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state and national politics which involves police raids against bootleggers and bar patrons. His corruption and power hunger contribute to the downfall, physical injury, and even death of key people around him, including Frank
Shallard, a sincere minister who questions the moral purpose of the evangelical church. Shallard, a former associate, is nearly beaten to death by a lynch squad of Gantry loyalists who were angered by his "
872:
165:. Lewis preferred the liberal Birkhead to the conservative Stidger, and on his second visit to Kansas City, Lewis chose Birkhead as his guide. Other Kansas City ministers Lewis interviewed included Burris Jenkins, Earl Blackman, I. M. Hargett, Bert Fiske, and Robert Nelson Horatio Spencer, who was rector of
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are not strong enough to offer any real resistance to the forces of social evil and banality." Schorer also says that, while researching the book, Lewis attended two or three church services every Sunday while in Kansas City, and that: "He took advantage of every possible tangential experience in the
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minister. He marries a local parishioner, although he is unhappy with her sexual frigidity, and uses her for appearances only. Years later the
Methodist leadership awards him a larger congregation in Lewis's fictional city of Zenith. With his power and career in full tilt, Gantry manipulates local,
237:
Gantry's career comes close to a major scandal when one of his tawdry affairs turns out to be a husband and wife blackmail scheme. Gantry manages to be extracted from his potential downfall by his close friend and political alliance with a powerful lawyer and private detective agency. A thoroughly
216:
After several years as a traveling salesman of farm equipment, he becomes a confidante of Sharon
Falconer, a popular motivational speaker and evangelist with a "road church" show. Gantry becomes her lover, but loses both her and his position when she and scores of attendants are killed in a tragic
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in 1926 that presents aspects of the religious activity of the United States in fundamentalist and evangelistic circles and the attitudes of the 1920s public toward it. Reverend Dr. Elmer Gantry, the protagonist, is attracted by drinking, making easy money (but he eventually renounces tobacco and
34:
233:
Especially ironic is the way he champions love, an emotion of which he seems incapable, in his sermons; preaches against ambition, when he is so patently ambitious; and organizes crusades against (mainly sexual) immorality, when he has difficulty resisting sexual temptations.
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374:, slated to be directed by Amin Q. Chaudhri. Chaudhri sought investors for a $ 20 million budget. The remake was never made, but Rossi began writing his own story of an Elmer Gantryish evangelist in a contemporary setting, which became the film
254:
and other cities and denounced from pulpits across the United States. One cleric suggested that Lewis should be imprisoned for five years, and there were also threats of physical violence against the author. Evangelist
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minister. While managing to hide certain sexual indiscretions, he is thrown out of the seminary before completing his bachelor of divinity because he is too drunk to attend a church where he is supposed to preach.
208:, womanizing college athlete who abandons his early ambition to become a lawyer. The legal profession does not suit the unethical Gantry. After college, he attends a Baptist seminary, and he is ordained as a
145:
Lewis researched the novel by observing the work of various preachers in Kansas City in his so-called "Sunday School" meetings on
Wednesdays. He first worked with William L. "Big Bill" Stidger, pastor of the
263:
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alcohol) and chasing women. After various forays into smaller, fringe churches, he becomes a major moral and political force in the
Methodist Church despite his hypocrisy and serial sexual indiscretions.
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was performed in Los
Angeles and broadcast on TV October 24, 1998. After the play, Rossi was cast in the lead role of Elmer Gantry in a film remake of the 1960 Academy Award-winning
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religious community." The result is a novel that satirically represents the religious activity of
America in evangelistic circles and the attitudes of the 1920s toward it.
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published a widely syndicated newspaper article titled "The New
American People", in which he largely based his observations of American culture on Lewis's novels.
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However, the book was a commercial success. It was the best-selling work of fiction in
America for the year 1927, according to
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repentant Gantry swears to abstain from his sinful proclivities but, true to form, notices a younger woman during his sermon.
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Gary H. Mayer, "Love is More Than the
Evening Star: A Semantic Analysis of Elmer Gantry and The Man Who Knew Coolidge",
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611:"Televangelists Threaten Controversial New Film 'Canaan Land' That Exposes Charismatic Movement's 'Frauds'"
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opened on August 7, 1928 at the Playhouse Theatre, where it ran for 48 performances. The cast included
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Elizabeth S. Prioleau, "The Minister and the Seductress in American Fiction: The Adamic Myth Reduz",
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in Kansas City, Missouri. Stidger introduced Lewis to many other clergymen, including the Reverend
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Edward J. Pawley: Broadway's Elmer Gantry, Radio's Steve Wilson, and Hollywood's Perennial Bad Guy
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Nelson Manfred Blake, "How to Learn History from Sinclair Lewis and Other Uncommon Sources",
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The character of Sharon Falconer was based on events in the career of the radio evangelist
154:
130:
65:
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Edward J. Piacentino, "Babbittry Southern Style: T. S. Stribling's Unfinished Cathedral".
772:. Ed. Robert G. Collmer and Jack W. Herring. Waco: Baylor University Press, 1980. 145–66.
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Robert J. Higgs. "Religion and Sports: Three Muscular Christians in American Literature",
8:
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Wiley Lee Umphlett (ed.). Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1985, pp. 226–34.
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American Character and Culture in a Changing World: Some Twentieth-Century Perspectives
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George Killough, "Elmer Gantry, Chaucer's Pardoner, and the Limits of Serious Words".
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Elmer Gantry appears as a minor character in two later, lesser-known Lewis novels:
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fire in her tent tabernacle. After this catastrophe, he briefly acts as a "
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in March 1927, dedicated by Lewis to the American journalist and satirist
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743:. James M. Hutchisson (ed.). Troy, New York: Whitston, 1997. 162–74.
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Sinclair Lewis's Kansas City Laboratory: The Genesis of Elmer Gantry
588:"Controversial clergyman tapped for a remake of film 'Elmer Gantry'"
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Sinclair Lewis at 100: Papers Presented at a Centennial Conference
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fame) as Elmer Gantry and Vera Allen as Sister Sharon Falconer.
765:. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1984. 115–38.
695:. John A. Hague (ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1979. 111–23.
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God's Empire: William Bell Riley and Midwestern Fundamentalism
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Edward Shillito, "Elmer Gantry and the Church in America",
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Edward A. Martin, "The Mimic as Artist: Sinclair Lewis".
363:, opened and closed on the same night, February 14, 1970.
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briefly during an encounter at the Zenith Athletic Club.
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173:. Lewis finished the book while mending a broken leg on
736:. University Park: Penn State University Press, 1996.
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James Benedict Moore, "The Sources of Elmer Gantry".
633:"Chaudhri seeking investors to remake 'Elmer Gantry'"
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Hackett, Alice Payne and Burke, James Henry (1977).
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American Bypaths: Essays in Honor of E. Hudson Long
724:American Sport Culture: The Humanistic Dimensions
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321:There have been five adaptations of the novel.
939:"Elmer Gantry, a Flawed Preacher for the Ages"
538:. New York: R.R. Bowker Company. p. 103.
431:"Elmer Gantry, a Flawed Preacher for the Ages"
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194:International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
750:, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2005,
558:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
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221:" evangelist, and eventually becomes a
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748:Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street
230:" divergences in Christian teachings.
204:The novel tells the story of a young,
129:was published in the United States by
16:1926 satirical novel by Sinclair Lewis
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734:The Rise of Sinclair Lewis, 1920–1930
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250:created a public furor. The book was
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536:80 Years of Bestsellers: 1895 - 1975
512:. Au.org. 2014-09-22. Archived from
192:Christian denomination known as the
169:, which is now the cathedral of the
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1184:American novels adapted into plays
1179:American novels adapted into films
171:Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri
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451:William Vance Trollinger (1990).
282:Shortly after the publication of
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798:Sinclair Lewis: An American Life
259:called Lewis "Satan's cohort".
118:is a satirical novel written by
763:H. L. Mencken and the Debunkers
625:
1194:Books critical of Christianity
815:, Signet Books edition, 1970.
635:. Sharon Herald. April 6, 1999
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779:, 143 (8 August 1960): 17–18.
698:Robert Gibson Corder, Ph.D.,
656:"Behold! An Operatic Miracle"
167:Grace and Holy Trinity Church
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21:Elmer Gantry (disambiguation)
933:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
820:Nineteenth Century and After
395:
241:
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880:public domain audiobook at
811:Mark Schorer, "Afterword",
791:Journal of American Culture
654:Green, Jesse (2008-01-20).
609:Hill, Tim (March 4, 2016).
199:
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1209:Novels adapted into operas
1204:Harcourt (publisher) books
366:A 1998 play adaptation by
354:as Sister Sharon Falconer.
151:Methodist Episcopal Church
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1189:American satirical novels
1079:The Man Who Knew Coolidge
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296:The Man Who Knew Coolidge
131:Harcourt Trade Publishers
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66:Harcourt Trade Publishers
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1214:Novels by Sinclair Lewis
688:. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1999.
487:. Bu.edu. Archived from
246:On publication in 1927,
1219:Novels set in Missouri
186:Aimee Semple McPherson
1007:The Trail of the Hawk
947:(February 22, 2008).
944:All Things Considered
822:, 101 (1927): 739–48.
800:, 1961, McGraw-Hill.
746:Richard R. Lingeman,
372:film of the same name
344:film of the same name
179:Rainy Lake, Minnesota
1174:1927 American novels
1119:It Can't Happen Here
679:General bibliography
613:. Faith News Network
155:Leon Milton Birkhead
19:For other uses, see
793:, 16.4 (1993): 1–6.
730:James M. Hutchisson
325:A Broadway play by
38:First edition cover
28:
910:TCM Movie Database
684:John Tyler Blake,
661:The New York Times
188:, who founded the
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1095:Little Bear Bongo
842:Project Gutenberg
784:Markham Review 10
756:978-0-87351-541-2
433:. NPR. 2008-02-22
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489:the original
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1111:Work of Art
1103:Ann Vickers
1039:Main Street
377:Canaan Land
317:Adaptations
288:H. G. Wells
219:New Thought
190:Pentecostal
1168:Categories
1055:Arrowsmith
865:Faded Page
667:2011-09-12
520:2015-11-13
495:2015-11-13
470:2015-11-13
437:2015-11-13
416:2015-11-13
333:(later of
141:Background
77:March 1927
1087:Dodsworth
985:Books by
617:August 5,
554:cite book
396:Citations
346:starring
342:The 1960
242:Reception
228:atheistic
223:Methodist
196:in 1927.
159:Unitarian
106:185039547
62:Publisher
1031:Free Air
921:AllMovie
882:LibriVox
867:(Canada)
718:15935871
336:Big Town
200:Synopsis
163:agnostic
54:Language
1063:Mantrap
1047:Babbitt
1015:The Job
930:at the
908:at the
210:Baptist
161:and an
57:English
1154:(1947)
1146:(1945)
1138:(1943)
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360:Gantry
44:Author
90:Pages
893:IMDb
802:OCLC
752:ISBN
714:OCLC
641:2021
619:2016
596:2021
560:link
540:ISBN
459:ISBN
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157:, a
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