Book about sociopath?

[riipuli]

Hey, I'm intrested about sociopaths.

I would like to have some suggestion books, where the sociopath is the main charter (to find about the thoughts in his/her head).

Fictional or not. Thank you!

[busy91]

This one is a non-fiction, I have not read it myself. It is on my TBR list though.

 

The Sociopath Next Door: The Ruthless Versus the Rest of Us

by Martha Stout

[~Andrea~]

East Of Eden by John Steinbeck has a major character who is a sociopath but she's not the main character. (It's a long time ago since I read the book but I don't know if there really is a main character)

Edited October 4, 2011 by ~Andrea~

[Hyzenthlay]

Perfume by Patrick Süskind, a story about a murderer.

[Ruth]

American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis. Despite the title, I always think Patrick Bateman was more of a sociopath than a psychopath.

[~Andrea~]

aren't they the same thing?

[Hyzenthlay]

Not exactly. Psychopath is a fairly overused term, from what I've gathered about psychiatry. You use it about someone who is "crazy" when actually the term applies to people whose vision of reality is distorted (they believe all sorts of things that are wrong, eg. theyve been possessed by the devil and are forced to do evil things - they can't be held accountable for their actions). A sociopath is a person with a personality disorder that lowers their empathy and gives them very undesirable character traits. They may be mass murderers etc.

 

edit

 

I stand corrected, by wikipedia actually. I double checked psychopath, and it is its own thing, not necessarily connected to psychosis. It's very similar to antisocial personality disorder, but not identical.

Edited October 4, 2011 by Hyzenthlay