Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Uh. Wow. Kind of a book that is the most compassionate way to let the world know your son is a monster. Not a lot of screaming, but acknowledgement of some character flaws, like megalomania and sociopath tendencies. I get some people not carrying if their dad dies, but, the narrator doesn’t seem like a total creep, not like the Kelly’s Dad on Bearing Sea Gold. The most interesting point about Miscavige’s story is that he is critically looking at Scientology and focusing on his son, and the beliefs that he has been imposing on other people. There is actually a lot that David’s father, Miscavige (I’ll just call the dad Miscavige), talks about with regards to the things that are good, or were good, or had beliefs that once spoke to him in the faith. I think that this might be one of the first books I’ve read on the subject that speaks highly of the belief, but condemns the leader. I know that scientology has been a hot item lately, “Going Clear” and Leah Remini’s book are two of the main ones that come to mind when thinking about the church. I’d put this one up there in terms of the authority and the sincerity with which it is written, where as other ones talk about their reasons for joining as almost apologetic, whereas Miscavige isn’t, he’s talking about what the good used to be in it. Miscavige tells the story like you would perceive a father to do; he pays attention to heights and weight when his kids are playing sports. He’s realistic in his relationship with his wife Loretta, admits to hitting her, and doesn’t make excuses about it, just describes it as a matter of fact and part of their relationship. It’s kind of interesting that he acknowledges that she passed away and can’t provide her perspective, it seems a bit sincerer that way. The narratives language isn’t rose colored and painted fluidly either, when David was having an asthma attack Miscavige “smacked him on the ass and he cried, which forced him to exhale and that stopped the attack,” again kind of giving insight into that rough narrative. The asthma plays a big role in Miscavige’s discussion of David and Scientology, as the asthma really limited David, but after Miscavige took him to see some people at the Scientology place his asthma stopped. This is what Miscavige really attributes to David’s turn to Scientology, the idea that it cured him of asthma. Miscavige himself becomes involved because of his situation with his wife and admits some of the psychological remedies Scientology gave him early on. It’s actually kind of neat in his transition to Scientology facets because he’s talking shop about his boys and then goes into theories of Hubbard, but does so very naturally in the dialogue (yes, I know it was co-written, but the tone doesn’t change). Miscavige discusses being accused of rape, acknowledges the churches help during his time of need, and eventually decides to join the church after he divorces his wife. Miscavige is pretty honest about some of the early time in the church when he became involved in 1985, he’s pretty passionate when he talks about music and making music, but then things go a bit downhill. Miscavige’s perspective focuses a lot on the performance aspect of Scientology and how it bilks people into thinking that it was more involved than it actually was, as well as spread further than it actually was. Miscavige admits he was never in the hole, but talks about the psychological impact David’s personality has on others, comparing it to a 1980’s boss, and maintaining entourages that always agreed with him wherever he went in the organization. Miscavige then talks about David’s man-crush on Tom Cruise, and how David sought to woo Tom, but then quickly reflects back to David’s competitive attitude. Highlighting that David didn’t finish school, Miscavige even notes that David played Trivial Pursuit requiring a pop-culture person on his team so as not to lose. It’s kind of interesting that Miscavige hearkens to his own background and talks about David’s inefficiency as a manager and supervisor. There’s a little window of this, which I’m not entirely sure what to make of, especially since David is still the head of the church and it’s been seeming to do pretty well financially. Miscavige eventually flees the church with his new wife, but a lot of it has to do with his music not being as appreciated as before, and his soul dying bit by bit every day. The last quarter of the book focuses on Miscavige’s new life after leaving Scientology. In particular, he did get $100,000 from David to buy a new house. It is a bit surprising that he talks about using the internet for the first time and learning about Hubbard and some of the truths behind him, in particular his military career. Miscavige explains his authorship of the book, being constantly followed by PI’s and Scientology’s denial of this, even when there are federal recordings that David knew about the PI’s tracking Miscavige. Then there’s some family sadness with Miscavige’s children not really interacting with him, Miscavige reflects on Scientology, and then the book ends. Oh, and there’s pictures, which are a nice touch.