Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

It's 7:20 AM as I write this, and I haven't slept since I started reading this book, moments after downloading it. I'm about 80% done at this point, but had to stop and post this early review (I'll update this a bit when I'm 100% done). I've never been much of a fan of sitcoms, so I'm not exactly part of the audience who has had much experience with Leah's acting work - although I knew who she was, certainly. I'd seen enough however to know I found her appealing and incredibly attractive long before I learned she'd be writing this just from what I'd seen in an episode of two of King of Queens. When I heard advance word of the release, having read just about every book there is on the subject of Scientology (from Inside Scientology, to Bare Faced Messiah, to Beyond Belief to The Unbreakable Miss Lovely), from personal accounts to journalistic exposes, I eagerly anticipated Troublemaker. The biggest surprise for me, first off, is how supremely readable "Troublemaker" is - how entertaining, honest, unpretentious, shocking and just plain funny it is. Leah has a big mouth, and she knows it, but her writing speaks directly to the reader in an open and unfiltered way that books written by celebrities rarely do. She isn't a bulls***ter, and she's not going to sugarcoat anything, including her herself. She even starts with something of a confession of past perceived sins, as she is all to aware that Scientology will strike at her as they are known to do, by using information gleaned from auditing to embarrass, intimidate and discredit. She knows she is now "fair game." Even with the little that I knew about her, her account of her early years with her family and struggles as an actress are highly entertaining, and make an honest impression that makes you feel more like a confidant than a reader. For this type of book, it is, surprisingly, very well written - free of fanciful prose, but deeply engaging, concise and highly personal. The early biographical chapters are vital, as it turns out, as it sets a very clear stage for why she was bound to one day become a monumental thorn in the side of Scientology. A theme that pops up a few times is how Leah was sometimes perceived as "lacking in class" (code sometimes used to discredit or embarrass truth tellers, female ones in particular) in comparison to the norm of perceived celebrities and society's elite. This book shows, clearly, that she has more class than the majority of Hollywood's elite put together. I can't wait to read the remaining 20%, and regardless of my ignorance of her acting career, with this book she's become one of my favorite people. If only more people in the world had the guts that Leah clearly has. More so than even the recent Going Clear documentary, this book, in my opinion, has the potential to expose Scientology for the abusive, draining, exploitative, paranoid and disingenuous organization that it has become, the Church of Cruise and Miscavige. And if you're looking for a real window into the bizarre, rarefied world of celebrity scientologists (Leah attending Tom Cruise's wedding to Katie Holmes, for example, and the subsequent fallout after she is brazenly manipulated to get J Lo and Marc Anthony to attend as well, is jaw dropping) you need look no further. Highly, highly recommended.