Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief

E183592

investigative journalism book nonfiction book

"Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief" is a nonfiction investigative book by Lawrence Wright that critically examines the history, practices, and influence of the Church of Scientology and its ties to the entertainment industry.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief	3
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015 documentary)	1
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (film)	1
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1637602 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
Context triple: [Lawrence Wright, notableWork, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief]

A. Beyond Belief
"Beyond Belief" is a seminal sociological work by Robert N. Bellah that explores the role of religion and symbolic meaning in modern American society.
B. God Is Not Great
God Is Not Great is a polemical book by Christopher Hitchens that critiques religion and argues for secularism and rational inquiry.
C. Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions
Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions is a skeptical book by magician and debunker James Randi that critically examines and exposes claims of the paranormal, pseudoscience, and superstition.
D. Why I Am Not a Christian
Why I Am Not a Christian is an influential 1927 essay and later book by philosopher Bertrand Russell that critiques Christian doctrine and organized religion from a rationalist and skeptical perspective.
E. The Battle for God
The Battle for God is a non-fiction book by religious historian Karen Armstrong that examines the rise of fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the modern world.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
Target entity description: "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief" is a nonfiction investigative book by Lawrence Wright that critically examines the history, practices, and influence of the Church of Scientology and its ties to the entertainment industry.

A. Beyond Belief
"Beyond Belief" is a seminal sociological work by Robert N. Bellah that explores the role of religion and symbolic meaning in modern American society.
B. God Is Not Great
God Is Not Great is a polemical book by Christopher Hitchens that critiques religion and argues for secularism and rational inquiry.
C. Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions
Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions is a skeptical book by magician and debunker James Randi that critically examines and exposes claims of the paranormal, pseudoscience, and superstition.
D. Why I Am Not a Christian
Why I Am Not a Christian is an influential 1927 essay and later book by philosopher Bertrand Russell that critiques Christian doctrine and organized religion from a rationalist and skeptical perspective.
E. The Battle for God
The Battle for God is a non-fiction book by religious historian Karen Armstrong that examines the rise of fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the modern world.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	investigative journalism book ⓘ nonfiction book ⓘ
adaptationDirector	Alex Gibney ⓘ
adaptationNetwork	HBO ⓘ
adaptationType	documentary film ⓘ
adaptedAs	Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (film) ⓘ linked to: Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
author	Lawrence Wright ⓘ
awardReceived	National Book Award for Nonfiction nomination ⓘ linked to: National Book Award for Nonfiction National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction nomination ⓘ linked to: National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction (finalist)
basedOn	reporting originally published in The New Yorker ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
criticalStance	critical of Scientology ⓘ
deweyDecimalClassification	299.936 ⓘ
followedBy	Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015 documentary) ⓘ linked to: Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
genre	investigative journalism ⓘ nonfiction ⓘ
isbn	978-0-307-70066-7 ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
libraryOfCongressClassification	BP605.S2 ⓘ
mediaType	ebook ⓘ print ⓘ
notableFor	detailed history of Scientology ⓘ examination of Scientology’s relationship with celebrities ⓘ investigation of alleged abuses within Scientology ⓘ
notablePersonCovered	David Miscavige ⓘ John Travolta ⓘ L. Ron Hubbard ⓘ Tom Cruise ⓘ
pages	approximately 430 ⓘ
placeOfPublication	New York City ⓘ
publicationDate	2013 ⓘ
publisher	Alfred A. Knopf ⓘ
settingDescribed	Hollywood ⓘ Scientology facilities ⓘ United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
subject	Church of Scientology ⓘ linked to: Scientology Hollywood ⓘ Scientology ⓘ cult controversies ⓘ entertainment industry ⓘ new religious movements ⓘ religious organizations ⓘ
timePeriodCovered	20th century ⓘ 21st century ⓘ
topic	abuse allegations in religious organizations ⓘ celebrity influence in religion ⓘ psychological control ⓘ religious freedom debates ⓘ

How these facts were elicited