Elmer Gantry
“Adam Sims gives a tour-de-force performance, evocatively capturing Sinclair Lewis’s keenly observed satire of the evangelical Christian movement of the early-twentieth-century Midwest…Sims is especially adept at the characters’ Midwestern accents as Gantry talks himself into and out of trouble…Vibrant, slyly humorous, and thoroughly entertaining, Lewis’s 1927 bestseller scandalized church leaders and was banned in Boston. A true American original. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
AudioFile
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
A blistering rebuke of religious hypocrisy, Elmer Gantry is the story of a charismatic and manipulative social climber who rises to power within his church, despite his insincerity.
Though he preaches against immorality and temptation, Reverend Dr. Elmer Gantry can’t seem to give up his own vices, and he leaves a trail of broken people behind him in his pursuit of pleasure and power, betraying anybody and doing anything to get ahead.
Published in 1927, the novel created a furor upon its publication, resulting in threats of violence against the author, who was called “Satan’s cohort.” However, the book was a commercial success, and it is considered a landmark in American literature. It is recognised today for its prescient depiction of power and fanaticism.
Praise