Volume 25, Number 11 · June 29, 1978
Bert and LaBelle and Jimmy and God
By Gore Vidal
This Too Shall Pass
by LaBelle Lance, by Gary Sledge
Christian Herald Books, 160 pp., $7.95
Both Publishers Weekly and Christian Bookseller agree that 1978 will be 'a bumper year' for evangelical literature. Particularly popular is the first-person confession of a washed-up or caught-up-with celebrity who has found God. Rinsed in the Blood of the Lamb, the redeemed celebrity is presented with what looks to be a real book, bearing a personalized dust jacket—that is, he will be credited with having written a memoir composed by someone else. Sinwise, plagiarism is less than deadly; it is also big business. Celebrity-sinner books are sold by the millions through hundreds of bookstores and dozens of book clubs that cater for fundamentalist Christians. Last year over $600 million worth of 'Christian books' were sold in the United States.
Review, 4715 words
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