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The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton
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The Bible Salesman

by Clyde Edgerton

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2091751,111 (3.24)10

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eh...it was just OK. I wish there was more of Henry's backstory because I didn't really enjoy any of the Henry/Clearwater story). ( )
  melissarochelle | Apr 13, 2013 |
[author: Clyde Edgerton]'s [book: Walking Across Egypt] is one of my favorites, and the first book of his that I read. Perhaps because I liked it so much, all the others of his I've read have been slightly disappointing. The Bible Salesman was also, and this may be unfair. Although I wouldn't call it laugh-out-loud funny, it did produce a chuckle or two and a lot of wry grins. Edgerton has a great ear for his native Southern dialect and I always appreciate that. It's difficult to read this book without comparing and contrasting to [author: Flannery O'Connor]'s [book: Wise Blood]; they'd make a good pair for a book discussion. I'd still recommend Walking Across Egypt first, but this book is certainly worth reading. ( )
  auntieknickers | Apr 3, 2013 |
Set in 1950 in the Southern U.S., The Bible Salesman tells the story of a few months in the life of Henry Dampier, 20-year-old door to door bible Salesman. Henry is a ‘good boy’, intelligent but oh-so-naïve. Preston Clearwater, a key figure in a large auto theft ring, hires Henry for a small job and manages to convince him that he is undercover FBI and Henry can be too.

Edgerton does a brilliant job of conveying Henry’s intelligence, even though his naïveté causes him to unquestioningly trust this stranger. Henry’s ponderings on his Bible readings are also interesting.
(T)hen it [the Bible] said that Adam would return to dust. Why wouldn’t he go to heaven or hell? That’s where everybody went, wasn’t it? Nobody just returned to dust, did they? Was there not a heaven when Adam was alive? Wait, in Genesis 1:1 God created heaven and earth; so there was a heaven when he told Adam he was going back to dust, but God didn’t create hell. Did he create hell? It didn’t say so.
Great questions, Henry.

This is a warm and amusing book with a preposterous scenario at its heart. But it works. Recommended. 4 stars

Read this if: you’re looking for a light read with a likeable every-day-type protagonist; or if you’d like to compare how modern communication (mainly the Internet) has informed and educated just about everybody. ( )
  ParadisePorch | Mar 20, 2013 |
3
  surlysal | Aug 8, 2011 |
Henry Dampier is a young, naive - but not too naive - flawed, traveling bible salesman in the 1950s. He meets Preston Clearwater, a thief, and they travel the south stealing while Clearwater has Henry convinced they're working for the FBI. The story is enjoyable and humorous, while hinting at some deeper questions Henry has about his faith and life. ( )
  Hagelstein | Mar 5, 2010 |
Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
mostly the novel rides like the cars Clearwater steals, bouncing gently over the bumpy back roads.
added by doomjesse | editNew York Times, John Leland (Aug 29, 2008)
 
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A man driving a new Chrysler automobile along a dirt road near the North Carolina mountain town of Cressler saw a boy up ahead, dressed in a black suit, white shirt, black tie, with a suitcase and valise by his feet. The boy was standing in front of a grocery store, thumbing a ride.
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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 031611751X, Hardcover)

Preston Clearwater has been a criminal since stealing two chain saws and 1600 pairs of aviator sunglasses from the Army during the Second World War. Back on the road in post-war North Carolina, a member of a car-theft ring, he picks up hitch-hiking Henry Dampier, an innocent nineteen-year-old Bible salesman. Clearwater immediately recognizes Henry as just the associate he needs--one who will believe Clearwater is working as an F.B.I. spy; one who will drive the cars Clearwater steals as Clearwater follows along in another car at a safe distance. Henry joyfully sees a chance to lead a dual life as Bible salesman and a G-man.
During his hilarious and scary adventures we learn of Henry's fundamentalist youth, an upbringing that doesn't prepare him for his new life. As he falls in love and questions his religious training, Henry begins to see he's being used--that the fun and games are over, that he is on his own in a way he never imagined.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:00:56 -0500)

(see all 2 descriptions)

In post-war North Carolina, a member of a car-theft ring picks up an innocent nineteen-year-old Bible saleman and recognizes the young man as just the associate he needs--one who will believe he is working as an F.B.I. spy, one who will drive the cars he steals.… (more)

» see all 2 descriptions

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