Bare Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard

This book has a lot of events and incidences in it that help explain the rather paranoid nature of Scientology. Since actions speak louder than word, given the evidence, they been hiding the true nature of their rather enterprising "church". The problem I have with the book is that it doesn't delve further into the doctrines of the church and how, if ever they are actually applied. Many of these smack strongly of Buddhism and Hinduism which is fine with me since I personally ascribe to many of their doctrines because they are wholly ethical. It should be added that their rules concerning communication reflect strongly as to how they see the world, sometimes, as per the book in rather fanatical and paranoid reactions. I believe that a lot could be done to overhaul the church and tone of the more beneficial things that they could do is to eliminate some of their more bizarre and outlandish claims.. It would also behoove them to come forward and be more forthright.

This is one of the two must-reads of the history of Scientology and its founder. Miller was the object of litigation, threats, and finally the suppression of his book here because the publisher in past decades was legitimately fearful of the harassment that had already started. Now things are changing and it's time for everyone to see what L. Ron Hubbard perpetrated. Beautifully researched and as even-handed as it is possible to be.This is an addition: The other must-read is Jon Atack's A Piece of Blue Sky. Jon Atack was harassed and attacked also, especially as he had been a Scientologist. Russell Miller used his library as a major resource in putting together Bare-Faced Messiah. Those two books together will tell you most of what you want to know about L. Ron Hubbard and his "religion."

No, that's not an official title. But Summer '05 has definitely been the Summer of Scientology in the media, and I realized that to participate in the debate, I needed to know more about the Church and its founder. And while the author of this book (a former Fleet Street journalist) is clearly no friend of L Ron, it's hard to blame him in light of the simple facts surrounding the church, its history, and its founder. I don't think anyone, celebrities included, could put a positive spin on Operation Snow White, Scientology's attempt to steal and destroy government documents related to the church, performed via "covert operatives" over a period of ten years or more. Yes, they were busted. And why don't people talk about this when talking about the Church? Not sure. They also don't talk about L Ron's abandonment of his first two wives, and his eagerness to let the third take the fall for Snow White when it all shook out. It makes you wonder about the geniuses in the marketing department over in Clearwater.But the book isn't as much about the Church as it is about the man who founded it - a fascinating guy, by any account, even his own. As the book says, L Ron didn't need to embellish and manipulate his life's story nearly as much as he did, since the facts of his upbringing, education, and career are pretty amazing in and of themselves. Friends of psychology and psychiatry will recognize a narcissist when they see one, although a very entertaining one.Overall, this was a great read - I had expected it to be a bit more damning and vindictive, based on other reviews (and the crazy paperback cover, which looks like a soft core/science fiction novel). But after reading it, I was very impressed with the author's restraint.

This really, clearly shows the man to be a charlatan in almost every conceivable way. It made me angry, as the daughter of a 27 year military veteran of three wars, to read about the faked war record.

Unlike many other books about LRH and Scientology this book goes into depth about his early years and family history. The writer has constructed the story quite well. The authors took care to check out their sources and investigate LRH's outlandish claims about his life. Guaranteed for anyone who wants to learn about the story of the fraudulent messiah.

I became interested in L. Ron Hubbard Recently after I saw the movie, "The Master" by Paul Thomas Anderson, and wanted to know more about the man. My first stop was Wikipedia, and I was very intrigued by what I read. Needless to say I wanted a more comprehensive biography on him. This book is hands down the best job I think anyone could have done.You can tell right out that Mr. Miller did his homework. He compiled quite a lot of media--testimonials, interviews, and written documentation from a range of sources to try and give as much credibility to this book as is humanly possible--for such a notorious figure as L. Ron Hubbard.Russel Miller is a excellent author, and this book is a very well written. The writing is fluid; with competent transitions for time periods, situations, dialogue, and subject matter. The biggest strength of his writing however is really capturing Hubbard's aura on the pages, while still attempting to be no-biased despite the overwhelming evidence that Hubbard was just a motivated con artist.The only knock I can give this book is that it is a bit slow at times, just because Hubbard's story really becomes sad and repetitive in his later years. All and all even with my previous knowledge of Hubbard's history this book was still some what entertaining to the last page.L. Ron Hubbard's story by itself is worth the read. If twenty percent of everything in this book is true then he was by far the most despicable, selfish, pathetic, yet magnificently accomplished P.O.S. I've ever heard of. He is the type of guy in a more simple time, without mass media, written records, critical observation, and law that would have probably started a really successful 'religion'. He did start a mockery of one, that makes money-- I won't go in to all that.

a plus

I'm glad I never knew this man while he was alive. I'm appalled when I see movie stars and other influential individuals praise him. I recommend that they read this book before they jump into the fire.

Where does one start writing about L. Ron Hubbard? A charismatic and prolific (if not particularly talented) pulp sci-fi writer, who invented his own religion in an effort to make a fast buck, and ended up believing his own fantasy.This could have easily been a comedy, were it not for LRH being such a thoroughly odious individual and causing so much suffering to those around him. You can draw your own conclusions about whether his legacy, Scientology, is a force for good or evil.A fascinating and disturbing read.