RaveThe New York Times Book ReviewObservers of the Christopher Hitchens phenomenon have been expecting a book about religion from him around now. But this impressive and enjoyable attack on everything so many people hold dear is not the book we were expecting ... He has written, with tremendous brio and great wit, but also with an underlying genuine anger, an all-out attack on all aspects of religion ... Hitchens’s erudition is on display — impressively so, and perhaps sometimes pretentiously so ... Hitchens has outfoxed the Hitchens watchers by writing a serious and deeply felt book, totally consistent with his beliefs of a lifetime. And God should be flattered: unlike most of those clamoring for his attention, Hitchens treats him like an adult.
Lawrence Wright
PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewThat 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 ... only once in 430 pages filled with lurid anecdotes did my skeptical antennas start to twitch ... Lawrence Wright is so deeply into his material, and there is so much of it, that he sometimes doesn’t realize when he’s left the reader behind. What is OT V status again? (It’s the fifth level of ascent for a thetan, achieved by taking expensive courses.) Which wife of L. Ron Hubbard are we talking about here? ... But don’t be deterred. Going Clear is essential reading for thetans of all lifetimes.
