Ruthless: Scientology My Son David Miscavige, and Me, Ron Miscavige

I'm a little bit obsessed with Scientology.

If you know anything about Scientology (like if you've watched Going Clear, or read Going Clear) you can skip this book. Most of what Ron Miscavige says is just confirming stories other people told about Gold Base and his son David. If he didn't witness something personally, but it's a well-known rumor (like the infamous musical chairs interlude) he'll say, "I have no doubt that really happened, because I know my son." There's really no new information here about Scientology, and in fact, he doesn't really explain much about Scientology or its beliefs. For example, he throws out "I know this will anger many scientologists, but auditing is basically just talk-therapy as it has been practiced since the days of Freud," without really explaining any part of that sentence. I've read a thousand Scientology tell-all books, so I know that L. Ron Hubbard hated psychiatrists and Scientology treats considers them one of their top enemies. Without that context, though, I wonder how interesting this book is.

Honestly, Ron Miscavige seems more interested in telling us about his difficult first marriage and career as a musician, which takes up about half the book. Twenty-seven years in the Sea Org is boiled down to about 1/4 of the book, and the last part is about how terrible the policy of disconnection is, and what life has been like since he left Scientology. Interesting, but not the juicy memoir it could be.

If you want Scientology celebrity gossip and crazy stories, read Leah Remini's book, Troublemaker. If you want "holy shit, Scientology does WHAT?" stories, read Jenna Miscavige Hill's book, Beyond Belief. And if you're new to Scientology or want a well-researched overall story of Scientology, read Going Clear.

Grade: C
#42 in 2016