Going Clear

That this book even exists is amazing. By the end, it seems less like an exposé than an all-in wager on the power of truth. The final few chapters alone are worth the price of admission, and while Alex Gibney's documentary of the same name is well worth watching, Lawrence Wright's book is—for now, and perhaps for all time—the definitive look at a secretive world.

Going Clear is the best account of the bizarre phenomenon that is Scientology.

Thoroughly reported, researched, and written, Wright works hard to be fair to L. Ron Hubbard and the movement he spawned – he always refers to it as a church – and yet the accumulation of facts reveals Hubbard to be a pathological liar, a sociopath, and a brilliant, visionary huckster. Wright also details the brutal tactics that Scientology adopted to win itself tax-exempt status as a church and to discourage and punish those who dissent or defect, labelled “suppressive persons” by the group.

Wright uses the term… show more.

A shocking and frightening expose that reveals the inner workings, beliefs, and activities of one of America’s most infamous religious groups. A terrifying read from cover to cover. This book documents many things that I had only learned about via hearsay when I began my own in-depth research of Scientology over three decades ago—back when so much about the group was still shrouded in mystery and well-kept secrets.