Book Review: Going Clear

This wasn’t an official book club selection, but one of the ladies in the group recommended it as a read.  Totally intrigued by what little I knew about Scientology, I signed on to reading Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright.

Holy mackerel.  Shaking my head.  That’s pretty much my reaction to the book.

In my personal synopsis, Scientology was created by a mentally ill science fiction writer whose incredible charisma and writings eventually garnered him thousands of followers and millions of dollars.  The book details an alarming amount of physical and mental abuse throughout the “church,” and their ability to hound anyone who questions their motives – including the IRS – is incredible.  The entire time I kept thinking, “I can’t believe Tom Cruise is fully enthralled by this!”  It talks a lot about Tom and a few other celebrities like John Travolta, Kelly Preston and Kirsti Alley.  I always had a dislike for Nicole Kidman because I thought she somewhat abandoned her adopted children, but after reading this book, I think Scientology made them disconnect from her.

It is impossible to go into all the crazy Scientology encompasses (in my opinion), but if you are intrigued by the inner workings of the church, I’d recommend giving Going Clear a read!