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Elmer Gantry

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 1,737 ratings · 158 reviews

Universally recognized as a landmark in American literature, Elmer Gantry scandalized readers when it was first published, causing Sinclair Lewis to be "invited" to a jail cell in New Hampshire and to his own lynching in Virginia. His portrait of a golden-tongued evangelist who rises to power within his church--a saver of souls who lives a life of duplicity, sensuality, an...more

342 pages

Published 1998 by Phébus (first published 1927)

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May 16, 2013 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

BkC 56

Rating: 4.25* of five

The Publisher Says: Today universally recognized as a landmark in American literature, Elmer Gantry scandalized readers when it was first published, causing Sinclair Lewis to be "invited" to a jail cell in New Hampshire and to his own lynching in Virginia. His portrait of a golden-tongued evangelist who rises to power within his church - a saver of souls who lives a life of hypocrisy, sensuality, and ruthless self-indulgence - is also the record of a period, a reign of...more BkC 56

Rating: 4.25* of five

The Publisher Says: Today universally recognized as a landmark in American literature, Elmer Gantry scandalized readers when it was first published, causing Sinclair Lewis to be "invited" to a jail cell in New Hampshire and to his own lynching in Virginia. His portrait of a golden-tongued evangelist who rises to power within his church - a saver of souls who lives a life of hypocrisy, sensuality, and ruthless self-indulgence - is also the record of a period, a reign of grotesque vulgarity, which but for Lewis would have left no record of itself. Elmer Gantry has been called the greatest, most vital, and most penetrating study of hypocrisy that has been written since Voltaire.

My Review: I grew up in a single-parent household. My mother was a pedophile, and I was her philed pedo. She was also the most thunderational kind of christian nutball, the most conservative kind of social fascist conformist, and a chilly, appearance-obsessed harpy. Unless you were a stranger, when she presented as a pious, charming, lovely woman.

So Elmer Gantry was, for me, a documentary not a novel. I read it at maybe fifteen or so, just after I read Babbitt, and was astounded to read my own experiences of the asshole religiosifiers who surrounded me in a book over fifty years old! I hated them, powerfully and corrosively, then as now, and there was for me a giant pouring of balm over my outraged soul as I read this book: These people aren't the first! These people didn't invent this idiocy! If Lewis escaped to tell about it, so can I!

The rise of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and that ignorant ilk is not new, ladies and gents, it's happened before. This novel will show you that this kind of perverted conservative religious stupidity has always been with us, and its basic small-souled evil isn't unique to our times either.

Depending on my mood, that's either a comfort or a misery. But it always makes me feel less alone, less like I'm missing something and misinterpreting other things, to read this classic exposé of the long-standing culture of ignorant and evil exploitive "salvation artists."

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.(less)

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Oct 15, 2007 Valerie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-07, minnesota-books-authors

Elmer Gantry is a womanizing troublemaker who manages to become a successful preacher despite his frequent questionable conduct, and often destroying the lives of those around him along the way.
This is really a fantastic book and one that, although it was written 80 years ago, is still quite fresh and thought-provoking. It explores religion and the lives of those who deliver it to us in a way few authors would dare.

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Aug 22, 2012 Steven rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction

The really extraordinary thing about this novel is how dead-on Lewis's portrayal of religious hypocrisy is. In many of his books, he delves deeply into a specific aspect of American life by creating a particularly vivid character that represents the unique qualities he happens to be investigating. However, sometimes the portraits he paints tend to verge on caricature - more parodies than accurate representations of believably realistic persons. While one may convincingly argue that in real life...more

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Jan 07, 2012 Danielle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, classics-recommended-reading, danielle-recommends, my-favorites

On the surface, this is a story of a bad guy, made all the more evil by his using the name of God to hoodwink people and lift himself up for public admiration. He is the living embodiment of a wolf in sheep's clothing. Unfortunately, this is not a book that can be read on the surface and be done with. Elmer Gantry isn't a cut-and-dried villain. On the contrary, it is his very humanness that makes his story equal parts repulsive and irresistible. We see in Gantry's hypocrisy our own inclination t...more

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Dec 05, 2008 J Cravens rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: to anyone who loves great literature

Shelves: fiction

Just before the 4th of July, I finished Elmer Gantry. It turned out to be one of the greatest novels I have ever read. Elmer Gantry, published in 1927, was so much more complex, so much more biting and chilling in its description of the worst parts of the American psyche, so much more timeless, than I ever imagined it would be. I expected a comic-book story and dated prose -- I got, instead, vivid characters and lines of text I found myself re-reading per their beautiful structure and perfect de...more Just before the 4th of July, I finished Elmer Gantry. It turned out to be one of the greatest novels I have ever read. Elmer Gantry, published in 1927, was so much more complex, so much more biting and chilling in its description of the worst parts of the American psyche, so much more timeless, than I ever imagined it would be. I expected a comic-book story and dated prose -- I got, instead, vivid characters and lines of text I found myself re-reading per their beautiful structure and perfect descriptions. This book isn't just as it's usually, simply described: adventures of a golden-tongued evangelist who lives a live of hypocrisy and self-indulgence. This also isn't a novel whose primary, sole purpose is to attack the clergy. Elmer Gantry is a searingly-accurate profile of the USA, one that still stands oh-so-many years later. 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." Frank Shallard is defeated. So is Jim Lefferts. All the good people 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 Elmer Gantry, 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 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 conflict to what the Bible says, I'm not sure you can really, truly get this book. But I could be wrong (I frequently am)

Ofcourse, all you have to have done is lived in the USA and paid attention to the actions of Jerry Fallwell, Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition in order to be chilled by the last line of the novel -- and don't go reading it before you've read the entire book. Part of me is ashamed to have only finally read Sinclair Lewis when I'm already past 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.

And don't go looking for these characters, nor this story, in the movie version. The events of the movie are less than 100 pages of the book, and are so incredibly sanitized in comparison -- the novel's Sharon Falconer is NOTHING like the Celluloid version. I love the movie, but it's a completely different story.

Sinclair Lewis is quoted as saying "I love America, but I don't like it" and "when fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." My sentiments exactly. (less)

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Feb 26, 2008 Ken rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sinclair Lewis' writing always sticks with me. Perhaps it is because he so wonderfully savaged American culture, laying out all its ills, prejudices, and hypocrisies as a feast for the reader. The characters he presented to us--Elmer Gantry, George Babbitt, Samuel Dodsworth, and Will Kennicott-- were bright smiling neighbors that revealed the grotesque in American values.

Of these Elmer Gantry, the title character of Lewis' 11th novel, still rings the most true, if for no other reason than that t...more Sinclair Lewis' writing always sticks with me. Perhaps it is because he so wonderfully savaged American culture, laying out all its ills, prejudices, and hypocrisies as a feast for the reader. The characters he presented to us--Elmer Gantry, George Babbitt, Samuel Dodsworth, and Will Kennicott-- were bright smiling neighbors that revealed the grotesque in American values.

Of these Elmer Gantry, the title character of Lewis' 11th novel, still rings the most true, if for no other reason than that the tomfoolery Lewis witnessed in tent preachers has grown exponentially into the likes of Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, Trinity Broadcasting, and the Christian Family coalition. In 1927, Lewis saw evangelical preachers as frauds, more hellbent on raising money and controlling their congregations than actually saving souls. The morality was suspect, a sales point. Lewis would have relished the arrival of a preacher like Creflo Dollar who insists business advice can be found in the bible.

It goes without saying that Lewis' work always had something to say, a larger social commentary that infuses all of his novels. But he was also one of America's best satirists. There are infinite moments of hilarity in Elmer Gantry in spite of the horror. The first line of the novel is a great example of his style:

"Elmer Gantry was drunk. He was eloquently drunk, lovingly and pugnaciously drunk."

Or there is Elmer's rejection of Lulu Bains:

"Once or twice in his visions he had considered that there might be danger of having to marry her. He had determined that marriage now would cramp his advancement in the church and that, anyway, he didn't want to marry this brainless little fluffy chick, who would be of no help in impressing rich parishioners."

NPR recently featured a look back on the novel, which includes snippets from the Academy-Award-winning film adaptation starring Burt Lancaster. While it is not a purely faithful adaptation of the book, Lancaster is fantastic in the role as Gantry; exuding that strange mix of religious cheerleader, drunken thug, and linebacker for God.

While I would admit that Babbitt is my favorite work by Lewis, I find myself more often reflecting back on Elmer Gantry. I'm happy to say I actually own one of the original 1927 editions. For my money, no book is better at shining a spotlight on all the flaws of Evangelical Christianity and its influence on America.(less)

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Mar 10, 2009 Ceci rated it 3 of 5 stars

The prose could be better and some chapters are a little long, but on the whole this book makes an interesting read. What is amazing to me is that this satire on evangelic fervor remains so timely. Elmer Gantry provides insight to the American culture that remains fresh even to this day. The 1920s are long gone and yet this book points out that some things have not changed, including the hypocrisy of the charismatic pulpit. Although a few people may find the writing to be a bit "old timey," the...more

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May 11, 2013 Marcus Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Less than ten pages into this novel, I was hooked. I honestly felt as though Sinclair Lewis was capable of time travel, transported himself forward in time so he could sit next to me during worship services at multiple churches, then transported himself back to the 1920s so he could write about it. Seriously, it feels as though little has changed in the world of American Evangelicalism. This movement still has its rising celebrities with more ambition than humility, and more demonstrated passion...more Less than ten pages into this novel, I was hooked. I honestly felt as though Sinclair Lewis was capable of time travel, transported himself forward in time so he could sit next to me during worship services at multiple churches, then transported himself back to the 1920s so he could write about it. Seriously, it feels as though little has changed in the world of American Evangelicalism. This movement still has its rising celebrities with more ambition than humility, and more demonstrated passion than grace. It still claims relevance through its waging of a "culture war," which demonizes secular education and behavior. Elmer Gantry never died; he just reincarnated generation after generation, and cloned himself into thousands of self-absorbed worship leaders.

Still as a social commentary, Lewis's work has its strong and weak points. I loved his writing style; I have a few other books on my reading list for the summer, but I would like to explore Babbitt and Arrowsmith, eventually. He writes with a sense of humor and flamboyance that serves as the perfect paintbrush for this narrative of a flamboyant, arrogant preacher who covers his sinful, degenerate self with only the thinnest layer of faux-holiness. There were moments during this read in which I laughed out loud (best point: a conversation Gantry has with a minister, who derides Sinclair Lewis--best instance of self-deprecation ever), and moments of deep poignancy.

That being said, I wish Lewis wasn't so dedicated to Elmer Gantry's success in the final third of the novel (the first narrates Gantry's rise and fall at the seminary, the second narrates his rise and fall as a traveling evangelist with Sharon Falconer; the final, his emergence as a Billy Sunday-type evangelist with global acclaim). By that final third, Gantry seemed to excel at being slime, so well that plot points that Lewis should have used to bring him down did not, not even a little. Granted, I'm not looking for happy endings, but that final story arc feels like it has no arc; it just ascends and ascends, with reminders along the way of the lives he ruins. It by no means detracts from the greatness of this novel; I just feel that Lewis' goal of demonstrating that, in American Evangelicalism, sometimes bad guys win, trumped the potential for a real character arc.

Don't let that stop you from reading this novel, however. Every Christian, every nonbeliever--everyone--should read it. You'll see our religious institutions reflected in this book, a mirror that hasn't lost it's shine in almost 80 years.(less)

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Dec 19, 2012 Mikey B. rated it 5 of 5 stars

A truly delightful novel. Lewis takes obvious pleasure from poking fun at religion – and he takes on the various church denominations and destroys them with attacks from multiple positions. He exposes hypocrisy through Elmer Gantry – who supposedly is a protector of morality while enhancing his career by vapid publicity, name-calling and disdaining the women who fall in love with him. He also ignores his family while pursuing his goals.

This book exposes the lust for power behind the evangelical...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Lisa N rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lewis was the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (1930) "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters."

This novel certainly fits that description. Lewis’ prose is quite exceptional and witty at times. My only criticism is the novel was a little too long, and the plot unnecessarily drug on at times.

Calls attention to holier-than-thou attitudes and the difference between church and true religion. R...more

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Jan 28, 2012 James rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Elmer Gantry" is named for its protagonist, a shallow, callous, greedy, egotistical, adulterous, and hypocritical preacher whose career takes him from the Baptist pulpit to the revival circuit to the highest echelons of the Methodist Church of the 1920's.

Gantry has no redeeming qualities. He doesn't care about the many women he seduces. He doesn't care about the lives and livelihoods that he destroys. He doesn't care who dies in a fire as long as it isn't himself. His career and his preaching...more

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Jul 30, 2011 James (JD) Dittes added it · review of another edition

I have to say that Elmer Gantry is one of the great anti-heroes in American literature, right up there with Captain Ahab. I was riveted by his tale from start to finish.

Lewis asks profound questions of the "faith-based industry" that seem as relevant today as they did back when he wrote it in the 1920s. Sure, Gantry is scandalous, but he's not just another televangelist. It is his private betrayals (of Jim Lefferts, of Frank Shallard, of Lulu Bains) that are fascinating, not just his public hypo...more

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May 02, 2010 Andrew Lasher rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Elmer Gantry was drunk. He was eloquently drunk, lovingly and pugnaciously drunk." The opening lines for Elmer Gantry are some of the best I have ever read, and that is the entire reason I started this book. I received this novel as a gift from my mother when I was about fourteen years old.

As you can imagine, at fourteen I had very little interest in Sinclair Lewis, but when I read those first two sentences it immediately changed my mind. Sure, some points of this novel were dry, and some of it...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was ready to give Elmer Gantry 5 stars right up until about the last page when the ending turned out, for me, to be a major disappointment.

In a nutshell Elmer Gantry is the story of the star player on a college football team at a religious institute. Gantry wants to be the big man on campus, but he is universally disliked because he is a thoroughly unlikeable character. And then, voila, he "discovers" religion even though he is quite unreligious. Through religion he becomes popular even though...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Anna Prejanò rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Elmer Gantry" è il titolo di questo romanzo del 1927, pubblicato in Italia nel 1961 con il titolo "Il figlio di Giuda" e con in copertina un disegno che raffigura palesemente Burt Lancaster, protagonista del film omonimo (del 1960). Il titolo italiano fa presagire torbidi scenari di tradimento e dannazione, certamente più familiari per un lettore o spettatore europeo, travisando il senso del libro, a cui si adatta molto meglio il nome provinciale e americano fino al midollo dell'esuberante e in...more "Elmer Gantry" è il titolo di questo romanzo del 1927, pubblicato in Italia nel 1961 con il titolo "Il figlio di Giuda" e con in copertina un disegno che raffigura palesemente Burt Lancaster, protagonista del film omonimo (del 1960). Il titolo italiano fa presagire torbidi scenari di tradimento e dannazione, certamente più familiari per un lettore o spettatore europeo, travisando il senso del libro, a cui si adatta molto meglio il nome provinciale e americano fino al midollo dell'esuberante e incontrastato antieroe. E di certo non ebbe un gran successo, perché il messaggio finale, che consiste in una spiazzante dichiarazione d'amore per il "più contraddittorio, deprimente, emozionante Paese al mondo", doveva essere molto meno comprensibile negli anni Sessanta di quanto non lo sia oggi. Le parole citate sono di Sinclair Lewis, che le pronunciò nel suo discorso alla cerimonia della consegna del premio Nobel, nel quale, per spiegare non solo il senso ultimo della sua opera, ma anche la censura che più volte lo colpì in patria, disse che "in America la maggior parte di noi - non solo i lettori, ma anche gli scrittori - ha ancora paura della letteratura che non è glorificazione di tutto ciò che è Statunitense, un'esaltazione dei nostri difetti così come delle nostre virtù". La figura di Elmer Gantry diventa così un simbolo dell'America stessa: ragazzone robusto e materiale, egocentrico e incapace di prevedere gli enormi danni che le sue azioni potranno causare agli altri, bambinone la cui psicologia elementare lo rende inconsapevole della molla della sua ambizione, che si riduce a un primordiale desiderio di approvazione: "mamma, guarda come sono stato bravo!".
Il punto è che Elmer Gantry, predicatore ciarlatano, fustigatore dei vizi altrui e peccatore incallito, sant'uomo di professione, ce la fa. Realizza tutti i suoi progetti. E fino alla fine resta in qualche modo candido e quasi puro. L'autore mantiene un tono distaccato, discretamente ironico e comprensivo, e lascia che il lettore tragga le sue conclusioni. Ma il lettore fa il tifo per Elmer, pur provandone disgusto.
Rispetto al libro, il film (anch'esso magnifico), seleziona una parte della storia, limitandosi all'incontro di Elmer con la mitica sorella Falconer, predicatrice e guaritrice (su 400 pagine di libro, le sole pp. 147-214), innestando e rielaborando alcuni altri episodi significativi. Ma il risultato finale non cambia. E visto che il talento principale di Elmer è soggiogare qualsiasi platea con la sua voce baritonale, ecco:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amznbi...(less)

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Apr 15, 2011 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, american-literature, historical, religion, great-villains, modern-classic, 1920s

If you've ever laughed at (or been disgusted by) the antics of televangelist charlatans like Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, Sinclair Lewis had their number 80 years ago. The fictional Elmer Gantry rises to prominence before the era of radio and TV evangalism, but his greed, self-serving political ambitions, and sexual indiscretions are just like those of his real-life counterparts.

I actually listened to part of this audiobook while mistakenly thinking the author was Upton Sinclair. Duoh! How emb...more If you've ever laughed at (or been disgusted by) the antics of televangelist charlatans like Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, Sinclair Lewis had their number 80 years ago. The fictional Elmer Gantry rises to prominence before the era of radio and TV evangalism, but his greed, self-serving political ambitions, and sexual indiscretions are just like those of his real-life counterparts.

I actually listened to part of this audiobook while mistakenly thinking the author was Upton Sinclair. Duoh! How embarrassing. Besides having similar names, the authors were contemporaries who wrote about similar topics in the same time period, and their style is similar as well, though Lewis is a bit more satirical while Sinclair is more pedagogical. But both of them write bitingly about the foibles of early 20th century America.

Elmer Gantry follows the protagonist from his beginnings as an irreverent student at a religious university who's basically browbeaten into being "saved" by another traveling preacher who turns out to be a cynical fraud himself. But Elmer is set out on his path, and goes to seminary to become a Baptist preacher. After getting caught with one of his flock, he's kicked out by the Baptists. He becomes assistant (and lover) to a crazy woman evangelist named Sharon Falconer, who on the one hand is as phony as he is, and on the other seems to really believe every bit of nonsense she spouts. Her character was quite interesting; today we'd probably call her bipolar, and she seems to be the one woman Elmer truly loves, as he remembers her for the rest of his life, even when he moves on to bigger and better venues after losing her.

He spends a little time doing whacky New Age spirituality and "self-help" seminars (yes, this stuff was going around 80 years ago too) before he manages to con himself into the Methodist church, and pretty soon he's a minister. From there he keeps moving on to bigger and bigger churches, becoming more and more powerful, and always as hypocritical, self-centered, greedy, and rapacious as ever.

This was a great story for its study of hypocrisy and very cynical and realistic examination of religion in America. (Sinclair did his homework, sitting in on a lot of church services to write this.) It's not exactly an indictment of Christianity and shouldn't be taken that way -- the novel doesn't take a stand on the rightness or wrongness of any particular religious beliefs, only on the all-too-realistic behavior of the clergy and parishioners. Sinclair writes a straightforward story with lots of minor characters, each of them very human and flawed and interesting. By the end of the book, you're really, really hoping that Elmer Gantry will finally get his comeuppance, but despite many close calls and setbacks over the course of his career, Gantry is like an eel who always seems to wriggle his way out of the worst of his difficulties.

I recommend this highly as American literature set in the same time period as the novels of Upton Sinclair and F. Scott Fitzgerald.(less)

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Aug 07, 2010 Craig rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics-american

First published in 1927, "Elmer Gantry" is a scathing indictment of the hypocrisy practiced by the professional Protestant clergy of the early 20t Century, where self-absorption, condescension, style and excessive zeal are ubiquitous. If there are sincere pastors who humbly teach of Christ and seek to care for those in need, they are in scant supply. As the book opens, Elmer Gantry is a narcissistic college student-athlete endowed with physical prowess and the gift of gab. In trying to find hims...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Jamie Bradway rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, nook

Elmer Gantry is sporadically fascinating and engaging - the first third of the novel flies by as you are immersed in the many character flaws of a spiritual huckster.

Eventually, the book became very easy to put down, however. Gantry begins as a carousing atheist undergraduate rebelling against his conservative Christian roots. It's not long, though, before he discovers his gift for oration will most easily satisfy his tremendous ambitions if put to use in the pulpit.

And the spoiler bit follows:...more

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May 13, 2012 Adriana rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed most of this book. Some of it got a little too intellectual in an area I wasn't familiar with, and that was boring, but those parts weren't excessive. I saw hypocrisy in a new light, and saw the struggle and lack of struggle in Elmer, to be a good person. He was quite a cad in many ways. It seemed he tried to be better, but I don't think he tried hard enough. He didn't have a high opinion of women, which is probably part of the territory from the earliest part of the 20th centur...more

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Feb 04, 2010 Beej rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I would have given this book a four star rating if I didn't abhor Elmer Gantry as much as I do. He is the master manipulator, the king of scum, the glib tongued devil who sees the world only as it can serve him.

A little synopsis of the story: Elmer Gantry is a handsome rogue, a sports hero, son of a religious woman whose dreams for him consist totally of his becoming a man of the cloth. He delights in whiskey and women even as he attends theology classes. Unfortunately for everyone, especially...more I would have given this book a four star rating if I didn't abhor Elmer Gantry as much as I do. He is the master manipulator, the king of scum, the glib tongued devil who sees the world only as it can serve him.

A little synopsis of the story: Elmer Gantry is a handsome rogue, a sports hero, son of a religious woman whose dreams for him consist totally of his becoming a man of the cloth. He delights in whiskey and women even as he attends theology classes. Unfortunately for everyone, especially women, and especially young women, Elmer could persuade the devil himself to donate time, talent and money..especially money..to the church if it meant it would benefit Elmer Gantry.

It isn't really Elmer who impressed me the most, however; it would have to be a little kittenish young lady we meet early on, named Lulu Bains. At first glance, Lulu doesn't seem to mean much to this novel but at a closer look, we realise Lulu is like the flawed thread that runs through an amateur's tapestry, making its ugliness even more apparent.

Lulu Bains, kittenish, pink and fluffy, is an innocent we meet when Elmer comes as pastor to his first real church. He immediately decides he must 'have' her, and have her he does. Just as immediately, he loses interest. Of course.

Lulu weaves in and out, through Elmer's life. She doesn't matter to him. No big surprise. Nothing matters to Elmer except Elmer. But he keeps her, beguiled, on the back burner just in case he wants to toy with her more.

Eventually, the obvious happens; he meets someone he likes better and chucks her to the curb, fibbing to her that his wife (yes, there is a Mrs. Gantry..Cleo..but he doesn't like her, either.) has found them out. Gantry tells Lulu she needs to not only leave him, she needs to leave his church altogether. This is quite a blow to Lulu; she has loved Gantry through his trek as a young minister all the way to his esteemed position as a nationally reknown religous figure.

Now this is the good part, the telling part. Is Lulu bitter? Has her love turned to hatred? NO!

'She crawled out after a time, a little figure in a shabby topcoat over her proud new dress. She stood waiting for a trolley car, alone under an arc-light, fingering her new beaded purse, which she loved because in his generosity He ( notice the use of the capitalized H, as if Lulu thought of Elmer as God, Himself..[emphasis mine:]) had given it to her. From time to time she wiped her eyes and blew her nose and all the time she was quite stupidly muttering, "Oh, my dear, my dear, to think I made trouble for you - oh, my dear, my very dear!"

If you read this book to then end in hopes that Elmer gets his just desserts, well...I won't spoil it for you. You will need to read it yourself to discover what happens. All in all, it's worth your time.(less)

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Feb 28, 2013 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

A HILARIOUS behind the scenes look at the making of a rising star within the church! Elmer Gantry has a plan for success, and it involves your heart, your wallet, and maybe your wife! This book is not for those who revere the Methodist...or any...church and hold the church itself as something sacred that cannot be poked fun at. For those who have a love for dark humor and can see the cynical aspects of how the church became what it is, this book will be a breath of comedic fresh air. Sinclair Le...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 07, 2009 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoy Sinclair Lewis's lively writing, but this book could have been about 50 pages shorter. Lewis is able to make Emery Gantry's world very believable, including many details about his life and decisions, and all the people he comes into contact with. It is difficult to like Elmer once he decides to become a Methodist minister, because he is selfish, wanting fame and money. He does this through religion. His faith is not even a tenth of what he communites to the world. All organized religion...more

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May 11, 2013 Benjamin Johnson rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

It is difficult to stomach a work which is essentially a singular sneer that goes on the length of one miserable novel. There are plenty of satirical works which make a powerful critical point honestly enough to surprise one into a different but entirely credible perspective. Then there are others, like this work, which don't offer criticism so much as they offer burnt sacrifices. Those who like this work undoubtedly do not enjoy it because of its honest depiction of societal ills, but simply be...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Paul Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, classic-fiction

Wow! This book paints an ugly face on a preacher who is trying to do the job without any real commitment to Christ or any real calling. It is set in the early part of the 20th Century and offers an interesting indictment on pioneering religion. I suppose Lewis intends to paint preachers with a rather black brush because he offers us no characters that are truly remarkable men of God. While the book could serve to anger those of us who are in ministry, perhaps it is a important look at how "human...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Rayrumtum rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This was a fantastic take on the case of corruption and hypocrisy within organized religion. Everyone knows from the movie that it is a story about a corrupt pastor, but the movie covers only the slightest part of the book. It turns out that every Christian denomination is skewered as part of this novel which shows has the pastoral patter down tight. No wonder the book was banned in Boston and some in Virginia wanted to lynch him. Written in the 1920s, the book is as fresh as if it was pulled fr...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Houston Wells rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another hilarious and scathing character study by Sinclair Lewis. No love lost here for organized religion; what Babbitt does for civic "Boosterism", Elmer Gantry does for the church. George Babbitt actually makes an appearance in Elmer Gantry, an inconsequential but sublime moment in a novel of such moments.

Don't come to Lewis looking for strong narrative... reading Elmer Gantry is like watching a series of train wrecks where the drunken engineer keeps stepping off and the heroic brakemen keep...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Emily Blodgett rated it 4 of 5 stars

Everyone once in a while you need to read one of the classics. I first read this in high school and suggested it for my book group because of its timelessness. The funny thing about this is that the most dated thing about Elmer Gantry is writing style. It's themes of religious hypocrisy and the hunger of the masses for a simplistic message is straight out of 2011.

It's a bit long for the average summer book group book. It easily could have been a couple hundred pages shorter. But the writing... o...more

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Jun 15, 2010 Will rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Maybe it's too easy to send up a charleton minister and religious hypocrisy, but this is such a good job of it. While religious hucksters have been around forever, this book (written in the 20's) manages to both skewer the present form and also fortell of televangelism and and the cynical blending of Old Testament fire and brimstone with politics. As serious as that sounds, I litterally laughed outloud at parts of this book.

"he had learned that poverty is blessed, but that bankers make the best...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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About Sinclair Lewis

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930 "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters."

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“The Maker of the universe with stars a hundred thousand light-years apart was interested, furious, and very personal about it if a small boy played baseball on Sunday afternoon.” — 20 people liked it

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