# ID this pop pyschology type book on the nature of evil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-pop-pyschology-type-book-on-the-nature-of-evil/698043 "2014-09-10T01:16:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-pop-pyschology-type-book-on-the-nature-of-evil/698043/1 "2014-09-10T01:16:15Z")
I wish I could remember the title or author. I read the first chapter or two of this book in Barnes & Noble…oh, 10-15 years ago, at a guess. I believe it was written by a therapist. He was attempting to explain/explore “evil” behavior. As an example, he described a family he worked with in therapy. The older son had killed himself with a gun. Some time later (within a year or so, IIRC), the younger brother, understandably depressed about older boy’s death, was given a (Christmas? I think) gift…a gun, and not just any gun, which would be bad enough, but the very gun his older brother killed himself with. (Reported the father: “It’s a nice gun.”) It was a startling read, but I couldn’t afford it and I’d like to find it now that I’ve though of it lo these many years later. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-pop-pyschology-type-book-on-the-nature-of-evil/698043/2 "2014-09-10T01:21:35Z")
WAG: The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness by Erich Fromm? ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-pop-pyschology-type-book-on-the-nature-of-evil/698043/3 "2014-09-10T01:30:31Z")
Based on the “Look Inside!” feature on Amazon…I don’t think that’s it. That one sounds more clinical in tone, I think, than the one I saw. It was a smallish book, if that helps. 🙂 So many clues to go on! ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-pop-pyschology-type-book-on-the-nature-of-evil/698043/4 "2014-09-10T01:31:40Z")
> [@papergirl](#): > > I wish I could remember the title or author. I read the first chapter or two of this book in Barnes & Noble…oh, 10-15 years ago, at a guess. > I believe it was written by a therapist. He was attempting to explain/explore “evil” behavior. As an example, he described a family he worked with in therapy. The older son had killed himself with a gun. Some time later (within a year or so, IIRC), the younger brother, understandably depressed about older boy’s death, was given a (Christmas? I think) gift…a gun, and not just any gun, which would be bad enough, but the very gun his older brother killed himself with. (Reported the father: “It’s a nice gun.”) > It was a startling read, but I couldn’t afford it and I’d like to find it now that I’ve though of it lo these many years later. > Any ideas? It sounds like “People of the Lie” by M. Scott Peck. Edit – the book was released in paperback with a bright yellow cover. It was a startling read and was used in a philosophy class about good and evil. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-pop-pyschology-type-book-on-the-nature-of-evil/698043/5 "2014-09-10T01:38:56Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > It sounds like “People of the Lie” by M. Scott Peck. > > Edit – the book was released in paperback with a bright yellow cover. It was a startling read and was used in a philosophy class about good and evil. That is the book all right. I read it in the past five years some time. It’s memorable. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-pop-pyschology-type-book-on-the-nature-of-evil/698043/6 "2014-09-10T01:43:13Z")
Aha! You know, I thought that might be it, but I couldn’t read far enough in the Amazon sample. Then I started googling the title chapters, and sure enough…that’s the one. I’ll have to order it in print. I’ve been trying to get it on my Nook but I don’t think it’s available. Awesome. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-pop-pyschology-type-book-on-the-nature-of-evil/698043/7 "2014-09-10T01:48:35Z")
papergirl, the story you mentioned is one that stuck with me. And I saw the book in my mind’s eye. Glad to help! You might also like “Sociopaths Among Us.” ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-pop-pyschology-type-book-on-the-nature-of-evil/698043/8 "2014-09-10T01:49:35Z")
In fact, I just ordered it. 🙂 Along with a couple of dystopian novels for my son, since that’s what his lit class is focused on this year. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-pop-pyschology-type-book-on-the-nature-of-evil/698043/9 "2014-09-10T01:50:59Z")
I think I do have the Sociopaths Among Us. It’s a good read too. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-pop-pyschology-type-book-on-the-nature-of-evil/698043/10 "2014-09-10T01:50:43Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > It sounds like “People of the Lie” by M. Scott Peck. > > Edit – the book was released in paperback with a bright yellow cover. It was a startling read and was used in a philosophy class about good and evil. Yeah, I remember reading the story of the gun in that book nearly 30 years ago; it’s a very memorable book.