That Printer of Udell's, The Shepherd of the Hills, The Calling of Dan Matthews.

The Shepherd of the Hills #1-2

by Harold Bell Wright

This volume features the first three novels published by best-selling American writer of fiction, essays, and non-fiction during the first half of the 20th century, Harold Bell Wright. He became the first American writer to sell a million copies of a novel (The Shepherd of the Hills, included in this volume) and the first to make $1 million from writing fiction.More than 15 movies were made from his stories, including Gary Cooper's first major movie, The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) and the John Wayne film, The Shepherd of the Hills (1941).

Beginning with That Printer of Udell's, this former pastor attacked the hypocrisy and impractical nature of popular churches. To Wright, hard work, integrity and concrete efforts to aid people in need were far more important than church doctrines or sermons. He continued with the subject in THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS, first novel ever to sell over 1 million copies, and THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS, which told the story of a young preacher who, like Wright, resigned from the ministry in order to retain his integrity.

556 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 2015

About the author

Harold Bell Wright was a best selling American author of the first part of the 20th century.

Between 1903 and 1942, this minister-turned-author wrote nineteen books, several scripts for stage plays, and several magazine articles. At least fifteen movies were made from his novels. Seven of Wright's books appeared on the top ten best sellers lists, two of them twice, including a number one seller in 1914, a number two in 1916 and a third best seller three times.

He's best known for his work entitled The Shepherd of the Hills which was made into the well known, outdoor play, of the same name, performed in Branson, Mo.

Reviews

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was inspired to read learning it was an important read by President Ronald Reagan in his younger years, apparently inspiring and motivating his life. I found the reading challenging probably due to the literature style of that era, 2016. It is a classic story of church life of that era. The characters challenge the church that their mission should be to give, provide for and care for the needy and challenged. The religiosity of the writing was challenging for me to read. Eventually I chose to read the last chapter and otherwise not finish the book. The ArthurHarold Bell Wright was with this and other books very popular.