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xxstefaniereadsxx's review
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This book was on a list of books about cults that I ran across. I cannot imagine growing up like this. Organized religion in a brick and mortar church is obnoxious enough to me, living here in the Bible Belt, but these tent revivals are a whole other level. I was forced into attendance at several of these places, and they remind me so much of one of my grandmothers. This particular preacher, David Terrell, carried on affairs with multiple of his female followers. He had several children on the side. He had secret families. Of course, there were donations and offerings taken up and used to buy properties and lavish things, much like you see today's television preachers doing. A lot of people preach on the end times, and this fellow liked to give prophecies about it.... the end times must not be as immediate as they would like you to believe, as the Christian Bible has been around for over 2,000 years and the end times were imminent since then. This personal account of life in a traveling tent revival cult situation was very interesting and tragic. It made me so sad for the kids and the people who believe in people like this who are just swindlers. I did a google search to see what had happened to this guy after all these years, and I am not surprised by the result. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what life was like in tent revivals or just this type of preaching. It was interesting, for sure.
marryallthepeople's review
2.0
Readable, but not the literacy revelation I was hoping for. I couldn't shake the feeling that the stories would have been better shared around a dinner table rather in a book of this nature ... That being said, I would love to know more abotu the Sawdust trail and maybe if I understood the history behind it, I might like this memoir more.
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