Lawrence Wright is a graduate of Tulane University and the American University in Cairo, where he spent two years teaching. He is a staff writer for The New Yorker, and the author of one novel, God's Favorite, and six previous books of nonfiction, including In the New World; Saints and Sinners; Remembering Satan; and The Looming Tower, which was the recipient of many honors--among them, The Pulitzer Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the New York Public Library's Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. He is also a screenwriter and a playwright. He and his wife are longtime residents of Austin, Texas.
Lawrence Wright official website: http: //www.lawrencewright.com/
Praise for Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of
Belief, by Lawrence Wright
"Powerful . . . essential reading." --Michael Kinsley, the front
page of The New York Times Book Review "Who'd have thought a
history of a religion would offer so many guilty pleasures?
Lawrence Wright's enthralling account of Scientology's rise brims
with celebrity scandal. To anyone who gets a sugar rush from
Hollywood gossip, the chapters on Tom Cruise and John Travolta will
feel like eating a case of Ding Dongs."
--Evan Wright, The Los Angeles Times
"An utterly necessary story . . . A feat of reporting. The story of
Scientology is the great white whale of investigative journalism
about religion."--Paul Elie, The Wall Street Journal
"Wright's account of the church's history and struggles is helpful,
admirably fair-minded and, at times, absorbing . . . The book's
most intriguing aspect, though is not its treatment of Scientology,
in particular, but its raising general questions about the nature
of faith and reason and the role of religion in American life."
--Troy Jollimore, Chicago Tribune "A wild ride of a page-turner, as
enthralling as a paperback thriller . . .I could go on and on,
listing Hubbard's tall tales, paranoid delusions and
eccentricities, as well as Miscavige's brutalities and tidbits from
the famously wacky and decidedly unscientific Scientologist
cosmology."--Laura Miller, Salon.com "Insightful, gripping, and
ultimately tragic . . . The initial biographical section [about L.
Ron Hubbard] could stand as an engrossing book in itself. . . .The
second section,
"Hollywood," provides the answer to one of the great mysteries of
the modern world: What's the deal with Tom Cruise and
Scientology?"--Buzzy Jackson, The Boston Globe
"A hotly compelling read. It's a minutiae-packed book full of wild
stories."
--Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"Lawrence Wright brings a clear-eyed investigative fearlessness to
Scientology--its history, theology, its hierarchy--and the result
is . . . evidence that truth can be stranger even than science
fiction."--Lisa Miller, The Washington Post
"A gripping, exhaustive, remarkably evenhanded investigation of the
religion everyone loves to hate."--Lawrence Levi, Newsday
"It's incredible. It is an incredible, fascinating read. It is like
a pirate novel, but there are celebrities in it. I admired
[Wright's] chutzpah, he's like Don Quixote."--The Hairpin
"Revealing and disturbing . . . A series of devastating revelations
that will come as news even to hardened Scientology buffs who
follow the Church's every twist and turn."--The Daily Beast
"Devastating . . . A patient, wholly compelling investigation into
a paranoid "religion" and the faithful held in its sweaty
grip."--Kirkus Reviews
"Not only a titillating expose on the reported "you're kidding me"
aspects of the religion, but a powerful examination of belief
itself."--Entertainment Weekly
"A fascinating look behind the curtain of an organization whose
ambition and influence are often at odds with its secretive ways. .
. . For those aware of Scientology through its celebrity adherents
(Tom Cruise and John Travolta are the best known) rather than its
works, the sheer scope of the church's influence and activities
will be jaw-dropping."
--Keir Graff, Booklist
"An eye-opening short biography of Scientology founder L. Ron
Hubbard and a long-form journalism presentation of the creature
Hubbard birthed: a self-help system complete with bizarre
cosmology, celebrity sex appeal, lawyers, consistent allegation of
physical abuse, and expensive answers for spiritual
consumers."--Publishers Weekly
Praise for Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the
Prison of Belief, by Lawrence Wright
"Powerful . . . essential reading." --Michael Kinsley, the front
page of The New York Times Book Review "Who'd have thought a
history of a religion would offer so many guilty pleasures?
Lawrence Wright's enthralling account of Scientology's rise brims
with celebrity scandal. To anyone who gets a sugar rush from
Hollywood gossip, the chapters on Tom Cruise and John Travolta will
feel like eating a case of Ding Dongs."
--Evan Wright, The Los Angeles Times
"An utterly necessary story . . . A feat of reporting. The story of
Scientology is the great white whale of investigative journalism
about religion."--Paul Elie, The Wall Street Journal
"Wright's account of the church's history and struggles is helpful,
admirably fair-minded and, at times, absorbing . . . The book's
most intriguing aspect, though is not its treatment of Scientology,
in particular, but its raising general questions about the nature
of faith and reason and the role of religion in American life."
--Troy Jollimore, Chicago Tribune "A wild ride of a page-turner, as
enthralling as a paperback thriller . . .I could go on and on,
listing Hubbard's tall tales, paranoid delusions and
eccentricities, as well as Miscavige's brutalities and tidbits from
the famously wacky and decidedly unscientific Scientologist
cosmology."--Laura Miller, Salon.com "Insightful, gripping, and
ultimately tragic . . . The initial biographical section [about L.
Ron Hubbard] could stand as an engrossing book in itself. . . .The
second section,
"Hollywood," provides the answer to one of the great mysteries of
the modern world: What's the deal with Tom Cruise and
Scientology?"--Buzzy Jackson, The Boston Globe
"A hotly compelling read. It's a minutiae-packed book full of wild
stories."
--Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"Lawrence Wright brings a clear-eyed investigative fearlessness to
Scientology--its history, theology, its hierarchy--and the result
is . . . evidence that truth can be stranger even than science
fiction."--Lisa Miller, The Washington Post
"A gripping, exhaustive, remarkably evenhanded investigation of
the religion everyone loves to hate."--Lawrence Levi, Newsday
"It's incredible. It is an incredible, fascinating read. It is like
a pirate novel, but there are celebrities in it. I admired
[Wright's] chutzpah, he's like Don Quixote."--The Hairpin
"Revealing and disturbing . . . A series of devastating
revelations that will come as news even to hardened Scientology
buffs who follow the Church's every twist and turn."--The Daily
Beast
"Devastating . . . A patient, wholly compelling investigation into
a paranoid "religion" and the faithful held in its sweaty
grip."--Kirkus Reviews
"Not only a titillating expose on the reported "you're kidding me"
aspects of the religion, but a powerful examination of belief
itself."--Entertainment Weekly
"A fascinating look behind the curtain of an organization whose
ambition and influence are often at odds with its secretive ways. .
. . For those aware of Scientology through its celebrity adherents
(Tom Cruise and John Travolta are the best known) rather than its
works, the sheer scope of the church's influence and activities
will be jaw-dropping."
--Keir Graff, Booklist
"An eye-opening short biography of Scientology founder L. Ron
Hubbard and a long-form journalism presentation of the creature
Hubbard birthed: a self-help system complete with bizarre
cosmology, celebrity sex appeal, lawyers, consistent allegation of
physical abuse, and expensive answers for spiritual
consumers."--Publishers Weekly
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