Authentic Fakes: Religion and American Popular Culture

This book deals with something I've wondered about for a long time: the seemingly religious aspects of (pop) cultural ideas, images, totems, rituals, etc., and in particular, the role of human imagination, and in many cases, deliberate fraud, in creating a backdrop of meaning for life. While the book is a pleasurable read, it does maintain a certain level of erudition, stylistically. It also manages to remain focused and serious while allowing in just the right amount of good humour and whimsy. I especially liked the discussions on baseball and Jim Jones; after reading this, I'll be ordering Chidester's book on the Jonestown suicide. Thumbs up.