The Bible Salesman

June 16, 2008
In this rollicking, rambling road novel of the post-WWII South, Preston Clearwater, a dead ringer for Clark Gable, steals cars and passes himself off as an undercover FBI agent. His mark is naïve 20-year-old Bible salesman Henry Dampier, whom Preston convinces to drive the cars to various paint shops (telling Henry that they have infiltrated a car-theft ring), while Preston follows in his own legally registered Chrysler. Preston undertakes more audacious forms of crime, while earnest Henry has a reunion with his fundamentalist family, listens to his cousin's scheme to market a new ad gimmick (called “the bumper sticker”), falls in love with roadside fruit-stand proprietor Marlene Greene and even manages to sell a few Bibles along the way. The hitch is his involvement with Preston: Henry will have to get wise to preserve all he has gained. Too many flashbacks to Henry's Baptist roots slow him down on the way to the novel's suspenseful climax and moving epilogue, but the result is one of the better takes on Southern Bible salesman buddy stories since Moses Pray and Addie Pray of Paper Moon
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August 15, 2008
Preston and Henry make an odd couple. Henry is an innocent, 20-year-old Bible salesman whom Preston picks up hitchhiking one day in postwar North Carolina. Preston has been looking for a new patsy to help him with his car theft ring. Of course he tells Henry that he is with the FBI and that they are out to catch the criminals behind the crimes. The earnest young Henry loves the idea of being a G-man and serving the Lord. As the two travel around the South, the reader learns not only about their escapades but also about Henry's upbringing, his first romance, and, finally, his questioning of the very religion that had him out on the road in the first place. In this comedic novel, Edgerton, the author of seven best sellers (e.g., "Walking Across Egypt"), gives us a satisfying twist on the coming-of-age tale. For all public libraries, especially where Edgerton has a faithful following. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 4/15/08.]Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2008
Bright, innocent, and naive, 20-year-old Henry Dampier embarks on a career as an itinerant Bible salesman. On the road in rural North Carolina, Henry encounters car thief Preston Clearwater, who instantly recognizes Henrys personal qualities. Clearwater convinces Henry that he is an undercover FBI agent who steals stolen cars back from car thievesand he offers Henry a job as his assistant. Thrilled at becoming a G-man, Henry sells his Bibles in his off hours, falls in love, and ultimately realizes that Clearwater isnt an FBI agent and that he, Henry, is guilty of criminal acts. North Carolina native Edgerton has been writing winningly about the rural South, slyly skewering the place he loves, for more than 25 years. The Bible Salesman skillfully employs all the devices its author has honed over the yearsa fine ear for dialogue, a love for the South and its people, and a gently modulated witto produce another winner.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)