Bare-Faced Messiah

The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard

By: Russell Miller

Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley

How did an obscure science fiction writer become one of the world's most notorious religious leaders? 

Bare-Faced Messiah tells the extraordinary story of L. Ron Hubbard, a penniless science fiction writer who founded the Church of Scientology, became a millionaire prophet, and convinced his adoring followers that he alone could save the world. 

According to his "official" biography, Hubbard was an explorer, engineer, scientist, war hero, and philosopher. But in the words of a Californian judge, he was schizophrenic, paranoid, and a pathological liar. What is not in dispute is that Hubbard was one of the most bizarre characters of the 20th century. 

Bare-Faced Messiah exposes the myths surrounding the fascinating and mysterious founder of the Church of Scientology - a man of hypnotic charm and limitless imagination - and provides the definitive account of how the notorious organization was created.

©2015 Russell Miller (P)2021 Tantor

Inside the nuthouse....

a well-researched book on the notorious conman, L Ron Hubbard. He was a habitual liar and had paranoid schizophrenia, as just a small sampling of mental issues Hubbard had. I am amazed anyone would follow this false prophet as well as hand him or his 'church' boatloads of cash.

Great biography of L Ron Hubbard

Mostly, L Ron Hubbard comes out looking like a bad guy, confidence man, and rascal. But, there is also another side to him which this author does show you, basically a brilliant, charming, and manipulative leader. I saw a podcast on YouTube by Chris Shelton. Shelton himself is an interesting person, and he was in Scientology. Shelton had on an another guy, Dr Yuval Laor, who said Hubbard might have had temporal lobe epilepsy, which would’ve made it possible for Hubbard to both be a con man and simultaneously sincere about Scientology. The symptoms of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and Hubbard’s strange behavior overlap, so it’s a very interesting unproven theory. The theory was in the back of my mind when listening to the book. Hubbard was clearly a highly complicated, brilliant, and sometimes dangerous figure. Great book. I enjoyed listening. The reader is excellent.

So much worse than you thought

Hi was not sure what to expect. I had talked and texted with people about it and then started reading it and I couldn’t put it down. It is a fabulous book. Fillers really interesting ideas. For the first time I was able to get through something without blowing something up.

Frightening madman

Exactly what I expected for the megalomaniac he ended up being. It’s funny how all of these cult leaders from LRH to Jim Jones to the current political leader. They all were pampered, spoiled little boys with Mommy and Daddy issues and an overblown ego.

The BBC reporter was a poor choice as a narrator, I must say. I kept waiting for the station alert music to start, it was like he was reading the news.

Outstanding research…but that narration! 😬

I’ve read and watched lots on the topic of the Cult of Scientology. I follow many formers as well, all of whom have recommended this book to recent formers as a way of understanding the how’s of their enslavement to a madman. This book is excellently researched and written. However, the narration is woefully mind-numbing. The speaker drones on without pause for a change in tone or assignment of the original speaker, and this ‘technique’ makes it very difficult to follow a repeated conversation as to who said to whom, etc. A friend loaned her copy of the book to me and so I was able to discern more clearly the above issues. Hence, the only reason for a downgraded rating here.
Essentially, the written book = ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️; the Audiobook = ⭐️ or ⭐️⭐️