The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues about the So-Called Psychopathic Personality

By Hervey M. Cleckley and Hervey Cleckley

Book Overview

The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues About the So-Called Psychopathic Personality is a foundational work on the nature and diagnosis of psychopathy by Dr. Harvey M. Cleckley. This... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1614277826
• ISBN13: 9781614277828
• Release Date: February 2015
• Publisher: Martino Fine Books
• Length: 570 Pages
• Weight: 1.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Inspirational book

I recently read a book by Andrzej Lobaczewski called 'Political Ponerology'. It gave an astounding insight into the role of psychopaths on a macroscale. It led me to this book which looks specifically on the subject of how these people tick. It deals in depth and with great heart with the subject of psychopath or rather people with psychopathic personality disorder. It is ample with examples from the author's own professional experience as a psychiatrist of behaviours of psychopaths, and gives insight into a phenomena that needs to be understood as the world is suffering due largely to lack of knowledge in this area. Yes, that sounds dramatic, but when you understand that some people (~4%) don't have what we know of as conscience then you may start to see how the world could get into the state it is in. These people have no conscience as a restraining factor in life and thus procede towards positions of money and power with a ruthless efficacy that is largely undetected as we don't consider it possible that people would behave like that. We find them in leader positions in politics, the corporate world and religious movements to mention a few. The costs to society and the affects on normal people is devastating, which is why this book is recommended for everyone. Hervey Checkley's gives a great understanding of how these people function and also how come even professional people can be taken in by them. Like the book says they carry a mask of sanity and only careful observation over time gives the clues that something is amiss.

A great work, no doubt

I was fortunate to obtain a copy of this book and read it. Cleckley reveals incredibly interesting details and insight into how a psychopath's mind works. This informtion is invaluable in trying to understand why some oddballs do what they do.

A book that's ahead of it's time

I really recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject. His case histories are a book in themselves and capture the soul of a psychopath so well. A very thorough book that examines every aspect of the condition, I am impressed by his attempt to even explore historical and literary references. Ahead of it's time because his conclusions cannot be shaken even now. A much better book than Hare's "Without Conscience". Hare even lifts phrases directly out of the book eg."trivial, impersonal affairs". Astonishingly accurate portrayal of psychopaths without sensationalizing the subject. I like how he gives different types of psychopaths; these are men and women in the street, 'ordinary' individuals but so disturbed (hence the very apt title). His analysis is spot-on: he really knows his subject. More thorough than Hare's. He doesn't fudge any details. Really all you need to know about the topic. Still the best book about psychopaths.

This is the classic that first defined the psychopath

Cleckley first wrote this book in 1948, and it still reads as fresh as ever. He was a therapist in a mental hospital who found that criminals sent there were excellent at playing the therapy game but were actually conning him. From this he developed perhaps 20 definitive characteristics of a type he called "psychopath", a term that had a variety of unclear meanings up until this point. The term has since been changed to sociopath and changed in the last two DSMs to "anti-social personality disorder". Whatever they are called their principal characteristic as far as society and the individuals who have to deal with them are concerned is that they do not have a conscience (a lack that is hard for some people to conceptualize and that is hard to measure). Cleckley's work is a classic because of its impact, yet he is too often forgotten. For example, from his experiences in the same hospital, Samenow authored the widely regarded Criminal Personality in the 1970s, yet does not acknowledge his debt to Cleckley. The most amazing thing about Cleckley's book is that it is so well written. It is a good read and has literary merit. Cleckley underestimated the dangerousness of psychopaths because of the sample he was dealing with, but his Mask of Sanity is still very much worth reading for anyone who is interested in psychopaths or criminals. Indeed, it is far superior to Hare's popular 1990's book on psychopathy, and Robert Hare is the author of the DSM dianostic criteria for psychopathy (which he ignores in his popular book).

One of the best books on psychopaths ever written

Cleckley wrote the definitive book on psychopaths. This is a complex subject which is not easy to explain, but Cleckley's writing style makes it very entertaining and easy to read. He describes each of his criteria for psychopathy, then he presents a brief vignette, which is often very amusing. His examples are so real that you start to recognize people in your life in these descriptions (Pretty scarey). The only book which compares with this is Robert Hare's "Without Conscience," which is also brilliantly explained and easy to read. Understandable, since Dr. Hare based much of his work on Cleckley's work with psychopaths.