“Going Clear”: Scientology Exposed - Salon.com

Scientology Book: 'Wild Ride Of A Page-Turner'
CLEARWATER, FL - JANUARY 16: A headquarters for the Church of Scientology is seen January 16, 2013 in Clearwater, Florida. A book, 'Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & the Prison of Belief' that is sent to be released January 17, has renewed interest in the religion that counts actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta as followers. (Photo by Getty Images)
CLEARWATER, FL - JANUARY 16: A headquarters for the Church of Scientology is seen January 16, 2013 in Clearwater, Florida. A book, 'Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & the Prison of Belief' that is sent to be released January 17, has renewed interest in the religion that counts actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta as followers. (Photo by Getty Images)

Several years ago, for a series of Salon articles about Scientology, I was asked to review the founding text of the church, “Dianetics” by L.Ron Hubbard, first published in 1950. The book seemed so clearly the work of a man suffering from particular and pronounced mental health issues that I became, for the first time, curious about its author. Like most self-help books, “Dianetics” frequently invokes case histories or hypothetical scenarios, but unlike most self-help books, Hubbard’s stories featured an alarming amount of violence, specifically domestic violence.

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