You know me. I looooove memoirs; it’s what I’m most famous for if you looked me up, which I urge you not to do. I read Sociopath by Patric Gagne, and this is one of the memoirs that I do not really like. A very interesting premise and some cool stories and internal conflicts are this book’s saving grace. The overarching narrative, struggle for self-acceptance (and societal acceptance?), and the writing (WOOF! The writing!) are all pretty weak.
Like, I get it. The premise, a self-aware sociopath who tries to forge a normal life despite her violent urges and lack of empathy, is a good one and immediately draws attention. Her youth, in particular, is interesting, as he struggles to even figure out what differentiates her from others. The broad strokes/outlines are there. However, there is nothing interesting about her writing style. The classic memoir pitfall. The only thing that memoirs need to be is true (apparently some of that is even called into question upon digging up information online?). Yet, the narrative is straightforward, corny, predictable, and, most egregiously, boring. How do you make a book about being a diagnosed sociopath boring? She focuses so much on her relationship to husband, a one-dimensional figure, and reveals where it will lead extremely early on that it removes so much tension for the rest of the book. Will they work out? Will he be able to accept her as a sociopath? Yes, doofus, obviously. I am so sorry to her husband, who is clearly a caring, smart, and influential tech guy who could give me a high-paying job some day, but anytime he was the focus it felt like I was getting hit with the brain-melting ray.
For a person who has no emotions, she sure does feel a lot toward the other characters. It’s explained away by stating that sociopathy is on a spectrum, and she landed somewhere in the middle. She flirts with deep dives on the psychology front and analyses on her condition, but nothing major is revealed. By trying to be a creative memoir and a psychological text, I think this book mostly fails at both. To be totally honest, I felt like the sociopath while reading this book. I wanted her to do more dangerous stuff and break more conventions and rules, maybe because I wasn’t getting that from the writing.
Sounds like I hated this book, but I did not. Some of her actions are so outlandish and dangerous that they were interesting to read about. And I’m glad a perspective like this exists, and I’m glad she is okay, happy, and able to tell this story. It’s just a shame that things weren’t take to the next level.
2/5