Swaggart

by Ann Rowe Seaman

Book Overview

Jimmy Swaggart was one of the most popular video preachers in the world, until a moment of indicretion in New Orleans motel. This unauthorized biography looks at Swaggart's life, as well as discussing... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826411177
• ISBN13: 9780826411174
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Continuum
• Length: 438 Pages
• Weight: 1.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating and insightful analysis

I have long held the theory that there is little difference between a popular televangelist and a rock star. They just play to different audiences. Both undergo the same temptations. Both face the same potential pitfalls that are the side-effects of fame. The life of Jimmy Swaggart is in many ways intertwined with that of his cousin, rock-and-roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis (and, to a lesser extent, with his other famous cousin Micky Gilley). This book gives insight into how these relationships, along with his poor Southern upbringing and his youthful religious experiences shaped him into to the well-known Christian celebrity he later became. Soberingly, it also points out that the seeds of his downfall were planted early in life, and the demons that would gain victory over him were the same ones he struggled against his entire life. What really impresses me about this book is the fact that it is anything but a hatchet job. In fact, Jimmy Swaggart had many admirable qualities, despite his struggles with anger and sexual temptation. The author points out many times that the media was unfair in their assessment of Swaggart. She bends over backwards, in fact, to be fair and even-handed. The book does make it fairly clear that much of the ambition to make it to the "top" and the later drive to maintain a lavish lifestyle comes from his wife, who rules the Swaggart empire with an iron hand. If there is any fault in this book, it's that it barely mentions the years since the scandal, where Jimmy maintains a more modest, scaled-down ministry. But that is a minor fault. All the important stuff is here.

A good read

I found this account of the saga of Swaggert to be both educational and eminently readable. Seaman is fair and thorough. This is a good read.

A fascinating read.

A wonderfully readable book that left me better educated on the subjects of religion, rock & roll, and humanity. Ms.Seaman unveils evangelist Jimmy Swaggart's strengths and weaknesses by leading her readers through the grimly fascinating world of Louisiana's backwater culture with sharp insight, biting wit, and warm compassion.

So you thought this would be a Swaggart-basher...

I assumed this book would be just another expose~ on the fallen King of the Televangelists. Not so. The author takes great pains to put Swaggart in the context of his highly dysfunctional family and his--dare I say it?--highly dysfunctional culture in general. We see Swaggart the oppressed, pressured, and confused boy trying to be a normal kid in an impossible situation. (Recall Wordsworth's line--"the child is the father of man.") We see Swaggart the adult battling his "demon oppression," his sexual repression, and his explosive temper until his unmasking in the late eighties. Hats off to Seaman for taking great pains to put this spectacle in psychological perspective. This is a must read for Swaggart's critics, his remaining loyal flock, and the once loyal.

A Rolling Mural

I like this book a lot. It engaged me from the first page. I grew up in the South and, in fact, last year I drove through Swaggart's hometown to my father's burial about 30 miles down the road. So, I was curious to see whether Seaman got it right, especially as people from outside the Deep South usually can't even figure out when people say y'all. Well, she nailed the ambience, the rules, the mores, the unspoken and the ineffable; she writes like a soulful cultural anthropologist, and her novelistic musings about time and place are my kind of history. Also, she's done a lot of work, as evidenced by her documentation. The book is a great read and would be a surprising treat for anyone who expects a biography to be dry. If you want to understand America, you need to read this book.