sociopath, as it offers hope and understanding.
It's a valuable read for those interested in psychology and personality types, shedding light on common misinterpretations.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster For the ARC!

Patric Gagne’s "Sociopath: A Memoir" is almost certainly going to be one of the most discussed books of 2024. You can’t possibly come up with a better hook than the book’s eyebrow-raising title, but I feel torn about whether or not the memoir does enough to justify its existence.

This is not an artful memoir because sociopathy is not artful. In fact, the book is just as difficult to pin down as its title suggests, and I finished it with very mixed feelings.

On the one hand, there’s some really thoughtful reflection here, particularly about the unhealthy limits of guilt and the way sociopathy is stigmatized and exploited by people with malicious intent. There are so many examples here of people who attempt to use Gagne for their personal gain, and the author does an effective job of highlighting the distinction between morality and sociopathy. Additionally, she draws particular attention to the ways the DSM actually limits access to care, and I found that fascinating.

On the other hand, there’s a lot about this book that just feels extraneous. Despite being a brisk 300 pages, it’s far too long, offering countless iterations of the same experience—a scenario is presented in which Gagne does something sociopathic, followed by her explanation or others’ judgment. This would be effective if limited to a few choice examples, but it quickly turns into a laundry list—wash, rinse, repeat. What’s even odder is how many of these events diverge so little from universal human experience. 


It demonstrates a tension within the book’s premise: How can the author ask for understanding while still catering to the reader’s desire for titillating details? For a book that is ostensibly preoccupied with self-definition, I finished it feeling like it was largely responding to external judgment, which makes many of its conclusions feel manufactured and superficial. Memoirs are best crafted around the belief that readers already accept the author, and I just didn’t see that here.

Despite all these critiques, I recommend people give this book a read if they are interested. It may just be one to skim rather than read cover-to-cover, especially as the final few chapters pick up a great deal of momentum.

This was a fascinating and enlightening read. I'm not usually a big fan of memoirs but I was thoroughly engrossed in this one.

The book's main focus is the author's personal experiences rather than a scientific examination of sociopathy, but I think that the author managed to integrate both in a seamless and compelling manner. Although I would have liked to learn more about her graduate work on sociopathy, I recognize that having this balance between her personal and professional perspectives would likely make the book more accessible to a broader audience.

This book did a great job of challenging misconceptions about sociopathy, humanizing sociopaths, and demonstrating that sociopaths are equally as deserving of understanding and compassion. If the author goes on to write more books on this topic, I will be very interested to pick those up too.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a striking memoir written by a sociopath. It was fascinating to hear about life and humanity from a sociopath's perspective. I never thought I'd root so hard for a sociopath to find happiness!

The book provided many thought-provoking insights. Here are a few:

Sociopathy is a spectrum. Some people are more sociopathic than others. Psychologists use personality tests to determine where people are on the spectrum.

Sociopathy has been classified as a mental illness, and can be treated like other mental illnesses.

The author describes how she has a capacity for empathy, but it's weak and underdeveloped compared to non-sociopaths. One area where she feels it the most strongly: she empathizes with other sociopaths. She became a professional psychologist, and wrote this memoir, in order to help them. So they don't feel so all alone, like she felt when she was a kid.

According to the author, one in twenty-five people is a sociopath.

"Sociopath" and "psychopath" mean different things. There's a lot of fuzziness about the definitions, and they've changed over time, but in general, from what I can determine, I think, from this book, "psychopaths" really like to hurt people and "sociopaths" don't care so much if they hurt people.

According to the author, sociopaths are missing something: love and empathy don't come as naturally to them. So they sometimes act out in order to try to make themselves feel something. Because they often desperately miss having the feelings that most people have. It's like having a phantom limb. They know they're missing something, and it gives them a frequent emptiness, or an emotional tension.

The author says she feels love for her husband, child, mother, daughter, and close friends. She thinks it's a somewhat different kind of love from what non-sociopaths experience.

I could go on, but I won't. All in all, a fascinating book.

I will end this review with one paragraph from the book that I especially liked: "The purest love is not born from bliss. It is pulled from the pyre. It is fierce and shape-shifted, slightly twisted and delicious. Accepting, forgiving, understanding, and reliably flawed, my type of love is the furthest thing from perfect. The closest thing to me."

Such an incredible book! Patric’s story is amazing and as a psychology graduate I loved the insight into her thoughts during these experiences. As Patric explains, sociopathy is misunderstood. With media influence and lack of research into the subject it can be difficult to fully understand what sociopathy is or how it’s different from other personality disorders. I love memoirs and this one is definitely memorable.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc. This was so great! I love Patric’s honesty as well a her humor. I am fascinated by the discoveries triggered first by a curiosity of her own experiences. I never would have thought there to be a link between sociopathy and anxiety. This is a take on a personality that we need and I can’t wait for the release of this book. The author learns to accept her traits (and notice what triggers destructive behavior), no longer denying herself or subconsciously accepting the view others hold of her or those like her. The research she discusses on antisocial personality disorder, sociopathy, and psychopathy is very interesting and the release of this memoir will be profound for those who find themselves struggling to understand their identity. What a HOPEFUL take. Noticing a gap in both research and practice, Patric decides to find a treatment and search for hope herself; in doing so, she has and will continue to share this hope with others.

This was a fascinating read and one that was hard to put down. I found Patric's use of metaphors throughout the book so beautiful, and they really helped described the nuances of sociopathy for those who have only a pop culture understanding of it.

This book challenged our misconceptions about sociopathy, and interestingly, created a lot of empathy for those who have this condition. I found Patric's tone extremely compelling, and I can't wait to read more of her work.

Thank you to NetGalley for my digital copy!

I tend to share only highly positive reviews, but I feel the need to caution readers about this memoir, which goes far over the line in terms of apparent fabrication (Kirkus Reviews also noted its "fantastical" and "dubious" quality), but also the lack of author credentials, serious questions about her lack of work history, and scientific inaccuracies and general lack of depth, chapter after chapter.

(Note: the book does contain a disclaimer about composite characters, invented dialogue, and changed timelines, and/but there are other problems to consider.)

Originally, I wrote a much longer review drawing attention to problems in multiple areas that cover the quality of the book as memoir, the quality of the book as popular science, and the match between proven author credentials and subject matter. I consulted Netgalley's guidelines, not wanting to overstep, so I won't. We are directed not to critique the author, only the book. This is much harder in the case of a book that is about a field of inquiry, written by a person who claims to be active in that field of inquiry (to have worked as a psychologist or conducted "studies"). This puts the reviewer in a bind. There is no way to provide a good-bad-good "sandwich" for this book. I will be looking for other trade reviews that weigh in, either diplomatically or aggressively, on what Kirkus has already noted.

For those who'd like to read a book by a researcher who realized he had possible psychopathic traits, read "The Psychopath Within" by James Fallon, a man who has an academic resume you can verify and who explains the science, including the debates and unanswered questions, beautifully. If you are neurologically inclined, and want to read about brain scans and how psychopaths' brains are studied--instead of just hearing a young woman worry why "sociopath" isn't in the dictionary (answer: it is), look up the work of psychopath expert Kent Kiehl ("The Psychopath Whisperer"). If you're a skeptic and want a quirkier funny read with fewer scientific details, read "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson.

I am grateful to Netgalley for allowing me to read this in ARC form.

5⭐️ Review
Sociopath is the chilling and intense true story of Patric Gagne, PH.D. Clinically diagnosed as a sociopath, Gagne uses her life experiences to deliver a well-researched and provocative examination of a mental illness few people truly understand.
‌
Sociopath is defined as a mental health condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others. The individual feels no remorse or empathy. Nor do they experience second hand emotions such as shame, embarrassment or guilt.
‌
The things Gagne did as a result of not feeling emotions were jarring. For example, because she was unable to feel sadness, she found herself attending funerals of strangers just to see the loved ones of the deceased cry uncontrollably. Also, when her pet ferret died, she didn’t cry because she was unable to feel sadness.
‌
I was fascinated by this gripping story. Gagne provides a keen observation of what sociopaths experience socially, physically and emotionally. She explores a difficult subject in an accessible way. When describing how she feels pain, she compared it to watching people on a roller coaster. She can see the people scream, she understands what’s happening, but she can’t feel the sensation the same way she would feel it if she was on the roller coaster herself.
‌
Simply put, this is a compelling story merged with an unforgettable education. I learned a lot. By the time I completed the book, I’d thrown away what I thought I knew about sociopathy.
‌
This memoir is a superbly executed depiction of the life, actions and emotions of a sociopath.
‌
I highly recommend adding it to your TBR.

This was such a an interesting read. The author was very open about her diagnosis and her experience. I enjoyed the psychology heavy parts but felt the book was a little drawn out in places. Still a great read!

This book was FASCINATING. I genuinely could not put it down - like, missed-my-bus-stop level immersion.

I studied psychology as an undergraduate, but I don't remember learning anything about sociopathy, so I went into this book with a hazy mental model based mainly on popular media. What I learned blew my mind! Not just the facts - for example, that as many as 5% of people are sociopaths - but the unexpected vulnerability and relatability of Patric's story. As someone who is acutely (arguably overly) attuned to feelings, whether my own or someone else's, I didn't think I'd have anything in common with Patric; I was stunned by how so many of our childhood memories are - for lack of a better term - "similar opposites." People who feel too much AND too little by society's standards can experience a whole lot of shaming as kids, which is a commonality I'd never considered before. And as someone who's easily overstimulated, I'm quite familiar with the challenges that brings - but I'd never thought about how frustrating and alienating persistent under-stimulation must be. On the other hand, there were times my jaw hit the floor because her choices were so unfathomable to me (the funerals!?).

My one critique: Patric makes a strong case for the inadequacy of existing resources, but I was still surprised by the lack of sources. I expected there to be a bibliography or at least recommendations for further learning. (Maybe there will be and my e-galley just didn't have it yet?) I also found myself feeling a bit skeptical about where and how she closed the story - it felt almost too pat and perfect?

That all said, I loved this book. Patric has a tendency towards voyeurism - she finds it both thrilling and comforting - and I felt oddly voyeuristic as a reader too; I'm grateful she granted this window to her world. I devoured Sociopath in an afternoon (including an unexpectedly long bus trip!) - I found it compulsively readable, eye-opening, discussion-worthy, and surprisingly touching. I'll gladly recommend it to anyone looking for a memoir that's going to hook and provoke them in equal measure.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

As a social worker this book was an eye opener. I typically don’t read memoirs; however, this one fits right with the field I work in. Patric does it good job of allowing individuals to understand all sides of being a sociopath. This is a diagnosis she received from her therapist. If you want to find a book that accounts from firsthand experience then I recommend checking out this book. I also recommend this book if you are in the mental health field because you are able to understand a little more what goes on in the inside of the mind of an individual diagnosed as a sociopath.

Psychology has always been something I have been intensely interested in (as a teenager I used to read the DSM for fun). When I saw this book I immediately jumped at the chance to read it as I haven’t seen many books similar to this. Told by someone who was diagnosed as a sociopath, this book dives into the experiences that led to a diagnosis as well as explains how the symptoms have this have impacted the author. I found it particularly fascinating to hear a first hand account of how this traits presented in childhood as it’s not something we often get to hear about. I found this memoir incredibly eye opening and absolutely something that anyone with an interest in psychology should check out.

⭐⭐⭐⭐4 stars. This title was eyeopening. It brought awareness of what experiencing sociopathy could be like and stories like these are critical to fight age old stigmas created by ignorance. Crazy to realize how new the care or treatment is for this misunderstood population. I applaud Patric's bravery. I've had so many conversations about this fascinating read.

I was a fan of Prime's first season of Modern Love based on the NYT column. I'd be interested in reading Patric Gagne's article from 2020.

I received an advanced eBook copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own and voluntarily provided

Growing up Patric could not understand why she was always getting into trouble, or making the "wrong" decisions. She consistently surprised her teachers and parents by her seemingly lack of remorse, and empathy. Over time, Patric started to believe she was different than everyone, and although she was able to "fake" it much of the time, she didn't understand why she was so different. Then during college the answer came to her during one of her psychology classes, when they began talking about psychopaths and sociopaths. From there Patric took the topics to heart and did her own research, finally seeing a therapist who indeed diagnosed her with sociopathy. But with no treatment, what good did a diagnosis do? So Patric continued working independently and with her broad support system to find out a way to overcome her lack of empathy, and understand what she could do to manage her pressing anxiety associated with her lack of feeling.

First of all, I am a sucker for memoirs and, especially memoirs where the person is able to overcome the numerous odds against them. I feel Patric's story fits right into that mold. Patric worked hard to educate herself and to become unequivocally self-aware to overcome her "limitations". And to take it further, when she determined there was no treatment for sociopaths, she decided to create her own treatment plan, and work with her support team to see if her tips and tricks could apply to other sociopaths, helping them be productive members of society. I really enjoyed this memoir, and would recommend to anyone that finds themselves looking for a new inspiring story.

Have you ever met a sociopath? You probably have.

To anyone has ever had any curiousity of Sociopathy (or maybe is a sociopath), I highly recommend this book. It’s something I have always thought I’d like to learn more about, and the moment I read that synopsis, I was sold.

Patric is probably the coolest person I have never met. And considering I have not met most of the people on the planet, that is saying something. It’s not because she’s a sociopath either. It’s because of the way she writes, the way she tells a story, and ok, I guess the way she handles situations and conversations, which I suppose sometimes may be because she’s a sociopath.

This book reads like fiction. There were moments where I would remember that I wasn’t reading a novel and in fact, reading about someone’s actual life. Not only was the story of her life gripping, but it was also very educational. I feel like I learned so much from this book, on a scientific level, and a personal level.

I think everyone could get something out of this book. It’s perfect for those interested in nonfiction but don’t read too much of it. I think it can be helpful, hopeful, and interesting for people, sociopath or not. It even made me cry. I pre-ordered a physical copy the second I finished the arc. Check this one out, seriously.