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A Piece of Blue Sky  

Book Cover
Author Jon Atack
Language English
Subject(s) Scientology
Genre(s) non-fiction
Publisher Carol Publishing Group
Publication date August 19, 1990
Media type Hardcover
Pages 448
ISBN ISBN 0-8184-0499-X

A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed is a book written in 1990 by Jon Atack, investigating L. Ron Hubbard and his enterprises such as Dianetics and the Church of Scientology. The book is critical of Scientology, its origins and leadership.

In the book, Atack noted that Paulette Cooper's The Scandal of Scientology fascinated him, and was his motivation to do more research on the subject.[1]. Atack wrote: "I happened upon the hard-to-find Scandal of Scientology by Paulette Cooper. Now I was fascinated, and started collecting everything I could get my eager hands on - magazine articles, newspaper clippings, government files, anything."[1]

A Piece of Blue Sky has been cited as a principal source of reference in academic papers by professor of sociology and history of religion Stephen Kent, Ph.D.[2] and by professor of neuropsychiatry Louis Jolyon West, M.D.[3].

The book is available in its entirety on the internet here.

Contents

Scientology takes legal action

Before the book had even been released, Scientology attorneys sought to have a stop put to it in court.[4][5][6] Their efforts were unsuccessful.

In 1995, a British court found Atack guilty of libel against Margaret Hodkin, the headmistress of Scientology's Greenfields School in the U.K.[7] and issued an injunction against Atack forbidding him from publishing the offending paragraph on page 336 of the book. The paragraph, however, is available to be read in full on the court injunction itself.[8]

Amazon.com controversy

Amazon.com was the subject of controversy when it removed the book from its listings, then reversed itself and included it after public outcry.[9][10]

Title origins

The origin of the title A Piece of Blue Sky is explained at the beginning of the book[1]:

“ It was 1950, in the early, heady days of Dianetics, soon after L. Ron Hubbard opened the doors of his first organization to the clamoring crowd. Up until then, Hubbard was known only to readers of pulp fiction, but now he had an instant best-seller with a book that promised to solve every problem of the human mind, and the cash was pouring in. Hubbard found it easy to create schemes to part his new following from their money. One of the first tasks was to arrange "grades" of membership, offering supposedly greater rewards, at increasingly higher prices. Over thirty years later, an associate wryly remembered Hubbard turning to him and confiding, no doubt with a smile, "Let's sell these people a piece of blue sky." ”

References

  1. ^ a b c A Piece of Blue Sky, Jon Atack, Bibliography, References Summary [1], Chapter One.
  2. ^ Stephen Kent, Ph.D., "International Social Control by the Church of Scientology", presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, November 1991.
  3. ^ Louis Jolyon West, M.D., "Psychiatry and Scientology", presented as the "Distinguished Psychiatrist" lecture, American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, Washington DC, 6 May 1992.
  4. ^ New Era Publications International v. Carol Publishing Group, January 30, 1990, No. 89 Civ. 3845 (L.L.S.), United States District Court, Southern District of New York.
  5. ^ Decision, New Era Publications International v. Carol Publishing Group, May 24, 1990, (2d Cir., 1990) (904 F.2d 152).
  6. ^ "Publisher Victorious on Hubbard Biography". New York Times (1990-05-27). Retrieved on 2007-12-15.
  7. ^ Scientology in the Media, East Grinstead Evening Argus, June 10, 1994, "The Missing Word".
  8. ^ Court Injunction, Hodkin v. Atack, May 18, 1995, 1993 H. No.2412.
  9. ^ Amazon reverses decision on book ban, Charles Cooper, ZDNet News, May 20, 1999.
  10. ^ Sprenger, Polly (1999-05-25). "Scientology Book an Open Issue", Wired News. Retrieved on 2006-10-06. 

External links

Scientology portal

See also
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