Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief -- Lawrence Wright, Paperback

The Basis for the HBO Documentary. A National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist.

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. Brilliantly researched, compellingly written, Going Clear pulls back the curtain on one of the most secretive organizations at work today.

A New York Times Notable Book
A Best Book of the Year: The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, New York magazine, Slate, Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly, People, The Week, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews
A GoodReads Reader's Choice

Author: Lawrence Wright
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 11/05/2013
Pages: 560
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.30w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780307745309
Award: National Book Awards - Finalist

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 12/15/2013 pg. 40

About the Author
Lawrence Wright is a staff writer for The New Yorker. He is the author of a novel, God's Favorite, and has also authored six previous books of nonfiction--City Children, Country Summer; In the New World; Saints and Sinners; Remembering Satan; Twins; and The Looming Tower. The Looming Tower received many awards, including 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.

Lawrence Wright official website: http: //www.lawrencewright.com/