Illustration by Julien Pacaud, colagene.com; photograph by Chris Ware/Keystone Features â€" Getty Images This week in The New York Times Book Review, Michael Kinsley reviews “Going Clear,†Lawrence Wright’s new book about Scientology. Mr. Kinsley writes:
That crunching sound you hear is Lawrence Wright bending over backward to be fair to Scientology. Every deceptive comparison with Mormonism and other religions is given a respectful hearing. Every ludicrous bit of church dogma is served up deadpan. This makes the book’s indictment that much more powerful. Open almost any page at random. That tape of L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology’s founder, that Wright quotes from “It was a part of a lecture Hubbard gave in 1963, in which he talked about the between-lives period, when thetans are transported to Venus to have their memories erased.â€
Oh, that period. Of course. How could I forget
This week, Mr. Wr! ight discusses “Going Clearâ€; Leslie Kaufman has notes from the field; Emily Bazelon talks about Sonia Sotomayor’s new memoir; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Sam Tanenhaus is the host.
