Tom Cruise by Andrew Morton (2008, Hardcover)

I loved the gossip. I'm sorry, I have a dreadful feeling that most of this is true and that's why Tom and the Scientologists are making such a fuss. You read about his life, and all those women..and all those stupid movies (like 4 for every good one) and it's just a really quick read. There is enough gossip in there to last a good bath and 2 glasses of wine. If 1/10th of what Andrew Morton says about Katie Holmes is true, it makes me so terribly sad. She used to be so cute but I saw her on Good Morning America and the whole librarian velvet voice thing really rankled. You get her back story and who Tom screened before he got her to sign on the dotted line. I can't imagine being either so naive or so money grubbing as to "fall in love with him when they shook hands"...makes me feel just bad for her. As for the child rearing a child..why is it when a celebrity (or celebrity spouse) has a child - suddenly they become like this font of maternal knowledge? But there's great stuff in here - you can consider it a sort of hard-cover copy of the Enquirer or something..remember the Enquirer had everything right about O.J. -- so you can't just disregard gossip out of hand..if 1/10th of what he says is true, it's still a really sad situation.

This is an excellent read. The sad truth about Tom Cruise's involvement with Scientology is compelling. I am about 3/4 through the book and am dumbfounded page by page that seemingly otherwise intelligent people could be drawn into such an evil cult. Of course, the ego is at the center of it all and sheds light as to why celebrities are so easily drawn in.
I do wish the author provided more proof of many of his claims. However, there are certainly enough validations that any reasonable person would at least believe half of what is stated.
I can only imagine how terrifying it must be for former "members" of this cult to come forward given the strong-armed tactics employed by the cult to keep people silenced.
In the beginning, I was somewhat sympathetic towards Cruise, seeing him as just another victim. But his unwillingness to "see" what is going on within his "church" leads me to believe he is just as guilty as Hubbard and Miscavige.

I thought this book was very interesting to read. In particular, it was very informative about Tom Cruise, his early years and how he made it to the top in Hollywood. Also, it was very good about giving information about his "religion" of choice Scientology, that I would recommend to every person to avoid. I did not know anything about it prior to reading this book. However, it appears to be a destructive cult and should be avoided.

I decided to buy it because my wife is a big Tom Cruise fan. I was not planning to read it but started one day and it grabbed my attention.

i have been fascinated by tom cruise for a while, but even more so after watching his tumbling demise into the seeming "cult" of scientology. this book offers some disturbing insight into the world of the "religion" that has a hold on his life and the lives of others equal to the likes of the krishnas and others like them. the primary focus of the book, in fact, is the overwhelming evidence and claims of former members who attest the goings on and reasons why the religion is so powerful in terms of keeping people tied in. because of the knowledge i obtained from the book, i now see tom and katie's lives in a whole new context. watch closely with whom they associate, taking note of new friends. these are their "potential recruits." i'm particularly alarmed now by the association with will smith and his wife. hopefully, the next tell-all book won't be a diatribe on how they were wooed and won by scientology. all in all, a very informative read.

What I like about the book is the information is accurate. Despite denials by the officials involved, I've been on the inside and seen much of what Morton describes. It's understandable that for PR purposes they must claim otherwise, but it's good to see that reality does prevail and that there are biographers out there courageous enough to expose the truth.
What I love about the book is the author's writing style. He communicates in a readable way, almost like having a conversation with him. I dislike that he gravitates to big words sometimes, and having to whip out a dictionary to read a bio is not so pleasant. Sometimes the vocabulary is unnecessarily complicated.
I decided to buy it after all the recent controversy surrounding Tom Cruise. I've heard the official party line regarding him from the inside. I was curious to find out an outside perspective. Most biographies of him have been sensationalised. However, this one is not an attack on anyone or any organization. It simply presents the facts, with the necessary filling in the blanks with the most likely explanations. None of it is outlandish or libelous in any way. And much of it actually paints a favorable picture of Cruise, making him seem human, albeit a special person.
All in all, I recommend this book. Taken with a grain of salt, I'm learning a lot about Tom Cruise, and it hasn't made me less of a fan. In fact, knowing he's not some perfect robot, has made him a lot more likable. I do suggest, though, that when reading stuff about other people and they're beliefs, that you keep in mind that there are 2 sides to every story, and in any book, you're usually getting only 1 side. So, while yes, there's a lot to dislike about Cruise's religious beliefs, I can honestly say that I've seen both sides, I do not agree with everything, but there is a lot I do agree with. Nobody's perfect and no organization is either.
I'm not saying to keep neutral, but having in mind that there are more perspectives outside any single book, I believe one can then make his own decision whether a particular practice is for him or her or not.
Morton's biography of Cruise is great because it shows the imperfect aspects of a human being, the admirable triumphs of a remarkable man, and the intriguing controversies surrounding a movie star's activities.

I believe ever since the world watched Tom Cruise bounce around on Oprah's couch, we have all been intrigued as to the real man inside the actor we know him to be, and I was no exception. I wanted to know what makes a man who virtually has everything in life, including his privacy to an extent that a celebrity has a right to have, to suddenly want to exploit his inner feelings, emotions and self in such a public way. What makes a man who has so long kept his private life to himself as much as possible start screaming about his personal life from the rooftops?

Well, if one were to read Mr. Morton's book, the answer to that one question can be described as easily with one other word--Scientology. If we are to believe Mr. Morton's take on things, Tom is Scientology, and Scientology is Tom. They are one in the same. With the vast majority of the world looking upon Tom's "religion" as a cult, the upper elite in the Scientology world know that their claim to fame, more power and more members rests alone on the shoulders of their star pupil, Tom Cruise.

I was hoping Mr. Morton would try to explain some of the events in Mr. Cruise's life which may have pushed him towards Scientology in the first place, let alone allow himself to be used as their posterboy. But, unfortunately, I believe Mr. Morton was more concerned with making sure the world knows Scientology to be a cult and to extoll the horrors through which one must go in order to rise high enough to be considered one of the elite in the religious sect.

Sadly put, I believe I learned more about Scientology in this book than I did about Tom Cruise. And, as closely as they are linked, I think reading a book about Scientology would have told me as much about Tom Cruise as I learned in this "biography".

If one is truly interested in learning about the real Tom Cruise, I do not think this book would be a good place to start your research. On the other hand, if you want to know about Scientology, I can't think of a better thing to do than make a cup of hot chocolate, throw a log on the fire and curl up with a blanket on the sofa and read Andrew Morton's "Tom Cruise".

I bought the book because I was curious. It was both an interesting read and an alarming wake up call. A must read for all Tom Cruise fans. A great insight into the man behind the Hollywood Star.

Book was fine and interesting about tom's life growing up with his family and appears to have had pretty much a normal life at that time. However starting on page 95 Scientology was introduced in this book, and every page from there on contained scientology this and scientology that, I am on page 250 of a 344 book and frankly I dont know if I can finish it. Okay I get that he is a devount and highly influential scientologist, however if I wanted to read a book on scientology I would have gotten one. I can understand a chapter or two, but 6 chapters so far and I'm sure there is more, is a little over the top. Unless Morton just didn't have anything else to write about Tom. In that case maybe he should have shortened his book, because frankly scientology bores me. It is a laughable so called "religion" in my oppinion. I AM VERY GLAD I GOT IT AT THE LIBRARY!

I basically bought the book for my collection. I have read it. Its kinda one sided. Im glad I didnt go downtown to Borders and paid the full price. Im a Scientologist and I dont even like Tom Cruise.

As usual, Andrew Morton has hit the nail on the head with his biography of this overly inflated egotistic movie star. Wonder who wife number 4 is going to be after he tires of Katie Holmes? (My guess, his next leading lady. Why not? Its worked everytime so far!)