#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An eye-opening, no-holds-barred memoir about life in the Church of Scientology, now with a new afterword by the author—the outspoken actress and star of the A&E docuseries Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath Leah Remini has never been the type to hold her tongue. That willingness to speak her mind, stand her ground, and rattle the occasional cage has … and rattle the occasional cage has enabled this tough-talking girl from Brooklyn to forge an enduring and successful career in Hollywood. But being a troublemaker has come at a cost.
That was never more evident than in 2013, when Remini loudly and publicly broke with the Church of Scientology. Now, in this frank, funny, poignant memoir, the former King of Queens star opens up about that experience for the first time, revealing the in-depth details of her painful split with the church and its controversial practices.
Indoctrinated into the church as a child while living with her mother and sister in New York, Remini eventually moved to Los Angeles, where her dreams of becoming an actress and advancing Scientology’s causes grew increasingly intertwined. As an adult, she found the success she’d worked so hard for, and with it a prominent place in the hierarchy of celebrity Scientologists alongside people such as Tom Cruise, Scientology’s most high-profile adherent. Remini spent time directly with Cruise and was included among the guests at his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes.
But when she began to raise questions about some of the church’s actions, she found herself a target. In the end, she was declared by the church to be a threat to their organization and therefore a “Suppressive Person,” and as a result, all of her fellow parishioners—including members of her own family—were told to disconnect from her. Forever.
Bold, brash, and bravely confessional, Troublemaker chronicles Leah Remini’s remarkable journey toward emotional and spiritual freedom, both for herself and for her family. This is a memoir designed to reveal the hard-won truths of a life lived honestly—from an author unafraid of the consequences.
Praise for Troublemaker
“An aggressively honest memoir . . . Troublemaker is the most raw and revealing Scientology memoir to date.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Leah’s story is a juicy, inside-Hollywood read, but it’s more than that. It’s a moving story about the value of questioning authority and how one woman survived a profound crisis of faith.”—People
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I just spotted the trailer for Leah Remini’s new documentary series (http://www.vulture.com/2016/11/watch-leah-reminis-scientology-series-trailer.html) and realized I never reviewed Troublemaker. So here I am!
If you’re into pop culture, celebrity gossip, or King of Queens, this book is a must-read. It’s eye-opening, honest, and heartbreaking, and it was very colloquial which made me feel like Leah truly did write it herself.
In the book, Leah documents her experience growing up as a Scientologist as well as when she finally left the church a few years ago. I don’t want to spoil too much because you need to read it to believe it, but I will say that she name drops a tonnnnn of celebrities, and also goes into detail about the Cruise/Holmes wedding, so if you can’t get enough of that kind of thing, read this for that gossip alone!
Book Review for Troublemaker by Leah Remini on audiobook format. Narrated by Leah Remini
I dislike Leah Remini. I don’t care for her persona of a tough chic from Brooklyn. I hate her accent. This has nothing to do with her ability as an actress. I believe she’s a fantastic actress. I’m just not into her.
Being that I dislike her accent and honestly voice I wasn’t interested in her book Troublemaker, until a coworker spoke very highly of “how interesting” the book was. I decided to give it a try and was immediately engrossed in Remini’s story. Listening to Remini speak I quickly forgot how much I hate her accent/voice and started to listen as if I was sitting down with an old friend.
Remini grew up in the Scientology Church and she speaks about her experiences from the heart. It’s clear in the book that Remini had the best intentions not only for herself and family, but the world. She truly believed in her church and their supposed cause.
I will not post my personal beliefs on the Scientology church. I will allow you the reader, to read Troublemaker and decide for yourself.
Courageously honest, detailed, credible account of author Leah Remini’s decades long experience in the little known workings inside of Scientology. This book may not be star-gazers or Hollywood image fans, but it is work of profound importance to those seeking to understand the recurring patterns of inherently corrupt power structures still permitted to flourish within presumed just, democratic and economically free societies.
I write as a Christian after decades of my own hard learned lessons of evidence based truth of Christianity and distinguishing some of the various corrupt forms of distinct proselytizing organizations (too often dismissed with single term “cult” with no further evaluations), virtually all within common legal business form of hierarchical power structures, as corporations – or various money conserving variations of these legal “entitites”, foundations, non-profit corporations, (churches, ministries, para-church organization) legally limited companies (LLCs).
Remini’s work provides sufficient evidence to provide numerous legal challenges for the various free religious practice/free speech/free enterprise arguments and their presumptions even in cases where infants, children, and generations of families are placed at risk. If the US wants to regain a place among world societies desiring to preserve personal freedoms, we (US) must be more aware of inherent, structural/institutional bias for personal gain/power over others. This is a view to carrying out the idea of placing reasonable checks and balances on the corruptibility of individuals and groups, which US founders assumed as need for 3 branch form of federal government with each branch intended to be independent of the other – and independent of corruption of wealth (inherent in nature of corporations, as they are by nature collections of assets, credit, cash, employment and all the influence these convey.
Please notice that the detail of identity of particular organization author Remini writes of is not of primary significance. She reveals the progression of reason and challenges to resolve personal reflections on unreasonable practices, repeating patterns of abusive behavior, all seemingly “within the law” of the US. Her work is given power by her clear personal narrative, sharing the wide range of emotions and intellectual growth she progressed through. It is a landmark for public scrutiny with a mind to safe, just means of tempering the presumed limits of freedom of religion and its forms of practice – especially when it seeks sanction by government in the form of corporate identities.
I loved this book so much more than I thought I would. Leah Remini brought her humor and personality into every page. Which makes a tough subject like this so much easier to read. And it’s written as if Leah is actually talking to you. The way friends sit down and talk to each other. Friend to friend.
I don’t know about you but I’m always interested in reading about these organizations and why people get into them in the first place. Then why people stay in them. And stay in them for so many years. Leah is open and honest about all of this. And she owns where she made her own mistakes.
If you want some more information about the Scientology business. (I just. Can’t. Call it a religion.) You can get Leah’s first hand knowledge of it in these pages. And she was in contact with the top. As in Tom Cruise and David Miscavige. She speaks openly of how they bring in the money. What their centers are like. She basically takes us on an inside look-see.
I’m not going to go off on a tangent and disparage Scientology. Even though there is a lot that can be said there. But I don’t think this is the place. I do think Leah said A LOT of my own feelings quite well.
This would make a great audio book with Leah narrating it. She’d be hilarious talking about her own life and all that happened. I think that’s a new must-have for me. I have to listen to the audio version of books of funny people’s biographies. It’s gotta make the book 200% better. And this book was great to begin with so that’s really saying something!!!
Wow! This book was sooooo eye opening. I honestly had no idea what to expect between the pages of this one prior to reading but boy oh boy am I happy I did.
Leah spoke in depth about her personal experiences with Scientology and the reasons for her subsequent change of heart.
The support Jennifer Lopez gave her when she needed it the most warmed my heart.
Highly recommend.
If you like audio books I highly recommend getting the audio book of this one. Hearing it read by Leah herself added something more to it. I kept flipping between the audio and hardcover versions. I am always intrigued by books about people leaving things like Scientology. Hearing what they went through and what finally got the person to realize something wasn’t right is always interesting. Leah was no different. Her story different a lot from Jenna Miscavige Hill’s book Beyond Belief. I think that had to do with her celebrity status. Overall it was a great read and I like learning more about her point of view.
I am not sure I like it.
Got boring halfway thru
It was truly inspiring
Interesting details from an insider/former member.
This book took me by surprise and kept me reading nonstop until I was finished. Very educational. Even though it is basically about oppression, it leaves you with a great sense of hope.
I felt like a fly on the wall learning about much of the inner workings of Scientology. Fascinating to read of her perspective of Tom Cruise’s power. I’m glad she broke away..
Very poorly written, but a fascinating piece of mind control.
I’ve watched Leah Remini’s TV program since leaving Scientology so some of this was familiar to me. I enjoyed learning about how Leah and her family discovered and became members of The Church of Scientology. Which I feel is a cult more than a church. The insight into Tom Cruise’s relationship with the church was very interesting too. I enjoyed the book and recommended it to others who are interested in knowing what Scientology is really all about.
Picture of Scientology
Remini gives a candid account of her life and upbringing in Scientology. I like how honest she is about herself. The book provides insight into how Scientology brainwashes it’s members and manipulates them into giving vast sums of money to the organization. Very interesting book.
Great read,truly a cult,
Fabulous book. A real insight into Scientology from someone who believed in it, worked hard to get ahead in it but ultimately saw that it was just a cult that used people for its own means. Remini is a good story teller and the story is her life, the true story. This is one book you shouldn’t miss.
Wow what an inside look at the Crazy that is Scientology! Excellent book and well written.
Amazing. What a powerful, tough, intelligent woman. I highly recommend this book.