First edition of this scathing satire of fundamentalist Christianity in US America, with printed presentation slip signed by Lewis tipped onto the front endpaper.
Very good plus in restored dust jacket.
Price: $4,000.00
"Elmer Gantry was drunk. He was eloquently drunk, lovingly and pugnaciously drunk."
ELMER GANTRY was widely praised by critics and lambasted by members of the clergy. "Charlotte ministers were advised to refrain from their attack on art and sex magazines and concentrate upon getting ELMER GANTRY... off the press and newsstands" noted the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER; "The story is all fiction, with no reality in corresponding to actual life. Still newspapers are discussing it... it is one of the literary obsessions of Mr. Lewis that clergymen must continually be interested in girls' feet and ankles" observed the Sioux Falls ARGUS-LEADER (ironically in its "Weekly Meditation" column). A classic example of literary wasp nest-kicking.
Read more: "ELMER GANTRY Worse Than 'Art' Magazines, View of Local Critic," The Charlotte Observer 5 April 1927; "Weekly Meditation," The Daily Argus-Leader, 2 April 1927.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, (1927). 7.5'' x 5.25''. Original blue cloth binding with orange lettering to front board and spine. First issue with "Cantry" to spine (Bruccoli & Clark). Original unclipped ($2.50) green, red, and black dust jacket. Fore-edge machine deckle. 432 pages. Small printed card signed by Lewis tipped onto front flyleaf with a postage stamp, expressing regrets that he was unable to inscribe the book. Publisher's advance review copy slip laid in. Dust jacket with careful restoration to edges and spine, a bit of soiling to rear panel. Binding corners and spine ends lightly bumped, a bit of shelfwear. Clean and bright: shows well.
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