Elmer Gantry

By: Sinclair Lewis

Narrated by: Anthony Heald

Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award, Literary Fiction, 2009

Elmer Gantry is the portrait of a silver-tongued evangelist who rises to power within his church, yet lives a life of hypocrisy, sensuality, and ruthless self-indulgence.

The title character starts out as a greedy, shallow, philandering Baptist minister, turns to evangelism, and eventually becomes the leader of a large Methodist congregation. Throughout the novel, Gantry encounters fellow religious hypocrites. Although often exposed as a fraud, Gantry is never fully discredited.

Elmer Gantry is considered a landmark American novel and one of the most penetrating studies of hypocrisy in modern literature. It portrays the evangelistic activity that was common in 1920s America as well as attitudes toward it.

©1954 Michael Lewis (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

A Very Good Satirical Work of Fiction About A Preacher

This is a well written work of fiction by Sinclair Lewis, authored in the 1920s. The story is set in America in a fictional state that Sinclair Lewis refers to in other novels. Elmer Gantry is a person who becomes a minister despite his many failings. He does not admit to these failings but rather acts in a sanctimonious manner. I found the novel to be at times very humorous and at other times very cynical. There were times I really disliked the protagonist. That is of course probably evidence of good writing...

I have read numerous novels by Sinclair Lewis in the order in which they were published. This novel seems to me to be the third in a series of satires of American Life. The first is Babbitt who is a businessman. The second is Arrowsmith, who is a doctor. The third is Elmer Gantry. All three of these novels are well written. My personal favorite is Babbitt.

I read this book on Kindle while listening to the audiobook. The narration of the audiobook is excellent, professional, and faithful to the Kindle. The narrator, Anthony Heald, is very good.

As a product, the audiobook is of high quality. While I enjoy satire at times, I do not enjoy endless satire. I know for sure that there are sincere people in the world in all professions. I hope Sinclair Lewis knew this. I enjoyed this novel. I am very glad that I have read these novels in the order in which they were published.

still too relevant!

As wonderful as Burt Lancaster was in the classic movie based on this novel, the film doesn't come close to capturing the social commentary and humour in Elmer Gantry.

I thought this would be dated, even corny, but Elmer could be journeying through some of today's megachurches, or peddling by turns the gospel of prosperity as a televangelist OR the laws of success as a new age guru. He could have been the architect of the ascendancy and co-opting of the religious right in recent U.S. history as they, like Elmer, proclaimed: "We shall yet make these United Sates a moral nation!"

The sly satire reminded me of Anthony Trollope but in prose that is less dense and formal than the late Victorians--so this is easy listening but delightful prose made more wonderful by excellent narration. And unfortunately the psychological insight into human condition and social commentary on how we spin religious experience are both still too relevant.

I disagree that the novel would have been better if shorter. There are so many elements to parody that Elmer's career needs its timespan and ups and downs.

terric book, terrific reader

Things never change-scum rises to the top; Elmer Gantry clumps and hollers his hypocritical way to success. Sinclair Lewis' novel is as lively and meaningful as when it was first published. What a treat and the reader is terrific!

Engaging but Heartbreaking

I am writing this review from the perspective of a lifelong, committed evangelical Christian who has had a number of roles in church leadership. This book broke my heart throughout.

The story is engaging, and the narrator is wonderful, so it was an entertaining listen from start to finish. As others have said, it moves more slowly than current novels, but that provides the advantage of unfolding character development over the time period recounted.

It broke my heart first because there is so much truth in it. I don't know if narcissistic personality disorder had been identified when Lewis wrote this book, but he certainly had a clear understanding of it in his portrayal of Elmer Gantry. I have tangled with several Christian leaders who exhibit the same traits, though much more subtly and sophisticatedly than Gantry (which isn't surprising since the religious environment has become more complex and overt venality is more difficult to sustain). Sadly, there were--and are--leaders in the Christian Church who are as self-focused and who commit the same kinds of spiritual abuse as Gantry.

But it also broke my heart because of the truth it so glaringly omits. There is not a single character in this book who is a truly faithful follower of Christ, nor is there ever a well-reasoned response offered to the doubts and criticisms of faith that the characters voice. (One character comes close but is portrayed as uneducated and makes only brief appearances.) Since there are untold numbers of genuine Christians doing great good and able to "provide a reason for the faith that is within them," their omission makes the story inaccurate overall. In a realistic portrayal, Gantry would have encountered some of them along the way.

The Christian Church--my own Church--needs to clean up its act by recognizing wolves in sheep's clothing like Elmer Gantry and purging itself of them. Unfortunately, that's difficult because, by definition, the wolves intentionally make themselves look like the sheep, but it's essential. At the same time, I pray that readers of this book, believers and nonbelievers alike, will encounter in their own lives truly faithful Christians who represent Jesus Christ accurately.

A very interesting story

As time rolls along the will always be Elmer Gantrys. There will also be those who are sincere and lead a life worth emulating. An interesting story

Con man dressed up in preacher's clothing.

Very relevant for today. A con man convinces himself of his saintliness while destroying other people's lives while he amasses wealth and power, but always beholden to someone else. Sound like anyone you know? Consistent with other great books by Sinclair Lewis.

A masterpiece of self-deception

Reading a book like this makes you appreciate how little the world has changed in the last 100 years. And if people bought into the same weird fads 100 years ago, why not 200? Or 1000? Or all the way back to the beginning of civilization?

I thought I knew Elmer Gantry by reputation but I was mistaken. Whether Elmer does or doesn't believe in religion, he works really hard at it. And therein lies a deep and probing search into any of the professions like preaching, politics, activism, where success is measured by how much support and attention you can get. There is a kind of moral hazard created by that phenomenon.

Sinclair Lewis does a brilliant job of showing how Gantry gradually brainwashes himself, and how his hypocrisy arises, not from some deliberate choice on his own part, but from a lack of self-reflection and an absence of self-awareness. Gantry is terrifying, not because he is a hypocrit, but because he ultimately truly believes he is doing the right thing.

Lewis also paints a depressing picture of what happens to people in the ministry who are truly sincere and honest about their faith. It seems they will always lose out to people like Gantry who profess to harbor no doubts. Those who wrestle with their doubts--and even consider that struggle to be essential to their own faith--will never have the popular appeal of a charismatic personality like Gantry. What that says about the general public I leave to your imagination.

If Satan Were a Man on Campus . . .

Oh man, I am left a little speechless. Let me pull myself together. I just finished this classic novel by Sinclair Lewis. I have owned this book for decades but only recently, after finding it on Audible, decided now is the time to read it. It is a look at the morals of a church man, Elmer Gantry, who chooses to go into the ministry because he figures it would be easier than to get a degree and become a lawyer. He does go to ministry school and becomes an ordained minister, and he is really good at what he does. Sadly, what he does includes twisting his secret immorality so that it work to his advantage. He is able for the most part to give up the booze and the tobacco so that he appears righteous, but he can't seem to break with the habit of meeting women, even after his marriage, and seducing them into falling for him. He is one of those people who uses religion and his "faith in God" to further his own purposes, however low-class and hurtful they may be, while at the same time furthering his ambitions to become the dictator of morals in America, heck in the whole world. I think I started to believe he could actually pull it off. And the more rotten he is in his private affairs, the more admired, respected and esteemed he is by his congregations. I had a teacher once who told me that if Satan were a man on campus we would elect him student body president. That sums up the life of Elmer Gantry.

This book was written in 1926, but is still relevant today. Sinclair Lewis is a masterful writer, at times poignant, but often very clever and downright funny in his ironic juxtapositions. He paints the characters and situations so deftly that the flow between Elmer the righteous man of God and Elmer the morally bankrupt degenerate seems to be rational and acceptable, until in the end it becomes undeniable. I have to be honest. The middle of the book seemed to drag a little, but all in all, I enjoyed reading it. No wonder it is a classic!

Now, about Anthony Heald. He is hands down one of the best narrators I have ever listened to, and perfect for this novel. He catches the irony in Lewis' writing and brings it out in just the perfect way. Had I only read the book I don't think I would have picked up on the cleverness to quite this extent. I found myself laughing out loud at times (and as I was working in my garden while listening, I think my outbursts scared the mules across the fence). And his characterizations are topnotch. I don't know what planet those who do not love this narrator are from, because he is awesome.

A century later and still so relevant

The book is excellent - sadly, so relevant a century later. Though the book follows the career of one clergyman in particular, we see a broader picture painted of the clergy and the church that exposes the same hypocrisy, sexual abuse, and the outward false display of Puritanism that we still see today in many churches across all faiths. Gantry is a charismatic religious leader with many of the same flaws that we see in so many religious leaders today. If you are appalled by TV Evangelists, cults like the Prosperity Church, evolution deniers, and all of that ilk, you will definitely find much to appreciate in this book. I think that the book itself could have been edited to be a bit shorter. The narrator was very good, though at times there is not enough distinction among the different characters’ voices.

There is only one

This is one of the rare times when I like both book and movie even when they have little in common. Two main differences, in the movie the other characters have more to do with the story, in the book its all Elmer and everyone else is but a fleeting page of his life. Also the movie is, comparatively, respectful and deferential to religion. In the book the scorn, disdain, nay hatred drips off each page. Mr. Lewis rails against religion like Elmer rails against sin both condemning their audience to the perdition of their choice. Is that irony?

Elmer, a small town boy without means but with ambition, desires and doubts through thick and thin finally succeeds. Sounds like a typical american success story? The superficial framework helps set up the contrast. Elmer is not a nice guy, not particularly evil but neither a hero or even an antihero. Moving along from compromise to compromise, failure to success trying to overcome the greatest obstacle, himself, falling again. Never truly happy or satisfied Elmer is an indictment of so many things but mainly religion and christianiy rather than a cautionary tale of misplaced ambition and pride.