Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography

by Andrew Morton

Tom An Unauthorized Biography by Morton, Andrew

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Religion, Memoir, Cults, Audiobook

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Andrew David Morton (born 1953) is one of the world's best-known biographers and a leading authority on modern celebrity. His groundbreaking biography Diana: Her True Story was a #1 New York Times bestseller, as was Monica's Story, an authorized biography of Monica Lewinsky, and Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography. The winner of numerous awards, including Author of the Year, his other New York Times bestsellers include unauthorized biographies of Madonna and Angelina Jolie, as well as William & Catherine: Their Story. A former British Fleet Street tabloid journalist,he studied history at the University of Sussex. He lives in London.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/andrew...

Reviews

[Fabian · Rating 4 out of 5]

My respite from serious lit. A biography!

I was inspired to read this after I saw Joel McHale on E! read it before his programme's "Clip of the Week."

I learned how Scientology is a super scary cult, how they have a stronghold on the idiot gods (celebs) of our time. What does this say about us-- foolish public with American Ideals standing in line at the cineplex for the next vehicle starring the All-American Man? I was very into this, finding pleasure in learning about those that inhabit the dude's immediate circle. Not even Nicole Kidman is the good guy of THIS tale! Everyone... is brainwashed! THIS IS THE QUINTESSENTIAL REAL-LIFE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE OF OUR TIME.

Tommie Cruise is completely bonkers, & this book is so entertaining for highlighting that point to no end. I suggest people read this to make themselves feel better: at least we have empty pockets, not minds & souls.

[reading is my hustle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some Scientology terminology for the lay reader:

Teegaack:
What Earth used to be called, 75 million years ago.

Thetans, e-meters, endgrams:
Yes, it does sound like a SF novel...

Auditing and the Bridge to Total Freedom:
Once you reach and join OTIII "you are in a member’s only club where you are going all the way with Timothy McVeigh...”

Operating Thetan VII:
Once Tom reached this exalted level it meant that several times a day he clutched his E-meter and scoured his body in search of dead spirits (endgrams). Um, really.

Seriously. I took this book to work and read passages aloud from the utter disbelief of it all. But, the amount of info provided to readers about Scientology is worth having to read a book about Tom Cruise (who, BTW, is a bit of a WIERDO).

But, then, maybe you got that feeling already? Ahem.

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting background on Tom Cruise. I always knew a lot about him and this gave me even more insights into his personal life especially Scientology. I like him as an actor but he is a little wackadoodle.

[Smarti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I recently wrote paper about scientology, a totalitarian and possibly very dangerous sect, this was a very interesting read for me. In particular, the last parts in which Mortan talks about the unhealthy relationship between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes has been quite a read. Of course, there is a lot of speculation but Morton effectively and believably gets the point accross that Scientology changed Cruise's personality - not for the good, that is. There was also a lot of blah in the good, which I just skipped. Hence, three stars for an enjoyable read and a courageous yet sometimes unfocused effort.

[Isadora Zeferino]

IM FREEEEEE!!! WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY FUCKING LIFE

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started to read this because of the crazy scientology stories...if Katie Holmes was really impreginated in a style like Rosemary's Baby it would be AMAZING. Alas, I only read the first 20 pages as I can only have read so many tesimonials/quotes from Tom's 3rd grade girlfriend about his "killer smile" and his teachers trying to convince me he was a bad ass. Im not buying it and I only wanted to read about the looney Scientology stuff...If I decide to give it another chance I'll skip ahead until he meets Mimi Rogers.

[Bettie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (15 Jan 2008)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0312359861
ISBN-13: 978-0312359867

What a gulible and thoroughly dislikeable twat man Cruise is. Everyone should read the scientological bits in this book, such a dangerous money-orientated cult. It would be hard to score this as I hated the subject but think Morton has done one hell of a job.

[Sierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

the author did a great job writing this book but i’m now even less of a fan of tom after reading this than i was going into this book

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't help myself. It was on the shelf at the library and I just HAD to read it to see what all the fuss is about. Guess I am a sucker for the "unauthorized biography" of the week. I'll let you know what I think. Just don't hold this pick against me!

OK...so now I read it. And, I have to say, this book makes me very happy to have a normal existence in good old central Indiana. I read it while taking everything "with a grain of salt," as it were, but if even 25% of what the author states is truth, then this is a VERY scary book. I've always known that Scientology was definitely NOT Biblical, but now I am certain that it is none other than a cult. Like I said, I don't believe everything that is in the book, but there are certainly some grains of truth and the author seems to have done his research where Scientology is concerned. I feel very sorry for those who have been misled into thinking that this is a "religion" or a way to achieve happiness.

[Wasnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

You should be in the mood for this kind of thing. Probably most like that 20/20 interview with Michael Jackson talking so calmly with Martin Bashir about insane things- with a 14 year old nuzzling his arm!
Interestingly, the book discussed Tom's insne episode with Oprah, pointing out statistically, that the publics revulsion was similar to Michael's crazy baby dangling incident.
A whole bunch of a Brit's dryly ironic takes of the power celebrities wield in modern-day America, certainly elevates this to a level that you shoudln't feel brain-dead for reading it. And in a way, I wouldn't have any other outlet to peek into the world of Scientology. That the author holds a bias against what he calls a "cult" is consistent with my pre-conceived notions about Scientology certainly doesn't hurt.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first third of the book covers Cruise's early years. It is not boring-- but certainly not exciting. His boyhood was not abnormal and there were no scandels to relate. However once Mimi Rogers introduced him to Scientology, it was a book I didn't want to put down.
I will not call Scientolody a religion, and I view it as a cult. I've never known anyone who was a member of a cult and have always thought they appeal to the young, naive, and troubled. This cult/religion is full of older, successful celebrities and others which makes it extremely scary.
In my opinion, Cruise has gone off the deep end in the last few years as he has embraced Scientology in the higher levels. I still think he is a good actor, but my first thought regarding him is 'strange'!!!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should I be embarrassed that this is my favorite book of 2008 so far? Probably. Look, obviously you have to be into this sort of thing, or horrified/fascinated by Tom Cruise and open to the idea that he's nuts, but I totally was and I totally loved this. For anyone looking to solve the puzzles of "WTF with Tom Cruise?" or "Scientology, why?" this book offers the most credible explanations I've read yet. Do I take it as gospel truth? No, but it was definitely entertaining, and believable enough to keep me hooked.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Katie. The latest gossip I read is that she was being followed by Scientology members in the weeks before she filed for divorce. If Cruise Control follows the same pattern that Morton described in this juicy unauthorized biography, her life will become a thriller in the months to come.
To think that as a teenager I was, like Katie, infatuated with Tom in Top Gun and wouldn't have minded becoming Mrs. Cruise at all... Wheww, isn't it comforting to be just an anonymous face in the crowd!

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perplexed by the Fascination with Tom Cruise
I bought and read this unauthorized biography primarily because I've often wondered why the actor, Tom Cruise, skyrocketed to arguably unprecedented popularity. He's good looking, clearly talented, but frankly, has never done much for me in a heartthrob or...gotta-go-see-the-latest-Tom Cruise movie kind of way. He's only two years younger than I, so as a film fan, I've been subjected to his career for most of my adult life. This book portrays the rise to celebrity of this public man, and further, provides an expose of the cult of Scientology.

Andrew Morton, a good writer who I suspect has researched his subject/s to the best of his ability (Tom Cruise, his associates, and Scientology), has put together an entertaining and discussion-worthy product with this book. One has to ask, however, whenever a biography is "unauthorized," is this all the truth or the assumed truth? Morton must occasionally jump to conclusions. For example, on page 71, when referring to the subject's relationship with his father, Morton writes: "His father did not want any recriminations, any talk of the past. For a young man becoming used to making his own rules, this must have been an irritating imposition, especially coming from a man he at once despised, feared, and still loved." How much is fact and how much is based on assumption or either disgruntled or jealous accounts--or, since I felt the tone was respectful on behalf of the author, were as many accounts based on the admiration of fans? I believe many of the more controversial topics grabbed onto by the mainstream media (paternity of his daughter to name one) are mere mention of suspicion surrounding this Hollywood celebrity.

Overall, I think the book portrays Tom Cruise as an egotistical buffoon and it's no wonder the actor and his camp are trashing this account. But ever since the blockbuster hit Top Gun, which made him a "genuine star," as Morton says, "his life would never be his own again." I suspect many already figured out that Cruise was terribly ambitious and, particularly after his scene with Oprah and her couch and the interview with Matt Lauer where he called the respected morning show host, "glib," too eccentric to take seriously. I don't think we needed to read all of the details of his rise to celebrity to get a clearer picture of him. What this book does break ground with is with the history and exposé of the Church of Scientology. This subject is both fascinating and repulsive ... and downright creepy.

I don't regret spending a couple days reading this book, but I don't recommend it as it's not the usual sort of thing I like to spend my time reading or suggesting others read.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out very good. I knew almost nothing about Tom Cruise's upbringing and childhood. I found it interesting. However, Andrew Morton rushed through his high school years and his first couple films. I wanted to know more details and wish he would have taken the time to talk to more people. However I think Mr. Morton knew that Scientology would be the money making part of the book and decided to rush to get there. I felt there were times that he left Tom Cruise's life just to talk about Scientology. I don't know much about it but I bought the book to learn about Tom Cruise's life not just Scientology. I was very disappointed in the scant knowledge of his marriage to Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman. I wanted to know more about Penelope Cruz and how they came to be and break up. Mr. Morton didn't really explain anything. I would have gave this book a lower rating but the chapters on Scientology were interesting and he did go into detail about it. I would recommend this book to someone who knows nothing about Tom Cruise otherwise wait for the paperback or buy as a bargain book or get from a library.

[~*Kim*~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have pretty much known that since his Oprah couch jumping days, Tom Cruise has been losing his marbles. This book reveals to us that he was a nut case long before then, and was even a control freak long before his involvement in Scientology. I think what is most interesting is that this Hollywood hero actually believes the crap that Scientology spews. Like most cults, Scientology tries to call itself a religion in order to gain members. But they are very controlling and very manipulative and dish out severe punishments, such as forcing them to run around a pole all day, if someone does something they don't like, although they consider this a rehabilitation. Tom himself has even been quoted saying "You can't drive past an accident, because as a Scientologist you are the only one who can help". Tom believes himself to be an expert on everything from postpardum depression to child rearing. It's rather sad, because he used to be a respected actor, but now he's mostly just laughed at.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm, this book was not as 'shocking' and 'tell-all' as I had hoped. I thought Morton played it pretty cool. Tom Cruise is a dangerous actor to mess with in terms of his litigious enthusiasm for any writer who portrays anything unpleasant. I wanted juicy gossip on the gay rumors (not too much on that) and I could have done without the first 70 or so pages on Tom's childhood and early career. But the Scientology stuff was fascinating and scary. And that Tom Cruise actually believes his own crap is even scarier.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

After completing my third biography in a month or so, I have come to the conclusion that biographers are some of the worst writers. The writing is really poor, with errors and inconsistencies.

I would actually probably rate this book at 3.5, but I rounded up for the creepiness factor. I loved learning about the Church of Scientology. Consider reading it for that alone.

[Rannet Tiivits · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soovitan lugeda. Huvitavaks läheb siis kui sisse tuuakse saientoloogia teema, Nicole ja Katie. Hull värk. Tom Cruise on segane tüüp :)

[Martin, I stand with ISRAEL · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel sorry for Tom Cruise. What is worse is that he is trapped by Scientology. Scientology is a scary cult.

[Amy Formanski Duffy]

Okay, I'm officially scared of Scientologists. I'm not sure if Andrew Morton intended to scare the crap out of his readers, but he spooked me. I read this book out of morbid curiosity about Tom Cruise. When I picked up the book at work and one of my librarian friends asked, "Really?!" I felt the need to explain that I don't like Tom Cruise and that I'm just fascinated by his Crazy. How did the fun movie star guy that prompted my cousins and I to set up a fake beach volleyball court in my living room while watching "Top Gun" and singing along to Kenny Loggins turn into this cult-crazed monster? And how can we save Katie Holmes?!

Cruise comes off as cold, manipulative, and focused. He's madly in love one minute and dumps someone the next. The Scientology stuff is nuts. According to Morton, hardcore Scientologists believe Cruise is the messiah who will bring their "religion" to the masses. I wanted to cheer when Penelope Cruz and another actress cleverly escaped from him after only briefly dating the man and almost getting sucked into Scientology too. Poor Katie. I'm still not sure if she really was naive or if she was willing to sacrifice normal life in order to fulfill he girlhood dream of marrying Tom. I don't want to believe that Nicole Kidman is a spoiled brat in the way she's presented here, but otherwise I buy most of what the author is saying here. I believe that not many people close to Cruise would be willing to speak out against him after reading this whole thing. We've all seen that video on You Tube. Yikes.

[Kapunkt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been very interested in Scientology for a while and I have a bit of a weakness for Hollywood gossip (actually, it's a big one and I'm not ashamed), so this book should have blown my mind. Sadly, it didn't. It's weird how Cruise - in all his jet-setting, sky-diving, sinister-cult-following, couch-jumping, machiavellian movie mogule, twisted intensity - is still so DULL. Seriously, why is that? He's controlled beyond recognition, arrogant, self-righteous, pompous, humourless and maybe even kind of... dumb? Is it naive of me to think that Cruise is, more than anything, a witless puppet? He's what happens when insecurity meets early fame meets too much money meets a bunch of crooks calling themselves a "church" and what's left doesn't seem to have a whole lot of personality left. (By the way, I read this more or less as fiction. I have no problem believing that it might be all bullshit.) As a character study, the book falls flat, I think. Maybe it just takes a better writer than Morton to make sense of someone like Cruise. All the women in this book are more interesting. (Except Katie Holmes who's just standing there like a cardboard figure.) I'm sure the book was much more revelatory at the time of its publication, but reading it now as someone who's, uh, quite knowledgeable in the world of gossip, it's a solid: Meh.

HOWEVER, I'll support anyone who's willing to take on Scientology and expose these people for what they really are, which is evil. Morton is not shy. So, I'm giving the book five points for this alone.

[Milan/zzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh I couldn’t care less about Tom Cruise I mean he’s not someone who fascinates me enough to sit and read his biography. However what attracted me to this book (and why I wanted to steal it from the swap) is my enormous lack of knowledge about Scientology. Recently I saw some documentaries about some students from Serbia who continued studies in USA how they fell in a trap of Scientology. Mostly their parents were talking about the horror many of them are still living, many of them have lost their kids. Curiously those kids were all quite rich ones and the ones that are “saved” and are in Serbia now spent a fortune [their parents while they were fighting for their kids:] to get out of it.
It’s totally crazy and I honestly don’t believe that even Scientologists believe in what are they are preaching. Of course I’m glad I’ve read this book which gave me full perspective about the issue.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Cruise seems like a rich, cocky, simple-minded guy who happens to be a great actor. I don't think that he is gay after reading this book, but I do believe that he is a control freak and because of his wealth and influence, he is able to behave in that manner. He would be able to bring his career back very easily with performances similar to "Valkrye"... if he picks good films (unlike "Knight and Day") and shuts his mouth about his idiotic obsession with Scientology, he could be back on top in a few years. I heard he was going to be in Top Gun II. I hope that it is as good a the Nitendo game Top Gun II which was the worst game ever. (read last line in dripping sarcasm).

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find Tom Cruise's level of foolishness fascinating. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I read this book, but I did. Actually, I finished it in one night, skimming over just a bit of the boring parts in the beginning. There's a lot of Scientology jargon used that I didn't understand, but if you're into gossip, you would enjoy this trash!

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really good book. A lot of research was done about the cult Scientology. I think that the author really does Tom Cruise justice. So far nothing negative toward the actor. Personally I don't care for Tom Cruise but wanted to know what crazy stuff Scientologists believe. The book is very interesting so far.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on my iPod, continuing my celeb book reading binge. It was abridged, though, which was kind of weird. Like, it totally jumped from him being married to Nicole Kidman to him being with Penelope Cruz with no mention of the divorce. Odd. The Scientology stuff, though, was really interesting.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somebody dared me to read this. "Why not?" I thought. "I could use some mind-numbing light reading for a change." Sweet Jesus! What a waste of publishing resources that was! I shall spend the next few weeks drinking away the brain cells where this piece of shite was stored.

[Genevieve · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get into this book. I realized pretty quickly that I actually don't care enough about Tom Cruise to want to know what his high school girlfriend or his first agent thought of him. It wasn't a horrible book, just really not my cup of tea.

[Kimberly]

I personally think he is loony - so I cant wait to read this one....