The Mystery of Malevolence

As you might note, I haven’t written an essay in quite a while. That is because I’ve been busy with the publication of my new book, “The Paranoid Vision: Deciphering the Mystery of Malevolence.” It is now available. Here is a blurb and some reviews, from the back cover of the book:

No worldview is more dangerous than

the paranoid vision

Everyday, we hear news reports about acts of madness and murder, and wonder what’s behind it all. Mark Dillof contends that there exists a certain way of seeing the world called “the paranoid vision.” Unlike clinical paranoia, it can infect an organization, even a society. It often hatches pernicious conspiracy theories and apocalyptic fantasies. Those under its sway include cult leaders, fanatics, terrorists, school shooters, and genocidal murderers. No worldview is more malevolent, nor more deadly. Dr. Dillof explores the paranoid vision from multiple perspectives, even contrasting it to the comic vision! Like a modern-day Virgil, he takes the reader on a Dantesque journey, from theinferno — created by the paranoid vision —to joyful wisdom.

“Mark Dillof proves that the paranoid vision is a deeply meaningful way of looking at life.He offers four cogent examples: Freud’s circle of disciples, the cult of Rajneesh, the Khmer Rouge, and the Islamist political theory that sets Islam in irreconcilable conflict with the West. ‘THE PARANOID VISION’ is highly informative and fascinating. There is nothing quite like it!” — Dr. Maurice Friedman

“Dillof’s book is replete with psychological and moral insights. It is in the tradition of those by Erich Fromm, Rollo May, Erik Erikson, and Wilhelm Reich.” —Dr. John Farrell, Author of PARANOIA AND MODERNITY (2007)

“Mark Dillof has written a deeply informed, provocative, and insightful analysis of the paranoid mindset in politics and ideology, picking up where the eminent Richard Hofstadter left off fifty years ago. While there is room for debate with Dillof on matters big and small, it would be a terrible mistake to ignore the critical issues he raises in this important work. —Dr. Neil Kressel, “The Sons of Pigs and Apes”: Muslim Antisemitism and the Conspiracy of Silence (2012)

Would you like to read some of the book? Go to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Paranoid-Vision-Deciphering-Mystery-Malevolence/dp/0985595337/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371046358&sr=1-3

It is also available as an e-book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DCCJSDI/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0985595337&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0X3QY7P5GYV68M4PCRK6

And it’s available from Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/mark-dillof

P.S. Perhaps you’d be interested in the Louisville Mystical Academy: www.mysticlou.com 

P.P.S Perhaps you’d be interested in Sherlock & Zen, LLC, business consulting: www.sherlockzen.com