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What Would Jesus Read?

Popular Religious Books and Everyday Life in Twentieth-Century America [Paperback]

by Erin A. Smith

    • Author

      Erin A. Smith

    • Book Format

      Paperback / softback

    • Publisher

      The University of North Carolina Press

    • Published

      April 2015

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      £51.11

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      What Would Jesus Read?

      Today's Price £51.11



      Product Description

      Since the late nineteenth century, religiously themed books in America have been commercially popular yet scorned by critics. Working at the intersection of literary history, lived religion, and consumer culture, Erin A. Smith considers the largely unexplored world of popular religious books, examining the apparent tension between economic and religious imperatives for authors, publishers, and readers. Smith argues that this literature served as a form of extra-ecclesiastical ministry and credits the popularity and longevity of religious books to their day-to-day usefulness rather than their theological correctness or aesthetic quality. Drawing on publishers' records, letters by readers to authors, promotional materials, and interviews with contemporary religious-reading groups, Smith offers a comprehensive study that finds surprising overlap across the religious spectrum--Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish, liberal and conservative. Smith tells the story of how authors, publishers, and readers reconciled these books' dual function as best-selling consumer goods and spiritually edifying literature. "What Would Jesus Read?" will be of interest to literary and cultural historians, students in the field of print culture, and scholars of religious studies.

      Specification

      • Author

        Erin A. Smith

      • Book Format

        Paperback / softback

      • Publisher

        The University of North Carolina Press

      • Published

        April 2015

      • Weight

        613g

      • Page Count

        464

      • Dimensions

        156 x 234 x 24 mm

      • ISBN

        9781469621326

      • ISBN-10

        1469621320

      • Eden Code

        4316479

      More Information

      • Author/Creator: Erin A. Smith

      • ISBN: 9781469621326

      • Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press

      • Release Date: April 2015

      • Weight: 613g

      • Dimensions: 156 x 234 x 24 mm

      • Eden Code: 4316479


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