Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Originally published in 1989 to great acclaim, this compelling book documents not just the well-known leaders of the "born again" movement, but the lives of the followers as well. "A balanced and thought-provoking analysis of the rise and fall of America's Christian Right."--Booklist. With a new afterword.
Synopsis
Originally published in 1989 to great acclaim, D'Antonio immersed himself in the culture of "born-again" America" for two years, travelling the country and interviewing members of fundamentalist communities. He has written a compelling book that documents not just the well-known leaders of the movement, but the lives of the followers as well.
"A balanced and thought-provoking analysis of the rise and fall of America's Christian Right. . . . D'Antonio interviews members of Houston's Second Baptist Church, a born-again couple on Long Island, doctors at Oral Roberts University Medical Center, and even Christians who fight communism in Honduras, with the intent not to necessarily criticize but to explain what drives people . . . into an extremist adherence to tasteless "televangelism." D'Antonio weaves into his coverage . . . summaries of the scandals that have rocked the ministries of the Bakkers, Jimmy Swaggart, and other fraudulent media money grubbers, but he also does a good job of describing the political links between the Fundamentalists and the Republican party.. . . D'Antonio legitimately documents . . . the reasons why many Americans feel a void in their ever-more-modern, high-tech-oriented lives."--Martin Brady, Booklist