Synopses & Reviews
Charles Manuel "Sweet Daddy" Grace founded the United House of Prayer for All People in Wareham, Massachusetts, in 1919. This charismatic church has been regarded as one of the most extreme Pentecostal sects in the country. In addition to attention-getting maneuvers such as wearing purple suits with glitzy jewelry, purchasing high profile real estate, and conducting baptisms in city streets with a fire hose, the flamboyant Grace reputedly accepted massive donations from his poverty-stricken followers and used the money to live lavishly. It was assumed by many that Grace was the charismatic glue that held his church together, and that once he was gone the institution would disintegrate. Instead, following his 1960 death there was a period of confusion, restructuring, and streamlining. Today the House of Prayer remains an active church with a national membership in the tens of thousands.
Daddy Grace: A Celebrity Preacher and His House of Prayer seriously examines the religious nature of the House of Prayer, the dimensions of Grace's leadership strategies, and the connections between his often ostentatious acts and the intentional infrastructure of the House of Prayer. Furthermore, woven through the text are analyses of the race, class, and gender issues manifest in the House of Prayer structure under Grace's aegis.
Marie W. Dallam here offers both a religious history of the House of Prayer as an institution and an intellectual history of its colorful and enigmatic leader.
Review
“Dallam has made a major contribution to the scholarship and literature on Daddy Grace and the United House of Prayer for All People.”-Choice,
Review
“Dallam has done a great service in providing a detailed scholarly study of 'Sweet Daddy' Grace and his church. . . . A thoughtful study that should henceforth make it impossible to dismiss Grace as a 'cult leader' who had little religious significance in his lifetime or beyond.”
-—Journal of American History,
Review
“Provides significant insights for our understanding of Daddy Grace and the House of Prayer. This well-researched, clearly written text is a valuable scholarly resource for those interested in New Religious Movements, American Religion, and African American Religion.”
-—Sandy Dwayne Martin,author of For God and Race
Review
“Dallam has uncovered an aspect of the African American past about which we have long known too little. In doing so she has made a substantial contribution to the study of twentieth-century African American religion. Assiduously researched and carefully written, Dallams book finally elevates the scholarship on 'Sweet' Daddy Grace to the level of that of his rival and contemporary, Father Divine.”
-—Wallace D. Best,Harvard Divinity School
Review
“This edgy and resourceful analysis of Daddy Grace, a misunderstood yet highly significant religious luminary, expands our understanding of a critical period in the black church experience. Dallams meticulous scholarship fills in many crucial pieces and refutes longstanding inaccuracies regarding Grace's life, message, and legacy.”
-—Shayne Lee,author of T. D. Jakes: America's New Preacher
Review
Dallam's book is the most thorough biography of Daddy Grace to date.
“Dallam has done a great service in providing a detailed scholarly study of 'Sweet Daddy' Grace and his church. . . . A thoughtful study that should henceforth make it impossible to dismiss Grace as a 'cult leader' who had little religious significance in his lifetime or beyond.”
“Provides significant insights for our understanding of Daddy Grace and the House of Prayer. This well-researched, clearly written text is a valuable scholarly resource for those interested in New Religious Movements, American Religion, and African American Religion.”
“Dallam has uncovered an aspect of the African American past about which we have long known too little. In doing so she has made a substantial contribution to the study of twentieth-century African American religion. Assiduously researched and carefully written, Dallam’s book finally elevates the scholarship on 'Sweet' Daddy Grace to the level of that of his rival and contemporary, Father Divine.”
“This edgy and resourceful analysis of Daddy Grace, a misunderstood yet highly significant religious luminary, expands our understanding of a critical period in the black church experience. Dallam’s meticulous scholarship fills in many crucial pieces and refutes longstanding inaccuracies regarding Grace's life, message, and legacy.”
Review
Very usefully pulls the key passages from Gramsci's writings into one volume, which allows English-language readers an overall view of his work. Particularly valuable are the connections it draws across his work and the insights which the introduction and glossary provide into the origin and development of some key Gramscian concepts."-Stuart Hall,
Synopsis
Charles Manuel “Sweet Daddy” Grace founded the United House of Prayer for All People in Wareham, Massachusetts, in 1919. This charismatic church has been regarded as one of the most extreme Pentecostal sects in the country. In addition to attention-getting maneuvers such as wearing purple suits with glitzy jewelry, purchasing high profile real estate, and conducting baptisms in city streets with a fire hose, the flamboyant Grace reputedly accepted massive donations from his poverty-stricken followers and used the money to live lavishly. It was assumed by many that Grace was the charismatic glue that held his church together, and that once he was gone the institution would disintegrate. Instead, following his 1960 death there was a period of confusion, restructuring, and streamlining. Today the House of Prayer remains an active church with a national membership in the tens of thousands.
Daddy Grace: A Celebrity Preacher and His House of Prayer seriously examines the religious nature of the House of Prayer, the dimensions of Graces leadership strategies, and the connections between his often ostentatious acts and the intentional infrastructure of the House of Prayer. Furthermore, woven through the text are analyses of the race, class, and gender issues manifest in the House of Prayer structure under Graces aegis.
Marie W. Dallam here offers both a religious history of the House of Prayer as an institution and an intellectual history of its colorful and enigmatic leader.
Synopsis
with a new introduction by ERIC J. HOBSBAWM
"Very usefully pulls the key passages from Gramsci's writings into one volume, which allows English-language readers an overall view of his work. Particularly valuable are the connections it draws across his work and the insights which the introduction and glossary provide into the origin and development of some key Gramscian concepts."
--Stuart Hall, Professor of Sociology, Open University
The most complete one-volume collection of writings by one of the most fascinating thinkers in the history of Marxism, The Antonio Gramsci Reader fills the need for a broad and general introduction to this major figure.
Antonio Gramsci was one of the most important theorists of class, culture, and the state since Karl Marx. In the U.S., where his writings were long unavailable, his stature has lately so increased that every serious student of Marxism, political theory, or modern Italian history must now read him.
Imprisoned by the Fascists for much of his adult life, Gramsci wrote brilliantly on a broad range of subjects: from folklore to philosophy, popular culture to political strategy. Still the most comprehensive collection of Gramsci's writings available in English, it now features a new introduction by leading Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm, in addition to its biographical introduction, informative introductions to each section, and glossary of key terms.
About the Author
DAVID FORGACS is coeditor of Antonio Gramsci Selections from Cultural Writings and editor of Rethinking Italian Fascism. He is Professor in the Department of Italian, University College, University of London.