God the Bestseller, Stephen Prothero
God the Bestseller, Stephen Prothero
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God the Bestseller
How One Editor Transformed American Religion a Book at a Time

Author: Stephen Prothero

Narrator: Thom Rivera

Unabridged: 12 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 03/14/2023

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed religion scholar, Stephen Prothero, captures the compelling and unique saga of twentieth-century America on an identity quest through the eyes and books of one of the most influential editors of the day—a search, born of two world wars, for resolution of our divided identity as a Christian nation and a nation of religions.One summer evening in 1916 in Blanchester, Ohio, a sixteen-year-old farm boy was riding his horse past the town cemetery. The horse reared back and whinnied, and Eugene Exman saw God. For the rest of his life, he struggled to recreate that moment. Through a treasure of personal letters and papers, God, the Bestseller explores Exman’s personal quest. A journey that would lead him in the late 1920s to the Harper religious books department, which he turned during the Great Depression into a money-making juggernaut and the country’s top religion publisher. Exman’s role in the shaping of American religion is undeniable. Here was a man who was ahead of his time and leading the rest of the nation through books on a spiritual exploration. Exman published bestsellers by the controversial preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick, the Catholic radical Dorothy Day, the Civil Rights pioneer Howard Thurman, and two Nobel laureates: Albert Schweitzer and Martin Luther King Jr. Exman did not just sit at a desk and read. In addition to his lifelong relationships with the most influential leaders of the day, Exman was on a spiritual journey of his own traversing the world in search of God. He founded a club of mystics, dropped acid in 1958, four years before Timothy Leary. And six years before The Beatles went to India, he found a guru there in 1962. In the end, this is the story of the popularization of the religion of experience—a cultural story of modern America on a quest of its own. Exman helped to reimagine and remake American religion, turning the United States into a place where denominational boundaries are blurred, diversity is valued, and the only creed is that individual spiritual experience is the essence of religion.Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

About Stephen Prothero

Stephen Prothero is the New York Times bestselling author of Religious Literacy and God Is Not One and an emeritus professor of religion at Boston University. His work has been featured on the cover of TIME magazine, and he has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, NPR, and all the major networks. He has written and reviewed for the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Salon, Slate, and other publications. Visit the author at www.stephenprothero.com and follow him at sprothero.bsky.social.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Elizabeth on November 16, 2023

The following was a required reflection of this book for REL 771: In God the Bestseller, Stephen Prothero offers up a personal tale of enlightenment that treks through the transformation of “American” consciousness. Prothero’s approach of defining this consciousness regarding religion and spiritualit......more

Goodreads review by MG on July 20, 2023

Since I am a former editor of HarperOne, GOD THE BESTSELLER reads like an origin story of the imprint. Prothero stumbles upon the archive of Eugene Exman, the head of the Harper & Row (now HarperCollins) religion department from 1928 to 1965 (which later turned into HarperOne after Exman). Prothero......more

Goodreads review by Zachary on November 15, 2023

I loved learning about Exman in this book, and Prothero did an admirable job charting the currents of American culture and religious culture as both influencing and influenced by this notable, forgotten man. Summaries of key figures in American religious thought and history were excellent and very a......more

Goodreads review by Dennis on September 24, 2024

There were some interesting stories in the book such as Bill Wilson, Martin Luther King and Albert Schweitzer but overall the book seemed to have an unclear focus or message if one was intended at all. The beginning seems to be very new age/unitarian and to some degree negative toward Christianity a......more

Goodreads review by M on November 29, 2023

A well researched, thoughtful and engrossing book that looks at the influence of Eugene Exman, religious books editor at Harper for multiple decades. Part Bio, part history, part reflection, this book took me into Exman's world on a contemplative ride. The ride is worth the time.......more