A charming, hard-drinking college football star talks his way into the ministry and rises through evangelical showmanship, hypocrisy, and scandal to the top of American religious life.
Books mentioned in Elmer Gantry (7)
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo: “to regard “Les Miserables” as superior because the bishop was a kind man”
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: “to regard “Les Miserables” as superior because the bishop was a kind man, and “The Scarlet Letter” as a poor book”
Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson: “he delighted in the homicides and morality of “Idylls of the King.””
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens: “Now I'm going to start you off reading 'David Copperfield.'”
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton: “there are books like ‘Ethan Frome’ and ‘Père Goriot’ and ‘Tono-Bungay’ and Renan’s Jesus”
Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac: “there are books like ‘Ethan Frome’ and ‘Père Goriot’ and ‘Tono-Bungay’ and Renan’s Jesus”
Tono-Bungay by H. G. Wells: “there are books like ‘Ethan Frome’ and ‘Père Goriot’ and ‘Tono-Bungay’ and Renan’s Jesus”