ABSTRACT
In 1927 Sinclair Lewis wrote a popular novel about Elmer Gantry, a hypocritical preacher. This book probably opened the eyes of some readers to the possibility of such a person, and it may have helped some readers to recognize charlatans. But the book also helped to spread the word that rascals tend to make more interesting fiction than saints. Since then, fictional preachers who are bent on leading pretty choir singers astray probably outnumber their more well-behaved colleagues by 3 to 1.
