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.

From a Christian Perspective

The book was very well written and I was engaged the entire time. I did NOT like the character, but as a minister I found it quite challenging and convicting. My heart breaks that so much of the Church is perceived like Elmer Gantry or worse, actually like him, but it really made me think critically about my love for God and my motives in that. I think I can be a better disciple of Jesus because of this book.

fun read great narrator

very entertaining story and loved the narrator's voices. the author went into great detail about that era and preachers the good in the bad was it interesting story

Great story and interesting ideas

Not for die-hard Christians that do not want to hear that the bible has inconsistencies or that their church leaders may be less than holy. But I certainly found the story interesting and some of the ideas fascinating.

Halleluja, Brother Lewis!

This book was the first one by Sinclair Lewis I had ever read, and from the synopsis I was half expecting something along the lines of Faulkner, whom I don't find too thrilling, to put it delicately. What a pleasant surprise! The book is extremely energetic, sarcastic, psychologically credible and just plain fun. A thrilling ride from start to finish. The narrator, Anthony Heald, also delivers an outstanding performance. He has a very pleasant voice and an impressive control of accents: apart from the many American voices, the occasional British accents are 100% convincing, and his German accent would almost convince a native speaker (but not quite).

In short: a wonderful audiobook. Both the author and the narrator are going on my list.

One of the greats

Sinclair Lewis' fantastic drama of an religious anti-hero is super relevant today. He's such a despicable and appealing character, brought to life by the fabulous narration. I loved every minute of it.

a good book made great !

Elmer Gantry is well composed satire, a character study that continually toys with morality and hypocrisy. Lewis' wit and delicate descriptions make this story a wonderful tale of one mans climb to the top of the evangelical world in the early 1900s. This book is made immeasurably more enjoyable by the suburb narration of Anthony Heald who remains my favorite narrator of audible books. The narration of Heald is so subtle and smooth I always feel as if he is telling me his own story. Sometimes narration can make a good book bad, in this case the narration makes a good book great. While the story is not for everyone if you like Sinclair Lewis then this is a must have.

Captivated

Great narration, nice dark look at a historic period of American society with a good heavy dose of humor. Really enjoyed it start to finish.

So much more than the movie

I have seen this classic movie a few times so when the book was on sale I decided to give it a try... glad I did. The book is so much more than what was in the movie. Excellent book would definitely recommend.

Excellent!

Sinclair Lewis' Elmer Gantry was wonderfully portrayed by Anthony Heald. The despicable Brother/Reverend/Doctor Gantry tarnishes everyone he touches as he moves through his wretched life. Lewis displays his masterful talent and even pokes fun at himself.

Bigoted Bully in 'Belief Business'

A timeless, and rather tame, tale of a bigoted, bullying slightly insane man abuses power in the name of religion, and serially succumbs to temptations of the flesh and the pitfalls of pride.

I frankly expected a more powerful condemnation, but then I recalled this novel is set in the early 1900s.

It's shameful how rotten the charlatans have become in this country. And yet, it could be much worse: a world in which a bigoted, bullying, slightly insane demagogue is put in political power, and where life always TRUMPs fiction in terms of bizarre.