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mparry's review against another edition
5.0
A very interesting and thorough look at LRH's life. A trainwreck that I couldn't look away from.
dayseraph's review against another edition
4.0
This book is bonkers, because the life and lies of L Ron Hubbard are bonkers. It’s an extremely detailed look at Hubbard’s life from childhood through seclusion, and the number and audacity of his lies are staggering. As a result, it’s an overwhelming read but also fascinating for those interested in how Scientology came to be.
tittypete's review against another edition
4.0
Dude was pretty special. Lots of making shit up, eagerly gullible people and megalomania. People in the 50s were game for something new and dude got rich and weird and really convincing. Nothing in here about Operation Freakout.
micaelabrody's review against another edition
2.5
i found this okay but not great. i thought he skipped over things that were pretty odd to ignore - i know it was published years ago but things like ot iii/wall of fire are pretty significant! and in fact-checking this review i see that the xenu story has been public knowledge - especially to someone researching scientology - since 1972! i mean, i personally know about them already (clearly) but it still made the book feel incomplete, especially since he gave such exhaustive detail about hubbard’s early life. which is great - it’s a biography! but then by cutting out some significant events during his scientology years, it feels oddly paced.
snark can really go either way in nonfiction. i have been known to enjoy a nonfiction book with a sense of humor and personality, but here there was way too much. i had a lot of “lol!” highlights but they fell off as the book went on and the zingers kept zinging. comparatively, going clear was much more effective in its almost aggressively straight-faced telling, which ended up creating those same “lol!” moments with scientology’s ridiculous denials. it may not be fair to compare them since, to my knowledge, bare-faced messiah was a bombshell for its time - but as it’s aged, i think better books have sprung up in the meantime.
snark can really go either way in nonfiction. i have been known to enjoy a nonfiction book with a sense of humor and personality, but here there was way too much. i had a lot of “lol!” highlights but they fell off as the book went on and the zingers kept zinging. comparatively, going clear was much more effective in its almost aggressively straight-faced telling, which ended up creating those same “lol!” moments with scientology’s ridiculous denials. it may not be fair to compare them since, to my knowledge, bare-faced messiah was a bombshell for its time - but as it’s aged, i think better books have sprung up in the meantime.
sleightoffeet's review against another edition
3.0
When writing non fiction, one has to balance the amount of information written about, and making it interesting for the reader. With this book, there was a ton of information, but it was so dense that it made it a hard book to read. Instead of feeling like a tell all story of L. Ron Hubbard’s life, it felt like a list in paragraph form.
As the book progressed through Hubbard’s life, it finally started to get readable as the church was founded. Still, there were many points where I lost track of whose point of view the story was being told from.
Despite all of this, it was still fascinating. This man, whose egomaniacal complex made it hard to hold a job or find direction, managed to start this religion that ended up taking care of him, protecting him and feeding his mania all at the same time.
Was it a slog? Yes. Am I glad I read it? Also yes.
As the book progressed through Hubbard’s life, it finally started to get readable as the church was founded. Still, there were many points where I lost track of whose point of view the story was being told from.
Despite all of this, it was still fascinating. This man, whose egomaniacal complex made it hard to hold a job or find direction, managed to start this religion that ended up taking care of him, protecting him and feeding his mania all at the same time.
Was it a slog? Yes. Am I glad I read it? Also yes.