A Piece of Blue Sky

A Piece of Blue Sky
Author	Jon Atack
Language	English
Subject	Scientology
Genre	Non-fiction
Publisher	Lyle Stuart Books, Carol Publishing Group
Publication date	August 19, 1990; 2013 (republished)
Publication place	United Kingdom, United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	448
ISBN	081840499X
OCLC	20934706
Dewey Decimal	299/.936/092 20

A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed is a 1990 book about L. Ron Hubbard and the development of Dianetics and Scientology, authored by British former Scientologist Jon Atack. It was republished in 2013 with the title Let's sell these people A Piece of Blue Sky: Hubbard, Dianetics and Scientology. The title originates from a quote of Hubbard from 1950; an associate of Hubbard's noted him saying that he wanted to sell potential members "a piece of blue sky".^[1]

The work has been reviewed favourably by scholars in the field of new religious movements. A review in the academic publication Marburg Journal of Religion called it "the most thorough general history of Hubbard and Scientology". Stephen A. Kent, a professor of sociology who researches new religious movements, described the work as "an unrivalled piece of superb scholarship".

The Scientology organisation's publishing arm, New Era Publications, unsuccessfully tried to prevent the book's publication, having argued that it infringed on its copyright of Hubbard's works. The US district court in New York ruled against publication of the version of the book that included excerpts from Hubbard's writings, but the decision was overturned by a federal appeals court in New Era Publications International ApS v. Carol Publishing Group and Jonathan Caven-Atack.^[2]

^ Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed. Lyle Stuart Books. p. iii. ISBN 081840499X. OL 9429654M. 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.
^ "Publisher Victorious on Hubbard Biography". The New York Times. 27 May 1990. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015.

[apieceofbluesky-quote-1] Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed. Lyle Stuart Books. p. iii. ISBN 081840499X. OL 9429654M. 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.

[NYT-2] "Publisher Victorious on Hubbard Biography". The New York Times. 27 May 1990. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015.

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