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 Scientolo...
Publishers Weekly,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. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
