Going Clear

Scientology has long been shrouded in mystery. However, Lawrence Wright—armed with his investigative talents and years of archival research—has uncovered the inner workings of the church. We meet founder L. Ron Hubbard, the highly imaginative but mentally troubled science-fiction writer, as well as his tough-minded successor, David Miscavige. By learning about their specialized cosmology and language, we see the church’s legal attacks on the IRS, its vindictive treatment of critics, and its phenomenal wealth. We see how they court celebrities such as Tom Cruise while consigning their own clergy to hard labor under billion-year contracts.