Elmer Gantry

Lewis's classic story of a corrupt and cynical evangelical preacher would seem torn from the pages of current newspapers if the dialogue weren't surprisingly dated. Elmer Gantry is charismatic without being likable, which makes voicing him a tricky business for Anthony Heald. His Elmer is an ambitious, self-righteous sociopath, whose timbre betrays no trace of conscience, self-doubt, regret, or sympathy for others, even at the beginning of his career. Heald's pacing, his accents, his narrative drive are all excellent, although his women tend to sound the same, mostly breathy, credulous ninnies. It may be that that's all there was on the page, but with no character growth in sight, the dispiriting effect is of one jarring note overwhelming the music from beginning to end. B.G. 2009 Audies Finalist (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Spreading the gospel, partaking of a drink or two, and making a few bucks--what could be more American? Adam Sims gives a tour-de- force performance, evocatively capturing Sinclair Lewis's keenly observed satire of the evangelical Christian movement of the early- twentieth-century Midwest. The corrupt, manipulative, completely indiscreet Elmer Gantry starts off as a college frat boy. As an adult, he sells farm implements and then becomes a nationally recognized minister and moral leader. Sims is especially adept at the characters' Midwestern accents as Gantry talks himself into and out of trouble with his wife, father-in-law, girlfriends, fellow pastors, and the police. Vibrant, slyly humorous, and thoroughly entertaining, Lewis's 1927 bestseller scandalized church leaders and was banned in Boston. A true American original. B.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine