Marc Headley was in Scientology for 15 years. He writes about the horrors and "acceptable" treatment of members. From incredibly short meal breaks to very few hours of sleep for days on end in order to keep COB David Miscavige happy, the stories are shocking. Mr. Headley recounts his experience in harrowing detail yet matter-of-fact succinctness. I found myself compelled to carefully read every page in order to absorb the unreal accounts of a cult that is so deeply hidden that this book screams for people to wake up and realize what is really happening inside Scientology. ( )

This is not a book for Scientology newbies. It's filled with Scientolog-ese and won't give you background on what Scientolgy is, its history, what's happening now, LHR, ect. It is, however, an excellent book for people wanting to know what things were like for the staff over at Int Base, through the 1990s up to... 2005ish? under David Miscavige, who is an incredible douche.


Image of incredible douche. I mean, just look at him! doooooooouuuche

Reading this book is not entertaining, though Headley does manage to keep his sense of humor despite being an overworked corporate drone/monk/slave for Scientology, Inc. "Overworked" here meaning "worked to exhaustion/unquestioning braindeadness at a compound you can't leave," ahhhhaaha. Abuses abound. However, sometimes something will come up that's like, OMG a big deal!!! but it's not really dealt with. Like COERCED ABORTIONS. Apparently Sea Org members (the previously mentioned overworked Scientology monks/slaves) were uh... strongly advised to not have children, like ever, and not let a little thing like pregnancy affect their childlessness. It's for the greater profit good! Uh... This BIG DEAL is like, one sentence, glossed over. There were also a couple of sentences about a young girl, about 8 or 9, scrubbing pots and pans and actually being IN the giant sink and you get the feeling that this was like, her JOB. Like, full-time not just helping out after the church Sunday potluck. BIG DEAL PEOPLE. But instead of more information about stuff like this, you'll have pages and pages and pages of detail about how hard it is to work to a deadline without proper financial/personnel support under managers who know how to do nothing but create a toxic workplace. Still...


A photo of the fence around Headley's toxic workplace.

I appreciate that Marc Headley shared his story in this book. Massive balls, man.

Tampa Bay news article about the Headleys: Claire Headley had two abortions. The church requires Sea Org members with children to leave the order. She contended in her lawsuit her supervisors coerced her to terminate the pregnancies so she could remain in good standing and continue working. The church denied that, saying the abortions were her choice.

And if you're interested http://markrathbun.wordpress.com/ but I warn you it's filled with hardcore Scientology lingo as well as up to date complaints about CoS from Scientologists themselves. ( )

Headley's writing style is informal, jargon-laden in the way I'm all too familiar with from reading far too much about Scientology, and occasionally a bit jarring, but the emotional impact he brings to this memoir is nonetheless powerful. Unlike many other Scientology accounts I've read, he was actually born into a family who got involved with Scientology when he was still very young, and so his account made for a fascinating comparison.

Authoritarianism is evil. ( )

Blown for Good is well-known ex-Scientologist Marc Headley's memoir of life in a cult compound and his eventual escape. As other reviewers have pointed out, the prose is not polished, but it is effective. ( )

Blown for Good was definitely in need of an editor to finesse it a bit, but the meat of the story (Headley's time at the Scientology compound in Hemet, CA and his interactions with the little despot/dictator/wannabe pope of Scientology David Miscavige) was fascinating and more than made up for the excessive amount of job-related details and somewhat amateurish writing style.

How this turd of a cult is allowed to function (and retain tax exemption status) in this country is beyond me. ( )