Customer comments on this selection.
 you just reminded me
Thanks, you just reminded me about this book. I purchased it as my Christmas gift to myself. When it came several weeks before Christmas, I put it away to save for Christmas. Here it is two weeks past and I had forgotten about the book. I know it will be just great. I have read almost all of Clyde Edgerton's books and they are books to be enjoyed over and over again. Of course he is one of my favorite NC writers, and I have had the pleasure of attending book readings on two occasions where he was the guest of honor.
 Fun read, light on complexity
This was an interesting book, heavy on Christian language and implied symbolism. The book looses steam in that no character seems to share the moral compass of the books central theme. I hoped for more layers, and richer characters.
Bottom line: This is a fun, quick read, but the deeper Christian commentary the theme and language promises doesn't seem to be there.
An entertaining look into the past
Reviewed by Sandie Kirkland for RebeccasReads (12/08)
Henry Dampier can't believe his luck. Here he was, meandering along selling Bibles in the rural South, and he meets an honest-to-God FBI man. More astonishing, this FBI agent, Preston Clearwater, wants Henry to work with him, taking down a stolen car ring. All Henry has to do is drive the stolen cars from one point to the next, do everything Clearwater asks without question, and never tell anyone what he is doing. Henry can't believe his luck.
As the book progresses, Edgerton fills in Henry's prior life. His father was killed when Henry was a baby, and his mother left him and his sister with relatives. He grew up surrounded with family: Aunt Dorie, Uncle Jack, Uncle Samuel, his cousin Carson and sister Catherine. Family and religion shaped his life. As he moves around the South, Henry meets new people. Marleen is his first serious love, and the Finley sisters welcome him into their home.
But, all is not well. In his new life with Clearwater, Henry starts to realize all is not quite right. There are strange men who seem unlikely to work for the government, night trips that can't be mentioned, and soon the work progresses from taking cars to taking safes from houses. Along the way, Henry keeps his sweetness but starts to question and put hints together. The book builds to a revelation of murder and resolution.
Edgerton is a master at portraying Southern life. This book illustrates life in the South in the time period from the 1930's to the late 1950's, that last generation before television, electricity and cars became commonplace. Family and religion made up a large part of most people's lives. People lived close to the land, growing gardens, hunting and fishing. Moral codes were rigorous and enforcement was a community affair, where your neighbor was as likely to correct a child as the parents.
The other strength of the book is character development. If the reader is from the South, they immediately recognize the characters, as they grew up with people who were just like the ones Edgerton describes. The description of food, entertainment, religious beliefs and attitudes towards life are familiar, and the book feels like coming home and slipping on comfortable clothes. This book is recommended for those looking for reading entertainment and a fond look back to another time.
Adorable, witty, amusing, charming, dark and light...TBS has it all!
I am currently reading this book, and I don't care where it leads me. I'm totally beguiled. Some literary works are so beautiful, it's almost impossible to put your finger on why you've fallen in love with them. I just read "Netherland," by Joseph O'Neill, and it had a similar effect on me. Reading "The Bible Salesman" is like looking into a glass lake and now and then catching a thrashing drama just beneath the surface. You are so mesmerized by the charm of the scene that you can't look away even when you catch sight of dark and the violent events that appear suddenly, shocking you. I look forward to reading more by this author.
Edgerton fans will be disappointed, others may not
This is not to say that this is a poorly written book, or that the story is not interesting. It is to say that fans that have followed this writer know that he is capable of delivering so much more. "The Bible Salesman" hardly holds a candle to "Raney" and "Walk across Egypt." The submersion effect in "The Bible Salesman" is minimal coming off more like a quaint and cute tale that we observe from afar rather than being on the front row up close to the action.
This book reminded me of John Grisham's "Bleachers." Perhaps this was a story that the author always wanted to tell, but probably should have shelved it in favor of something more dynamic and stirring. Yet knowing that his publisher would publish it anyway, went ahead and wrote it. Good for the author, good for the publisher, not so good for devoted fans.
Even the jacket hype put me off. "The 'burial tuck' alone should make 'The Bible Salesman' a classic." The dead cat with a dead snake in its mouth and the subsequent action was at best amusing, and far from anything that will ever be deemed "classic." Also, I found Henry Dampier's final act in the book totally unbelievable and completely out of character, which may have been only used as a convention by the author to set up the reaction of the cops not buying Henry's story; to what, make it funny?
I'd say that if the reader really wants to get inside the seamy underbelly of the violent South, onto those dark back roads that no one travels at night, where unspeakable horrors abound, read something like Robert Paul Blumenstein's "Flirtin' with Jesus." That book is scary, not "The Bible Salesman." I will certainly read Edgerton's next book, and even the one after that. Edgerton is a great writer; however, "The Bible Salesman" is not a great book.
|
