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Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, by Lawrence Wright
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Review
Praise for Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, by Lawrence Wright “Powerful . . . essential reading.” —Michael Kinsley, the front page of The New York Times Book Review“Who’d have thought a history of a religion would offer so many guilty pleasures? Lawrence Wright’s enthralling account of Scientology’s rise brims with celebrity scandal. To anyone who gets a sugar rush from Hollywood gossip, the chapters on Tom Cruise and John Travolta will feel like eating a case of Ding Dongs.” —Evan Wright, The Los Angeles Times“An utterly necessary story . . . A feat of reporting. The story of Scientology is the great white whale of investigative journalism about religion.”—Paul Elie, The Wall Street Journal“Wright’s account of the church’s history and struggles is helpful, admirably fair-minded and, at times, absorbing . . . The book’s most intriguing aspect, though is not its treatment of Scientology, in particular, but its raising general questions about the nature of faith and reason and the role of religion in American life.” —Troy Jollimore, Chicago Tribune “A wild ride of a page-turner, as enthralling as a paperback thriller . . .I could go on and on, listing Hubbard’s tall tales, paranoid delusions and eccentricities, as well as Miscavige’s brutalities and tidbits from the famously wacky and decidedly unscientific Scientologist cosmology.”—Laura Miller, Salon.com“Insightful, gripping, and ultimately tragic . . . The initial biographical section [about L. Ron Hubbard] could stand as an engrossing book in itself. . . .The second section, “Hollywood,” provides the answer to one of the great mysteries of the modern world: What’s the deal with Tom Cruise and Scientology?”—Buzzy Jackson, The Boston Globe “A hotly compelling read. It’s a minutiae-packed book full of wild stories.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times “Lawrence Wright brings a clear-eyed investigative fearlessness to Scientology—its history, theology, its hierarchy—and the result is . . . evidence that truth can be stranger even than science fiction.”—Lisa Miller, The Washington Post “A gripping, exhaustive, remarkably evenhanded investigation of the religion everyone loves to hate.”—Lawrence Levi, Newsday “It’s incredible. It is an incredible, fascinating read. It is like a pirate novel, but there are celebrities in it. I admired [Wright’s] chutzpah, he’s like Don Quixote.”—The Hairpin “Revealing and disturbing . . . A series of devastating revelations that will come as news even to hardened Scientology buffs who follow the Church’s every twist and turn.”—The Daily Beast “Devastating . . . A patient, wholly compelling investigation into a paranoid "religion" and the faithful held in its sweaty grip.”—Kirkus Reviews “Not only a titillating expose on the reported “you’re kidding me” aspects of the religion, but a powerful examination of belief itself.”—Entertainment Weekly “A fascinating look behind the curtain of an organization whose ambition and influence are often at odds with its secretive ways. . . . For those aware of Scientology through its celebrity adherents (Tom Cruise and John Travolta are the best known) rather than its works, the sheer scope of the church’s influence and activities will be jaw-dropping.” —Keir Graff, Booklist “An eye-opening short biography of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and a long-form journalism presentation of the creature Hubbard birthed: a self-help system complete with bizarre cosmology, celebrity sex appeal, lawyers, consistent allegation of physical abuse, and expensive answers for spiritual consumers.”—Publishers Weekly From the Hardcover edition.
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About the Author
Lawrence Wright is a graduate of Tulane University and the American University in Cairo, where he spent two years teaching. He is a staff writer for The New Yorker, and the author of one novel, God’s Favorite, and six previous books of nonfiction, including In the New World; Saints and Sinners; Remembering Satan; and The Looming Tower, which was the recipient of many honors—among them, the Pulitzer Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. He is also a screenwriter and a playwright. He and his wife are longtime residents of Austin, Texas.
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Product details
Audio CD: 14 pages
Publisher: Random House Audio; Unabridged edition (January 17, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385393040
ISBN-13: 978-0385393041
Product Dimensions:
5.1 x 1.6 x 5.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
Average Customer Review:
4.4 out of 5 stars
1,534 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#703,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Imagine if you were reading a novel that included a character who wrote sci-fi novels, was obsessed with wealth and status symbols, was paranoid about the government, treated others badly, and yet started a religion as a business venture that attracted thousands of devoted followers. You'd probably say, "yeah, right; a nice allegory for an aspect of the American psyche, but I don't think so." Although, if you were familiar with Scientology, you might not be so surprised.Many aren't familiar with Scientology, in part because the Scientologists have been relentless and devoted to stamping out dissent and negative portrayals of their religion (previous books on L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology's founder ended up with the publisher abandoning the project due to law suits and the British publisher of this book, dropped it for fear of libel law suits [which are easier to win in the UK]). New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright, who is known as one of our great investigative journalists, has prepared himself by doing an incredible amount of due diligence and fact checking (apparently the fact checkers at the New Yorker, which first published an article on Scientology by Wright, made herculean efforts to make sure they got the facts right).Scientology does not come off well in Going Clear. Wright portrays Scientology as in large part an expression of L. Ron Hubbard's whimsy: "Even as Hubbard was inventing the doctrine, each of his decisions and actions would become enshrined in Scientology lore as something to be emulated -- his cigarette smoking, for instance, which is still a feature of the church's culture at the upper levels, as are his 1950s habits of speech, his casual misogyny, his aversion to perfume and scented deodorants, and his love of cars and motorcycles and Rolex watches. More significant is the legacy of his belittling behavior toward subordinates and his paranoia about the government. Such traits stamped the religion as an extremely secretive and sometimes hostile organization that saw enemies on every corner."Wright, however, does not create a simple portrayal of Hubbard and Scientology. He grants him greater complexity than a simple con man. It seems Hubbard, who had a fertile imagination and intelligence (amazingly, he wrote 1,000 books--no small feat even if you were just the typist), believed in his own ideas. Obviously, there was something powerfully charismatic about him, but as someone who tends to gloss over at Hubbard's cosmology and "discoveries," it's hard to understand (and watching an interview of him online didn't shed any light for me on his appeal). It seemed that Hubbard was a congenital fibber--one of those people for whom reality just wasn't good enough so he had to embellish it and ultimately couldn't himself separate out his fantasies from reality. What's whacky and fascinating is that he got others to deeply believe in his ideas too. Why though? It was that part of this overall incredibly researched book that I found a bit lacking.The big picture how he did it is that Hubbard parlayed the success of Dianetics, his self-help bestseller, into a religion. In a way Scientology is a truly modern religion in that it mixes a faux-scientific veneer (it's founder after all was a sci-fi writer) with a belief system and psycho-spiritual approaches. What I wanted was a better understanding of how that self-help book>religion initial transition actually worked. Not what are Hubbard's beliefs, but how he created believers. Hubbard seemed oblivious, even allergic, to practical details. It seems his third/ish wife (his marriage to his second wife wasn't legally sanctioned) Mary Sue, was the real organizer, but I still was left scratching my head about that leap from self-help and sci-fi writer to guru. It was clear what was in it for Hubbard; he became fabulously wealthy and revered. But what was in it for the followers, especially the initial ones who didn't have legions of fellow believers to bolster Hubbard's saintly status?Going Clear, however, is not just about L. Ron Hubbard. Wright covers the violent and tight-shipped rule of David Miscaviage. Miscaviage comes off as a classic tyrant (the purges and public community confessions reminded me of Mao's China) who needs to be deposed, yet he seems to have built an impregnable fort around him. As an outsider, one is mystified as to why Scientologists would accept such abuse. But by the time Miscaviage's associates get to his inner circle they have invested years in the religion and all their friends and often family are believers. Being cast aside comes with a very heavy cost.Overall, this is a very worthwhile book. It reads well and raises interesting questions about what is a scam and what is a religion (for example, we mostly accept belief in a virgin births or parting seas as part of legitimate religions, but balk at Hubbard's visions of outer space theology). There are no easy answers, but one is left by a very uneasy feeling about Hubbard's legacy.
It's hard to find anyone without an opinion on Scientology these days; between Anonymous's war on the organization, South Park's episode about the church's beliefs, Tom Cruise's outbursts, and the constant rumors about John Travolta, it seems almost everyone is aware of at least a little bit of what Scientology is all about. But it wasn't until a couple of years ago, when famed writer-director Paul Haggis publicly broke with the church and spoke about it in a New Yorker piece called "The Apostate," that a celebrity was willing to go on the record about their feelings toward the church. Now, that piece has been expanded into a full-length work of investigative journalism, and the result is an astonishing, gripping, unbelievable read about not just Scientology, but its origins, its secrets, its abuses, and its future. Author Lawrence Wright does an exceptional job keeping his writing balanced, especially as it pertains to L. Ron Hubbard, author of Dianetics and founder of the church. It's clear that there's much about Hubbard that Wright admires - his constant literary output, his ability to inspire people - and yet, Wright never lets Hubbard's shortcomings slide, as he constantly reminds the reader about Hubbard's habitual lies, his constant infidelities, and his apparent hypocrisy regarding what Scientology would allow people to do. The result is a gripping portrait of the man and the birth of the church, done with careful balance that examines both the appeal of the church and its deep flaws. From there, Wright moves on to David Miscavige, the current leader of the church, and focuses on how the church has changed to something far darker, abusive, and more dangerous under Miscavige's control. It's this half of the book that often had me reading with my jaw hanging open, often unable to believe the things I was reading. And yet, it's clear that Wright has done his research; with more than a third of the book dedicated to footnotes and research notes, and the constant reminder that the church often refused to cooperate with his questions, it's hard to doubt the things you're reading, especially as they come up again and again and again. Wright has set himself no small task to accomplish - no less than documenting the history of Scientology, its appeal to celebrities, its shift over time, and a portrait of the two men most responsible for leading the church throughout its history. And yet, Wright does it with skill and aplomb, crafting a gripping narrative and handling his numerous and disparate threads with grace and control, creating one of the most fascinating investigative reporting pieces I've ever read. It both leaves you understanding why Scientology is so appealing to people, and yet never leaves you doubting why the organization is so violently opposed in so many corners; it helps you understand why so many people doubt Hubbard, and yet still see how he could lead people; and it will help you begin to realize just how incredibly structured and controlled the ideas are, whether because of belief or because of control. This is incredible reading; if you have the slightest interest in Scientology, cults, and/or religions, Going Clear will keep you riveted.
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