The Bible Salesman: A Novel

Clyde Edgerton
Little, Brown and Company (2008)
ISBN 9780316117517
Reviewed by Danelle Drake for Reader Views (9/08)

 

Like a tall glass of ice-cold sweet tea.. . “The Bible Salesman” is a slow Southern treat!

Spanning time between the early 1930s through the 1950s we look into Henry Dampier’s coming-of-age in the South.  Being raised in the household of Aunt Dorie and Uncle Jack due to his father’s sudden death and his mother’s decision to head out on her own, Henry is always surrounded by family.  Aunt Dorie is focused on raising Henry to be a God-fearing follower of the Antioch Baptist Church.  Uncle Jack preferring sharing nursery rhymes and comic-books while smoking a cigarillo. 

Venturing out on his own selling complimentary Bibles, (he cut out the page that said they are free) Henry is picked up by car thief, Preston Clearwater.  Preston gets Henry unknowingly involved in a car-theft ring portraying it as a FBI undercover job.  As the two men travel up and down roads throughout the South, Henry will experience many firsts and you will laugh out loud. 

Clyde Edgerton draws you in and holds you captive.  Absorbing the description of Henry undressing in front of a mirror and checking his hangings because they always looked bigger in a mirror than when you looked down, to Henry’s first use of a protective, you will be laughing out loud.  With the unlikely plot, creative characters, and Henry’s Bible revelations you will be stuck to your seat until you read the final page of “The Bible Salesman.”

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