This book missed the mark for me. It was meant to be funny, but somehow I found it almost demeaning to Christianity, to the South, and to the intelligence of working-class people. Henry Dampier did not ring true to me, nor did Preston Clearwater, our bad guy, nor Mrs. Albright, the cat-lady next door. In fact, I could not find a single character here that seemed possible and the plot was equally unbelievable.

I could tell that Clyde Edgerton might well be able to write a good novel and perhaps some edgy humor, but this book fell flat and at some point about ¾ of the way in, I was just wanting it to reach a conclusion. Sometimes a book just isn’t a fit for a reader and I suspect this book might have more appeal for some others than it did for me.
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This story about a young Bible salesman accidentally getting involved in an organized crime ring was supposed to be laugh-out-loud funny, judging by the back cover and all the many reviews in the opening pages.

It was amusing at times, but I never laughed out loud. The story was good, especially with the flashbacks of Henry's life so you learned how Henry became Henry. The story takes place in North Carolina between 1930 - 1951. Henry has been raised a fundamentalist Christian and if you have ever found yourself in that situation, you understand what this boy is going through. All through this novel he keeps reading passages in the Bible, trying to reconcile them with other passages in the Bible and what he has been taught by those around him. One of the other characters I liked in this book was Uncle Jack. He was a bit irreligious and not quite like the other grown ups in Henry's world.

One day when he is hitching a ride, a car thief picks him up. That begins the saga of stealing cars (and doing other assorted crimes). Henry may be innocent but he's definitely not stupid. Things start to seem a little odd to him at some point, leading to the eventual conclusion of this novel.

A quick, easy read. ( )

Written good, coherent story and plot. Didn't do a lot for me besides remembering some of my own childhood as the book varied back and forth between the 1930s and 1950s. ( )

I really liked Walking Across Egypt and was expecting the same sort of thing. This book was a disappointment. ( )

Review: The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton.

I thought this book might be a good humor story when I read a comment on the cover from David Sedaris--”How good it feels to throw back one’s head and howl with a great comic novel. The “burial luck” alone should make The Bible Salesman a classic.” Well, I have read David Sedaris work and I feel he is really off base with this one. It’s kind of a sluggish, straight dry humor and it’s not organized or developed to stay focus to any one plot at all.

The story revolves around a devoted Baptist young man named Henry Dampier who’s career is a traveling Bible salesman in the 1950’s. He is a nerdy sort of person, hardworking, and grew up in a family of religious people. Henry, posing as an itinerant preacher would send away in the mail for free Bibles and then he would sell them to housewives or to anyone who was interested an order to earn a living and spread the good Christian language while he traveled around. The novel seems to loss steam for a while until he meets Preston Clearwater. Preston is a car thief posing as an undercover FBI man that he uses to scam Henry into becoming his accomplice. So, now I thought this is going to get better but even with all the crime and cover-ups, which half didn’t make sense, there still was no ump or humor to the story.

As the story unfolds, more crimes being committed, Henry meets a young girl named Marlene working at a vegetable stand and becomes smitten with her. However, he had two problems, Preston wanted him to stay away from her and he was struggling with his consciences about not having sex before he was married. However, his mind kept haunting him and he kept asking himself, “Why Not”? Marlene seemed to be the ready type and a crazy-bonkers kind of girl and he liked her. When he got chances to see her without anyone’s knowledge everything went alright but he never had long enough or hesitated to long to make the moves on her. He thought if God wanted them together, it would happen….At this time he also figures out Preston is duping him.

There are more small episodes along the way, like a relative’s attempt to semi-invent bumper stickers, a pair of elderly sisters who show true southern hospitality, more family dynamics and Henry’s struggle with understanding the contradictions of the bible. For me it was just more added padding to manifest more to the length of a slow readable story but it lacked a glitter of flame to enhance the novel.
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