Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief

With Going Clear, Lawrence Wright turns his careful and rigorous eye toward the Church of Scientology. Throughout the book, Wright makes an admirable attempt to be fair-minded and generous in his evaluation of the “religion.” But the church’s fantastic historical claims, its attempt to fully control its members’ lives, the deep secrecy of its leadership, the detention houses used to punish dissenters, and the frequent lawsuits used to threaten and silence critics lead to only one conclusion: it is a fraudulent and manipulative cult.