Vendor
	Fritz Agency Christian Dittus
Original language
English
Weblink
http://www.adam-jay-morris.squar …

AMERICAN MESSIAHS

Adam Morris

False Prophets of a Damned Nation

A history with sweeping implications, American Messiahs challenges our previous misconceptions about cult leaders and their messianic power.

Mania surrounding messianic prophets has defined the national consciousness since the American Revolution. From Civil War veteran and virulent anticapitalist Cyrus Teed, to the dapper and overlooked civil rights pioneer Father Divine, to even the megalomaniacal Jim Jones, these figures have routinely been dismissed as dangerous and hysterical outliers.

After years of studying these emblematic figures, Adam Morris demonstrates that messiahs are not just a classic trope of our national culture; their visions are essential for understanding American history. As Morris demonstrates, these charismatic, if flawed, would-be prophets sought to expose and ameliorate deep social ills?such as income inequality, gender conformity, and racial injustice. Provocative and long overdue, this is the story of those who tried to point the way toward an impossible American Dream: men and women who momentarily captured the imagination of a nation always searching for salvation.

Adam Morris is a writer and literary translator based in California. He has translated novels by Hilda Hilst, João Gilberto Noll, and Beatriz Bracher. Essays, criticism, and translations have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Point, n+1, The Believer, Salon, the Times Literary Supplement, and elsewhere.

Available products
Book Published 2019-03-01 by Liveright (W.W. Norton)

Comments

In American Messiahs, journalist Adam Morris pulls from years of research into the messianic figures that have captivated Americans throughout history -- including Cyrus Teed, Father Divine, and Jim Jones -- and demonstrates their function within our nation's culture. These self-described prophets and leaders could only exist in a country promised an impossible "American dream," and this fascinating and provocative investigation illuminates the ideals underpinning the work of these flawed, larger-than-life characters.

Scholar and journalist Morris examines the theological, ideological,and personal relationships among a series of American spiritual leaders over the course of two centuries in his captivating debut.... Morris's research is extensive, and his reconstruction of his subjects' complex personal histories is impressive.... A fine examination of a series of Americans whose lives and missions shed light on the dominant institutions and values they sought to subvert.

American Messiahs is both important historically and exceptionally well-written--that's a rare combination. Cults have always flourished in America, and now, thanks to Adam Morris, readers will finally understand not just how, but why. I wish I'd had American Messiahs for reference when I was writing my own books. (Jeff Guinn, author of Manson and The Road to Jonestown)