Today is a big day for Otterpine—and a deeply personal one. The Culting of America: What Makes a Cult and Why We Love Them by Daniella Mestyanek Young and Amy Reed is officially out in the world!
This book holds a special place in our catalog. Not only is Amy Reed the book’s co-author, she’s also Otterpine’s editorial director and has shepherded this project through every stage of development—from early drafts to design and final production. It’s been a labor of love, collaboration, and fierce dedication to a story that demands to be told.
The Story Behind the Book
Amy and Daniella’s collaboration began with Daniella’s critically acclaimed memoir Uncultured, published in 2022 by St. Martin’s Press. That book told the story of Daniella’s escape from the Children of God—one of the most notorious cults in modern history—and her subsequent journey through another high-control institution: the United States Army.
Daniella chose to independently publish The Culting of America with Otterpine for several reasons. Independent publishing allows authors to retain full creative control as well as all rights and royalties. With an established audience from her previous book, a large social media following, and a robust direct-sales platform, Daniella found working with Otterpine to be a perfect partnership.
Over two and a half years of intensive collaboration, Amy and Daniella worked through countless drafts, three dozen pages of bibliography, and the complex challenge of making academic concepts accessible without oversimplifying them. They stress-tested ideas with Daniella’s TikTok community, consulted experts, and challenged each other to think bigger and bolder.
An Invitation to Question Everything
The Culting of America provides a comprehensive framework for understanding cult-like behavior across all kinds of groups—from corporations to wellness communities, from political movements to family systems. It introduces readers to a ten-part spectrum of cultiness, breaking down the features that make groups trend toward high control.
What makes this book unique is the way it braids together Daniella’s firsthand experience with Amy’s editorial eye and literary craft. The result is a book that’s both scholarly and deeply personal, drawing on research from cult studies, organizational psychology, sociology, and political science, while never losing sight of the human stories at its center.
The Culting of America isn’t just an exposé of dangerous groups—it’s an invitation to examine our own relationships to power, belonging, and belief. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt uneasy about a group they couldn’t quite leave. For those who’ve defended something they weren’t sure they believed. For anyone who’s looked around and wondered, Wait, is this normal?
For readers who want to go deeper, there’s a companion workbook, Unculture Yourself, designed to help process personal experiences and reclaim autonomy.
We couldn’t be prouder to share this work with readers—and to celebrate the remarkable partnership between author and editor that brought it to life.
Thank you for being part of this journey with us.
—The Otterpine Team
The Culting of America is available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook formats through Otterpine.com; Daniella Mestyanek Young’s website; Amazon; Bookshop.org; and Barnes & Noble.
For bulk orders and media inquiries, contact Otterpine at media@otterpine.com.
