Elmer Gantry Audiobook By Sinclair Lewis cover art

Elmer Gantry

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Elmer Gantry

By: Sinclair Lewis
Narrated by: Anthony Heald
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.86

Buy for $20.86

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Audie Award, Literary Fiction, 2009

Elmer Gantry is the portrait of a silver-tongued evangelist who rises to power within his church, yet lives a life of hypocrisy, sensuality, and ruthless self-indulgence.

The title character starts out as a greedy, shallow, philandering Baptist minister, turns to evangelism, and eventually becomes the leader of a large Methodist congregation. Throughout the novel, Gantry encounters fellow religious hypocrites. Although often exposed as a fraud, Gantry is never fully discredited.

Elmer Gantry is considered a landmark American novel and one of the most penetrating studies of hypocrisy in modern literature. It portrays the evangelistic activity that was common in 1920s America as well as attitudes toward it.

©1954 Michael Lewis (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Classics Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Funny Witty
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Elmer Gantry

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    309
  • 4 Stars
    215
  • 3 Stars
    109
  • 2 Stars
    34
  • 1 Stars
    33
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    286
  • 4 Stars
    133
  • 3 Stars
    42
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    9
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    248
  • 4 Stars
    136
  • 3 Stars
    63
  • 2 Stars
    26
  • 1 Stars
    16

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A Pure Delight

I can't recall exactly what I expected when I ordered this audio book - probably something classic and venerable, ie. boring and covered in cobwebs. What a wonderful surprise! A smart and funny writer, a 70-year old but perfectly contemporary theme, and a brilliant narration. A lucky choice and my favorite audio book to date.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing Performance

I listen to a lot of books and this narration is incredible. It was a really long book so I was afraid it would get old but all the characters really came to life. Of course the writing and the story are superb so the narrator had a great deal to work with. This is an American classic indeed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Elmer Gantry

Fantastic and Interesting, Elmer is still everywhere today.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Exceptional narration

Would you consider the audio edition of Elmer Gantry to be better than the print version?

Anthony Heald narrates this preacher-factory satire with such an exceptional feel for the characters and their cunning ways, I can't imagine any other narrator doing this book justice. Mr. Heald is the true star of this audiobook. The story is also a great satirical read about the life of the Southern turn-of-the-century bible-thumping preachers traveling the revival tent circuit. I highly recommend this book. I did not read the print version.

What about Anthony Heald’s performance did you like?

Anthony Heald is the bomb on this production. He takes you right into the heart and soul and conscience of each character.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Overdone

A little overdone. Seems like the author had an axe to grind with Christianity in general.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating!

The unflinching, story combined with the exquisite reading makes for an unforgettable listening experience. Love, hate, admire or pity Elmer Gantry, you will not forget this complex paradox of a man. The eloquence of his speeches, his brashness, his inner turmoil, the people swept up and away by him, leaves the listener breathless! And, there is much to think about long after the final chapter.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Spectacular Book, Superb Narrator

Anthony Heald brings this nearly 90-year-old story to life, giving the listener full access to the brilliant and acerbic writing of Sinclair Lewis. The story is a timeless and mesmerizing send-up of hypocritical evangelists then and now. Burt Lancaster's performance in the 1960 movie does justice to the character but truncates most of the novel. Well worth the listener's time. This book opened up the world of Sinclair Lewis for me. I cannot say enough good things about Anthony Heald's performance. Five-stars all the way.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

American classic

A true American classic, bold, irreverent, hilarious. A look at American religion and life at the turn of the last century. Wonderfully read with humor and feeling. This book covers themes that could come out of today's papers.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

nothing's changed in 90 years

This book was a best-seller in 1927, when it created a furor and was apparently banned in several cities. I got it on a whim, because it was on sale and i had vaguely heard of it, but it turned out to be a whopper of a book. Billed as a satire of organized religion, it tells the story of a ruthless, narcissistic evangelist. Only i didn't find it particularly satirical; the story rings far too true-to-life to me, as a non-believer and ex-Christian. Really sad, tho, that it was written almost 90 years ago, and yet nothing has changed. It foretells the Moral Majority decades early, and Gantry could be almost any televangelist or mega-church pastor today. It's a long book, and there are times when the story does bog down a bit, but overall it's a very entertaining and biting look at our society. The narrator is excellent, giving the characters just the right amount of attitude without overdoing it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

This book is fun

Elmer Gantry is a classic without the weighty mindnumbing prose that can accompany the label, "classic." The characters are well developed and interesting and the time listening went by quickly because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. If you are like me and left this book off of your reading list, don't wait a minute more. Be careful, you may loose your religion!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

26 people found this helpful