Lawrence Wright. (2013). Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. Unabridged Books on Tape.

Lawrence Wright. 2013. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. Books on Tape.

Lawrence Wright, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. Books on Tape, 2013.

Lawrence Wright. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. Unabridged Books on Tape, 2013.

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   • fileAs: Wright, Lawrence
   • bioText: 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.
   • name: Lawrence Wright
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title

Going Clear

fullDescription

National Book Award Finalist
A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, the now-classic study of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack. Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists—both famous and less well known—and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative ability to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology.
At the book’s center, two men whom Wright brings vividly to life, showing how they have made Scientology what it is today: The darkly brilliant science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, whose restless, expansive mind invented a new religion. And his successor, David Miscavige—tough and driven, with the unenviable task of preserving the church after the death of Hubbard.
We learn about Scientology’s complicated cosmology and special language. We see the ways in which the church pursues celebrities, such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and how such stars are used to advance the church’s goals. And we meet the young idealists who have joined the Sea Org, the church’s clergy, signing up with a billion-year contract.
In Going Clear, Wright examines what fundamentally makes a religion a religion, and whether Scientology is, in fact, deserving of this constitutional protection. Employing all his exceptional journalistic skills of observation, understanding, and shaping a story into a compelling narrative, Lawrence Wright has given us an evenhanded yet keenly incisive book that reveals the very essence of what makes Scientology the institution it is.

reviews

1. • premium: False
   • source: Michael Kinsley, the front page of The New York Times Book Review
   • content: "Powerful . . . essential reading."
2. • premium: False
   • source: Evan Wright, The Los Angeles Times
   • content: "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."
3. • premium: False
   • source: Paul Elie, The Wall Street Journal
   • content: "An utterly necessary story . . . A feat of reporting. The story of Scientology is the great white whale of investigative journalism about religion."
4. • premium: False
   • source: Troy Jollimore, Chicago Tribune
   • content: "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."
5. • premium: False
   • source: Laura Miller, Salon.com
   • content: "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."
6. • premium: False
   • source: Buzzy Jackson, The Boston Globe
   • content: "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?"
7. • premium: False
   • source: Janet Maslin, The New York Times
   • content: "A hotly compelling read. It's a minutiae-packed book full of wild stories."
8. • premium: False
   • source: Lisa Miller, The Washington Post
   • content:
     "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."
9. • premium: False
   • source: Lawrence Levi, Newsday
     
   • content: "A gripping, exhaustive, remarkably evenhanded investigation of the religion everyone loves to hate."
10. • premium: False
    • source: The Hairpin
    • content: "
      "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."
11. • premium: False
    • source: The Daily Beast
    • content: "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."
12. • premium: False
    • source: Kirkus Reviews
    • content: "Devastating . . . A patient, wholly compelling investigation into a paranoid "religion" and the faithful held in its sweaty grip."
13. • premium: False
    • source: Entertainment Weekly
    • content: "Not only a titillating expose on the reported "you're kidding me" aspects of the religion, but a powerful examination of belief itself."
14. • premium: False
    • source: Keir Graff, Booklist
    • content: "
      "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."
15. • premium: False
    • source: Publishers Weekly
    • content: "
      
      "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."
16. • premium: True
    • source:
    • content: After listening to this audiobook, one can only conclude that Scientology erupted full blown from the mind of L. Ron Hubbard, whose ultimate goal was to become rich, powerful, and famous--and he succeeded. This is a difficult listening experience. Narrator Morton Sellers makes a fearless attempt to put an objective spin on this fact-driven work. His performance of the dialogue is laudable, but the paranoia and aggression of the words themselves are alarming and tainted this listener's enjoyment. It's downright chilling to listen to what money, power, and single-mindedness can create out of a vulnerable population of, in some cases, highly intelligent individuals. This is a good listen for those who enjoy controversy in their audiobooks. E.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine
17. • premium: True
    • source:
    • content:

      January 28, 2013
      Pulitzer winner Wright (The Looming Tower) expands and carefully footnotes his investigation of Scientology, which began as a 2011 New Yorker article examining the defection of acclaimed screenwriter-director Paul Haggis from the church. The book-length version offers—in persuasive, albeit sometimes mind-numbing, detail—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 allegations of physical abuse, and expensive answers for spiritual consumers. Wright capably sows his thorough reportage into ground broken by Janet Reitman (Inside Scientology, 2011). He poses larger questions about the nature of belief, but can only lay groundwork because he has to fight to establish facts, given the secrecy and controversy surrounding Scientology, and his eyewitnesses are necessarily disenchanted and therefore adversarial. While Wright’s brave reporting offers an essential reality test, an analysis of why this sci-fi and faith brew quenches a quasi-religious thirst in its followers is still needed. First printing 150,000. Agent: Andrew Wylie, the Wylie Agency.

18. • premium: True
    • source:
    • content:

      March 25, 2013
      After years of extensive research, countless interviews and testimonials, and innumerable hours spent plowing through archives, New Yorker staff writer and Pulitzer Prize–winner Wright offers this absolutely compelling account of the Church of Scientology. Narrated by Morton Sellers, the book is a shocking look at what many have come to view as a cult. Not one for theatrics, Sellers lets the material speak for itself. His delivery is straightforward and understated, allowing the astonishing accounts presented to take center stage. That said, Sellers is able to keep his audience engaged for the duration, never resorting to over-the-top theatrics, despite some of the more-than-colorful, character-driven, real-life accounts that pop up throughout. All in all, this is an endlessly fascinating look at one of the most controversial organizations operating in the world today. A Knopf hardcover.

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2. • value: Sociology
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National Book Award Finalist
A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, the now-classic study of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack. Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists—both famous and less well known—and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative ability to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology.
At the book’s center, two men whom Wright brings vividly to life, showing how they have made Scientology what it is today: The darkly brilliant science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, whose restless, expansive mind invented a new religion. And his successor, David Miscavige—tough and driven, with the unenviable task of preserving the church after the death of Hubbard.
We learn about Scientology’s complicated cosmology and...

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1. • source: The National Book Critics Circle
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2. • source: The New York Times
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Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief

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   • description: Religion / Christianity / History
2. • code: REL089000
   • description: Religion / Scientology
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   • description: Social Science / Sociology of Religion