1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Old school journalism, Omar V. Garrison., April 24, 2011
This is actually a very good exposition on the political and social environment and of what Scientology was facing back in the early 1970's. Is amazing how Garrison was able to collect all of the information back in those days. It must have been shocking news to most of the readers to find out how the FDA, AMA, IRS, etc., could work together to manipulate things and attack a new movement back then but, now it is relatively easy to get information in the Internet about human right abuses like the ones being perpetrated by psychiatry drugging little kids with bogus, non-scientific diagnostics for example or, the FDA approved genetic modification and patenting of seeds by corporations like Monsanto with the potential of having a lot of control over food supplies in the near future. The first 3 chapters talk about Dianetics, Scientology and the E-meter, respectively. I have read Dianetics and some Scientology books and in my opinion Garrison did a very good job summarizing them in those chapters. His explanations are simple but give sufficient description to give the rest of the chapters meaning; for example, to understand the IRS role in chapter 8. If you like investigative reporting and want some tips on how they did it back in the days this book is definitely a must read. With a subject as controversial as the Church of Scientology this book will show any journalism student how to put a confusion apart, write objectively and put forward a piece of work that can enlighten and bridge the gap of misunderstanding that keeps apart the different groups in a society.
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8 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Paranoid Anti-Covernment Slop, September 4, 2005
This review is from: The hidden story of scientology (Hardcover)
Omar V. Garrison is a paranoid, anti-government writer. This book is nothing but his views on how people have nothing better to do than to persecute Scientology. I am very anti-Scientology and this book just fueled my views.
All this book did was make Mr. Garrison look extremely bad. He came across as biased, childish and paranoid. He honestly believes that EVERYONE is out to get Scientology.
If you want to be provoked, have your intelligence insulted, or just to be offended in general, please read this book. But, if you are a rational, thinking, and adult human being, please AVOID this book at all costs.
I would have rated this book 0 stars but there was no rating that low.
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