Elmer Gantry

I never expected to be moved so much by this book, to feel so strongly about it. Published in 1927, I expected something dated, both in prose and story -- it wasn't at all. This novel isn't just as it's usually described: adventures of a golden-tongued evangelist who lives a live of hypocrisy and self-indulgence. This also isn't a novel whose primary purpose is to attack the clergy. This is a profile of the USA, of the American psyche, a profile that still works today. I finished the book and sat staring out the window for 10 minutes. I didn't know whether to laugh or weep. What's so disheartening about this book, for me, is, as noted in the afterword by Mark Schorer, "The forces of social good and enlightenment as presented in "Elmer Gantry" are not strong enough to offer any real resistance to the forces of social evil and banality." This is a book where all the good guys go down. Maybe you have to have been raised in the South or Midwest of the USA, and to have been brought up Baptist or Methodist, to really, truly get all the layers of this magnificent book, all the hidden humor, all the razor-sharp and, at times, incredibly subtle, criticism and commentary. If you've never been to a church supper where a person proudly claims to have traced their lineage all the way back to Adam and Eve, if you have never had your school board or local city council hear arguments about why certain books should be banned from school or local libraries, if a significant number of your family wouldn't boycott your wedding if you chose to serve alcohol, if you have never heard Catholics called "Papists" from a pulpit, if school friends haven't told you, in all sincerity, that they are going to pray for you because of your questions and intellect, if you haven't heard "Christians" rationalize about their actions that are in direct contrast to what the Bible says, if you haven't noticed the onslaught of efforts to get science out of our schools, I'm not sure you can really, truly "get" this book. Part of me is ashamed to have only finally read Sinclair Lewis when I'm already 40 -- and part of me wonders if I could ever have understood this book on the level I feel that I do had I not been this age. Still a landmark in American literature, still a biting, chilling commentary on our country.

In my opinion, ELMER GANTRY is Sinclair Lewis' finest novel, and that's saying a lot. I first read it some years ago during the height of the televangelist scandals, and while the vernacular seemed a bit quaint, the story itself was as fresh as the daily headlines--so topical that for a while there I regarded Lewis as something of a prophet. He wasn't of course. His novel is set in the early decades of the 20th century, and the fact that it seems so current today is testimony not to Lewis' prescience, but to the persistence of the religious milieu in which real-life Elmer Gantrys thrive. Lewis had obviously researched his subject extremely well, for he was almost uncannily familiar with the dim-witted but canny types who fill pews and collection plates by telling people what they want to hear.

When you ask the question "Why is it that you dislike Christianity," one answer almost certainly arises. Hypocrisy. Elmer Gantry examines this phenomen expertly. Wrap in Elmer Gantry is the arrogantly conniving ignorance that seems to be a prerequisite for certain members of the Christian community. Truly fascinating is that Lewis penned Gantry in the early twentieth century but it reflects largely upon our current -society. Non-Christian and Christian alike will gain from reading Elmer Gantry.

In my opinion, ELMER GANTRY is Sinclair Lewis' finest novel, and that's saying a lot. I first read it some years ago during the height of the televangelist scandals, and while the turn-of-the-century vernacular seemed a bit quaint, the story itself was as fresh as the daily headlines--so topical that for a while there I regarded Lewis as something of a prophet. He wasn't, of course. His novel is set in the early decades of the 20th century, and the fact that it seems so current today is testimony not to Lewis' prescience, but to the persistence of the religious milieu in which real-life Elmer Gantrys thrive. In the Hollywood parody, Elmer is turned into a square-jawed ladies' man; in fact, Lewis' protagonist could have been better portrayed by a peevish, scheming Jonathan Winters; for even though the book's title character is a philandering Baptist (later, Methodist) minister, womanizing is not its central theme. The story is really about how a dim-witted bully with little knowledge of theology and a complete lack of morals can make it to the top in the religion game. I have long suspected that the novel, while seldom read by anyone else, is on the required-reading list in many seminaries. If Lewis knew that his expose had been turned into a practical, step-by-step guide for advancement in the ministerial field, he would likely turn over in his grave.

In Babbit, Sinclair Lewis turns business into a religion. Whereas, in Elmer Gantry, Lewis turns religion into a business. Elmer Gantry is a very real portrayal of a man who is ecstatic about his religion, but it is all an outward show for profit. We might be tempted to think that the corruption evident in modern televangelists is a new occurence. Lewis proves us wrong. Lewis shows the entire spectrum of christian belief in this novel from hypocrisy, to agnosticism, to an abiding spiritual life. Despite the fact that Lewis is one of my favorite authors and this is a superior novel, there was one disappointment. Near the end of the book, Gantry is confronted by the book's one genuine believer. There was a lot of emotional tension in the scene, and I felt Lewis just let it slip away. It was an unsatisfying resolution after the build up. Beyond that one moment, It's one of the best works of fiction I have ever read.