Dangerous Liaisons How to Recognize and Escape from Psychopathic Seduction

by Moscovici, Claudia

• ISBN13: 9780761855699
• ISBN10: 0761855696
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-09-20
• Publisher: Hamilton Books

Summary

What do Scott Peterson, Neil Entwistle and timeless literary seducers epitomized by Don Juan and Casanova have in common? They are charismatic, glib and seductive men who also embody the most dangerous human qualities: a breathtaking callousness, shallowness of emotion and the incapacity to love. In other words, these men are psychopaths. Unfortunately, most psychopaths don'¬"t advertise themselves as heartless social predators. They come across as charming, intelligent, romantic and kind. Through their believable '¬Smask of sanity,'¬ they lure many of us into their dangerous nets. Dangerous Liaisons explains clearly what psychopaths are, why they act the way they do, how they attract us and whom they tend to target. Above all, this book helps victims find the strength to end their toxic relationships with psychopaths and move on, stronger and wiser, with the rest of their lives.

Author Biography

Claudia Moscovici is a Romanian-American fiction writer and literary critic. She is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Velvet Totalitarianism (2009) and of several scholarly books or Romantic art and literature, including Romanticism and Postromanticism (2007).

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
What is a Psychopath?
Charismatic Psychopaths: Mark Hacking and Neil Entwistle	p. 21
What is a Psychopath? Close Readings of Hervey Cleckley's The Mask of Sanity	p. 30
Psychopaths and Pathological Lying	p. 38
The Psychopath's Antisocial Behavior	p. 47
Psychopaths as Lovers	p. 58
Psychopaths and Failure	p. 69
The Process of Psychopathic Seduction
The Case of Drew Peterson	p. 75
Red Flags: How to Identify a Psychopathic Bond	p. 81
The Process of Psychopathic Seduction: Idealize, Devalue and Discard	p. 90
Artistic Psychopaths: The Case of Picasso	p. 96
The Psychopathic Seducer in Literature: Benjamin Constant's Adolphe	p. 118
The Women Who Love Psychopaths	p. 134
Coping Mechanisms for Staying with a Psychopath	p. 140
How to Save Yourself from Psychopathic Seduction
Escaping the Psychopath	p. 157
Understanding the Science Behind the Disorder	p. 161
The Two Phases of Mourning: The Rational and the Emotional	p. 166
Sharing Information with Others	p. 169
Resisting Family/External Pressure to Stay with the Psychopath	p. 176
Know your Worth: A Healthy Self-Esteem is the Key to a Good Life	p. 182
Conclusion: Reclaiming Your Life: Asserting Your Agency and Your Boundaries	p. 185
Notes	p. 189
Bibliography	p. 215
Additional Resources: Websites	p. 218
About the Author	p. 219
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