Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me

by Ron Miscavige, Dan Koon

Overview

*Now a #1 New York Times bestseller*

"Compulsively readable..." —LA Weekly

“Excoriating memoir" —Publisher's Weekly

“A sad and painful but bravely told story.” —Kirkus Reviews

The only book to examine the origins of Scientology's current leader, RUTHLESS tells the revealing story of David Miscavige's childhood and his path to the head seat of the Church of Scientology told through the eyes of his father. Ron Miscavige's personal, heartfelt story is a riveting insider's look at life within the world of Scientology.

Not for sale outside the U.S.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250096944
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/03/2016
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	327,073
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Ron Miscavige is the father of David Miscavige, the leader of the Church of Scientology. He and his family joined Scientology in 1970, and he worked for The Sea Organization for almost 27 of those years before leaving the Church entirely in 2012. He is a Marine veteran and professional musician.

Dan Koon was a longtime Scientologist and an active member of The Sea Organization. He left the Church of Scientology in 2003.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

1 Beginnings 5

2 Life in the Coal Region 11

3 Music and the Marines 19

4 Starting a Family 25

5 A Marriage Made in Hell 35

6 David's Miracle 41

7 Getting in Deeper 51

8 David Goes to England 61

9 England, Again 73

10 Leaving Home 83

11 Climbing the Ladder 99

12 The Worst Month of My Life 105

13 Life in the Sea Org 113

14 Frankenstein's Monster 135

15 The Hole 149

16 Assessing My Son 161

17 Enough Is Enough 179

18 Back in the Real World 191

19 A Final Gesture 203

20 "If He Dies, He Dies. Don't Intervene." 207

21 Decompressing 215

22 David Does Not Give Up Easily 219

23 The Con That Is Scientology Today 229

24 Now What? 237

A Final Word 243

Acknowledgments 245

Suggested Reading 247

Editorial Reviews

05/16/2016
The Church of Scientology has become a corrupt, totalitarian despotism under its leader David Miscavige, according to this excoriating memoir by his father. Ron Miscavige, a musician who worked on Scientologist videos, still appreciates founder L. Ron Hubbard's philosophy and credits its auditing process—a kind of psychoanalysis, as he describes—with curing David's boyhood asthma. Unfortunately, he contends, under his son's leadership Scientology is mainly about extracting money and labor from the faithful. Miscavige describes prison-like conditions at the church's California compound: Sea Org devotees worked endless hours for negligible pay, faced frequent roll calls and grim communal meals, had mail and phone calls monitored, endured weeks-long confinement in "the Hole" for imaginary infractions, were accompanied by guards off-base, and were hounded by and disconnected from family members if they, like the author, escaped. Meanwhile, Miscavige suggests, David's Machiavellian rise to power made him a "toxic personality" and "sociopath" given to public rages laced with obscenities (sometimes directed at his father), chaotic micromanagement, and sadistic power plays. Miscavige and amanuensis Koon shape these anecdotes into a vivid portrait of religion as a cross between monastic deprivation and abusive McJob. The resulting memoir adds the poignancy of family conflict to now-familiar stories about Scientology. Photos. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Compulsively readable...Feels as if it was written more in sorrow than in anger." —LA Weekly

"Books attacking Scientology are nothing new. But Ruthless...hits particularly close to home — the author’s son David Miscavige has led the church since L. Ron Hubbard died in 1986." —The New York Times Book Review, "Inside the List"

"Recounts the Miscavige family’s experience in [Scientology], which in Ron’s view, 'has become a cult, pure and simple.' Since 1986 the church’s leader has been his son, David." —The Boston Globe

“Excoriating memoir" —Publishers Weekly

“A sad and painful but bravely told story.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

07/01/2016
Miscavige began studying Scientology when his son David, the current leader of the Church of Scientology, was a child. Later, under David's leadership, the author worked as a musician for the church. While Miscavige repeatedly avows that Scientology improved his life, those gains are overshadowed by severe personal restrictions, including not being allowed to attend family funerals and having phone calls monitored. It wasn't until after he left the church and discovered that David was having him followed by private investigators, did the author start looking "into what was really going on with Scientology." Considering that Miscavige dedicated more than half of his life to the organization, some aspects of his experience seem relatively unexamined. However, the narrative's neutral tone lends credibility to Miscavige's account. At times, it also renders an emotional flatness that, combined with a lack of more detailed information about the religion, will leave some readers feeling that pieces of the picture are missing. VERDICT The media coverage the book has already received could pique general interest, and readers may appreciate the author's unique perspective.—Meagan Storey, Virginia Beach

Library Journal