Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief is a 2013 non-fiction book about Scientology written by Lawrence Wright.

The book contains interviews from current and former Scientologists, the history of founder L. Ron Hubbard and current leader David Miscavige, and analysis of the relationships of Tom Cruise and John Travolta to the organisation. In an interview with the New York Times Wright said that "There are a lot of people out there who were very high up in the church and know a lot about it who have become outspoken...I'm very lucky to come along at a time when a lot of these people are ready to talk".^[1] Wright also disclosed that he has received "innumerable" letters threatening legal action from lawyers representing the church and celebrities who belong to it.^[1] Wright spoke to 200 current and former Scientologists for the book.^[1]

Wright had previously written a profile of former Scientologist Paul Haggis for The New Yorker.^[2]

The publishers Transworld cancelled their publication of book in the United Kingdom.^[3] Transworld made an internal decision not to publish the book following legal advice, feeling that an edited version would not fit with their schedule.^[3]

Critical reception

Clark Collis reviewed the book for Entertainment Weekly, writing,

Lawrence Wright, who won a Pulitzer for 2006's The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, interviewed roughly 200 current and former Scientologists for the book, which began as a 2011 New Yorker article written with Haggis' cooperation. You can feel the heft of the research as he details Hubbard's establishment of the church in the '50s, its globe-spanning infiltration of government agencies in the '70s, and the more recent alleged physical abuse suffered by some members (the Church of Scientology denies many of the claims...) Going Clear is peppered with examples of the church lavishly accommodating its A-list members, particularly Tom Cruise, if not always dealing so well with its famous congregants' quips."^[4]