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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 "mask 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.
List of contents
Contents
Introduction
Part I. What is a Psychopath?
1. Charismatic Psychopaths: Mark Hacking and Neil Entwistle
2. What is a Psychopath? Close Readings of Hervey Cleckley's
The Mask of Sanity
3. Psychopaths and Pathological Lying
4. The Psychopath's Antisocial Behavior
5. Psychopaths as Lovers
6. Psychopaths and Failure
Part II. The Process of Psychopathic Seduction
1. The Case of Drew Peterson
2. Red Flags: How to Identify a Psychopathic Bond
3. The Process of Psychopathic Seduction: Idealize, Devalue and Discard
4. Artistic Psychopaths: The Case of Picasso
5. The Psychopathic Seducer in Literature: Benjamin Constant's Adolphe
6. The Women Who Love Psychopaths
7. Coping Mechanisms for Staying with a Psychopath
Part III. How to Save Yourself from Psychopathic Seduction
1. Escaping the Psychopath
2. Understanding the Science Behind the Disorder
3. The Two Phases of Mourning: The Rational and the Emotional
4. Sharing Information with Others
5. Resisting Family/External Pressure to Stay with the Psychopath
6. Know your Worth: A Healthy Self-Esteem is the Key to a Good Life
7. Conclusion: Reclaiming Your Life: Asserting Your Agency and Your
Boundaries
Notes
Bibliography
Additional Resources: Websites
About the Author
About the author
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 on Romantic art and literature, including Romanticism and Postromanticism (2007).
Summary
Moscovici explains clearly what psychopaths are, why they act the way they do, how they attract us and whom they tend to target. This book will help victims find the strength to end their toxic relationships with psychopaths and move on, stronger and wiser, with the rest of their lives.
