Author: Alan Hollinghurst File Type: mobi ReviewLonglisted for the Man Booker Prize [2011]A Globe and Mail Best BookA New York Times Notable BookIf this wonderfully well-made and witty novel doesnt win the Man Booker Prize, there is no justice in the world. . . . Constantly provocative, intricately plotted, slyly hilariousin short, a triumph of the storytellers art. Brian Lynch, Irish IndependentCaptivating. . . . It is elegant, seductive and extremely enjoyable to read, and peppered with astute, apparently casual noticings. . . . The Strangers Child will no doubt be one of the best novels published this year. The GuardianA remarkable, unmissable achievement, written with the calm authority of an author who could turn his literary gifts to just about anything. Richard Canning, The Independent There is a huge cleverness to the book at a structural and, as it were, managerial level. . . . Hollinghurst, as ever, is quietly brilliant about architecture. ... Theres also a lot that is purely and simply very funny. Keith Miller, Daily Telegraph The Strangers Child feels like the kind of novel that [E.M.] Forster might have written had he continued. . . . An impeccable, ironic, profoundly enjoyable plot structure. . . . Aesthetically, The Strangers Child is probably the best novel this year so far. Amanda Craig, The IndependentReviewWith The Strangers Child, an already remarkable talent unfurls into something spectacular Sunday Times I would compare the novel to Middlemarch... a remarkable, unmissable achievement Independent Magnificent... universally acclaimed as the best novel of the year Philip Hensher The Sunday Times Novel of the Year With The Strangers Child, an already remarkable talent unfurls into something spectacular Sunday Times In the late summer of 1913, George Sawle brings his Cambridge friend Cecil Valance, a charismatic young poet, to visit his family home. Filled with intimacies and confusions, the weekend will link the families for ever, having the most lasting impact on Georges sixteen-year-old sister Daphne. As the decades pass, Daphne and those around her endure startling changes in fortune and circumstance, reputations rise and fall, secrets are revealed and hidden and the events of that long-ago summer become part of a legendary story, told and interpreted in different ways by successive generations. Powerful, absorbing and richly comic, The Strangers Child is a masterly exploration of English culture, taste and attitudes over a century of change. I would compare the novel to Middlemarch . . . a remarkable, unmissable achievement Independent Magnificent . . . universally acclaimed as the best novel of the year Philip HensherReviewLonglisted 2011 - Man Booker PrizeLONGLIST2013 IMPAC Dublin Literary AwardA Globe and Mail Best BookA New York Times Notable Book If this wonderfully well-made and witty novel doesnt win the Man Booker Prize, there is no justice in the world. . . . Constantly provocative, intricately plotted, slyly hilariousin short, a triumph of the storytellers art. Brian Lynch, Irish IndependentCaptivating. . . . It is elegant, seductive and extremely enjoyable to read, and peppered with astute, apparently casual noticings. . . . The Strangers Child will no doubt be one of the best novels published this year. The GuardianA remarkable, unmissable achievement, written with the calm authority of an author who could turn his literary gifts to just about anything. Richard Canning, The Independent There is a huge cleverness to the book at a structural and, as it were, managerial level. . . . Hollinghurst, as ever, is quietly brilliant about architecture. ... Theres also a lot that is purely and simply very funny. Keith Miller, Daily Telegraph The Strangers Child feels like the kind of novel that [E.M.] Forster might have written had he continued. . . . An impeccable, ironic, profoundly enjoyable plot structure. . . . Aesthetically, The Strangers Child is probably the best novel this year so far. Amanda Craig, The IndependentReviewWith The Strangers Child, an already remarkable talent unfurls into something spectacular Sunday Times I would compare the novel to Middlemarch... a remarkable, unmissable achievement Independent Magnificent... universally acclaimed as the best novel of the year Philip Hensher

Author: Lawrence Wright File Type: mobi A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower,the now-classic study of al-Qaedas 911 attack. Based on more than two hundred personal interviews withcurrent and former Scientologistsboth famous and less well knownand years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative ability to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology.br At the books center, two men whom Wright brings vividly to life, showing how they have made Scientology what it is today The darkly brilliant science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, whose restless, expansive mind invented a new religion. And his successor, David Miscavigetough and driven, with the unenviable task of preserving the church after the death of Hubbard.br We learn about Scientologys complicated cosmology and special language. We see the ways in which the church pursues celebrities, such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and how such stars are used to advance the churchs goals. And we meet the young idealists who have joined the Sea Org, the churchs clergy, signing up with a billion-year contract.br InGoing Clear,Wright examines what fundamentally makes a religion a religion, and whether Scientology is, in fact, deserving of this constitutional protection. Employing all his exceptional journalistic skills of observation, understanding, and shaping a story into a compelling narrative, Lawrence Wright has given us an evenhanded yet keenly incisive book that reveals the very essence of what makes Scientology the institution it is.br From the Hardcover edition.ReviewPraise for Going Clear Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, by Lawrence Wright br br br Powerful . . . essential reading. Michael Kinsley, the front page of *The New York Times Book Reviewbr Whod have thought a history of a religion would offer so many guilty pleasures? LawrenceWrightsenthralling account of Scientologys rise brims with celebrity scandal.To anyone who gets a sugar rush from Hollywood gossip, the chapters on Tom Cruise and John Travolta will feel like eating a case of Ding Dongs.br Evan Wright, The Los Angeles Timesbr br An utterly necessary story . . . A feat of reporting. The story of Scientology is the great white whale of investigative journalism about religion.Paul Elie, The Wall Street Journalbr br Wrights account of the churchs history and struggles is helpful, admirably fair-minded and, at times, absorbing . . . The books most intriguing aspect, though is not its treatment of Scientology, in particular, but its raising general questions about the nature of faith and reason and the role of religion in American life.br Troy Jollimore, Chicago Tribune br *A wild ride of a page-turner, as enthralling as a paperback thriller . . .I could go on and on, listing Hubbards tall tales, paranoid delusions and eccentricities, as well as Miscaviges brutalities and tidbits from the famously wacky and decidedly unscientific Scientologist cosmology.Laura Miller, Salon.combr Insightful, gripping, and ultimately tragic . . . The initial biographical section [about L. Ron Hubbard] could stand as an engrossing book in itself. . . .The second section, br Hollywood, provides the answer to one of the great mysteries of the modern world Whats the deal with Tom Cruise and Scientology?Buzzy Jackson, The Boston Globe br br A hotly compelling read. Its a minutiae-packed book full of wild stories.br Janet Maslin, The New York Timesbr Lawrence Wright brings a clear-eyed investigative fearlessness to Scientologyits history, theology, its hierarchyand the result is . . . evidence that truth can be stranger even than science fiction.Lisa Miller, The Washington Postbr br br A gripping, exhaustive, remarkably evenhanded investigation of the religion everyone loves to hate.Lawrence Levi, Newsday br br br Its incredible. It is an incredible, fascinating read. It is like a pirate novel, but there are celebrities in it. I admired [Wrights] chutzpah, hes like Don Quixote.The Hairpin br br br Revealing and disturbing . . . A series of devastating revelations that will come as news even to hardened Scientology buffs who follow the Churchs every twist and turn.The Daily Beast br br br Devastating . . . A patient, wholly compelling investigation into a paranoid religion and the faithful held in its sweaty grip.Kirkus Reviewsbr br br Not only a titillating expose on the reported youre kidding me aspects of the religion, but a powerful examination of belief itself.Entertainment Weeklybr br br A fascinating look behind the curtain of an organization whose ambition and influence are often at odds with its secretive ways. . . . For those aware of Scientology through its celebrity adherents (Tom Cruise and John Travolta are the best known) rather than its works, the sheer scope of the churchs influence and activities will be jaw-dropping.br Keir Graff, Booklistbr br br An eye-opening short biography of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and a long-form journalism presentation of the creature Hubbard birthed a self-help system complete with bizarre cosmology, celebrity sex appeal, lawyers, consistent allegation of physical abuse, and expensive answers for spiritual consumers.Publishers Weeklybr br br br From the Hardcover edition.About the AuthorLawrence Wright is a graduate of Tulane University and the American University in Cairo, where he spent two years teaching. He is a staff writer for The New Yorker, and the author of one novel, Gods Favorite, and six previous books of nonfiction, including In the New World Saints and Sinners Remembering Satan and The Looming Tower, which was the recipient of many honors--among them, The Pulitzer Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the New York Public Librarys Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. He is also a screenwriter and a playwright. He and his wife are longtime residents of Austin, Texas.br Lawrence Wright official website httpwww.lawrencewright.combr From the Hardcover edition.