Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower comes “an utterly necessary story” (The Wall Street Journal) that pulls back the curtain on the church of Scientology: one of the most secretive organizations at work today. • The Basis for the HBO Documentary.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century
Scientology presents itself as a scientific approach to spiritual enlightenment, but its practices have long been shrouded in mystery. Now Lawrence Wright—armed with his investigative talents, years of archival research, and more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists—uncovers the inner workings of the church. We meet founder L. Ron Hubbard, the highly imaginative but mentally troubled science-fiction writer, and his tough, driven successor, David Miscavige. We go inside their specialized cosmology and language. We learn about the church’s legal attacks on the IRS, its vindictive treatment of critics, and its phenomenal wealth. We see the church court celebrities such as Tom Cruise while consigning its clergy to hard labor under billion-year contracts. Through it all, Wright asks what fundamentally comprises a religion, and if Scientology in fact merits this Constitutionally-protected label.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century
Scientology presents itself as a scientific approach to spiritual enlightenment, but its practices have long been shrouded in mystery. Now Lawrence Wright—armed with his investigative talents, years of archival research, and more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists—uncovers the inner workings of the church. We meet founder L. Ron Hubbard, the highly imaginative but mentally troubled science-fiction writer, and his tough, driven successor, David Miscavige. We go inside their specialized cosmology and language. We learn about the church’s legal attacks on the IRS, its vindictive treatment of critics, and its phenomenal wealth. We see the church court celebrities such as Tom Cruise while consigning its clergy to hard labor under billion-year contracts. Through it all, Wright asks what fundamentally comprises a religion, and if Scientology in fact merits this Constitutionally-protected label.
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Community Reviews
This is a thoroughly researched and well-written book that really made me think about how easy it is to get fully acculturated (sucked in) to a group and forget about freedom & independent thought. The thing that surprised me the most are the abuses and the volatility of its top leader toward other leaders & members of the organization.
There are some parts of Scientology that have appeal & the organization should have enough going for it that it doesn’t need to practically imprison their clergy or use near-extortion methods to keep its members engaged and in check.
This book answered a lot of questions I’ve had about this group for years. Whenever I drive through Hemet & San Jacinto and see the big castle, I’ll look at that spiked fence around it differently. If I thought it was for keeping people out before, I know now that I was wrong.
If what is in this book is true (and with the author’s credentials and documentation, I fully believe it is) it makes me wonder why the true-hearted members don’t find a way to refresh the leadership, adjust some policies to legitimatize the operation and build a more credible & admirable organization?
There are some parts of Scientology that have appeal & the organization should have enough going for it that it doesn’t need to practically imprison their clergy or use near-extortion methods to keep its members engaged and in check.
This book answered a lot of questions I’ve had about this group for years. Whenever I drive through Hemet & San Jacinto and see the big castle, I’ll look at that spiked fence around it differently. If I thought it was for keeping people out before, I know now that I was wrong.
If what is in this book is true (and with the author’s credentials and documentation, I fully believe it is) it makes me wonder why the true-hearted members don’t find a way to refresh the leadership, adjust some policies to legitimatize the operation and build a more credible & admirable organization?
This book kept me coming back... lots of information on the subject that I didn't know and very full storytelling.
This was a technical, meaty book that seems fairly even-handed. It goes over the background of Scientology, the creator of it, the huge factor that celebrities play, and so far into the current day that it discusses Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' relationship briefly. As with everything dealing with religion, take it with a grain of salt. I found it full of information and it caught me up-to-date on the documentary debate.
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