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Off the Deep End: Jerry and Becki Falwell and the Collapse of an Evangelical Dynasty
Giancarlo Granda finally reveals the truth about his relationship with Becki Falwell and her husband Jerry Falwell Jr., and the hidden world of political influence, high finance, and criminal intrigue.
Jerry Falwell Jr. is a prominent figure in the evangelical world whose support for presidential candidate Donald J. Trump helped secure Trump's Republican nomination in 2016. He captured headlines when it was revealed that he and his wife Becki had participated in a years-long bizarre sexual relationship with a pool attendant they met at the Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami Beach. As Falwell Jr. began to deny this relationship, even more damaging news came out, ultimately forcing him to resign as president of Liberty University, which many consider to be the largest evangelical Christian university in the world.
Giancarlo Granda is now ready to share the story of his years on an "only in America" rollercoaster ride through the monied corridors of power and profound hypocrisy.
Jerry Falwell Jr. is a prominent figure in the evangelical world whose support for presidential candidate Donald J. Trump helped secure Trump's Republican nomination in 2016. He captured headlines when it was revealed that he and his wife Becki had participated in a years-long bizarre sexual relationship with a pool attendant they met at the Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami Beach. As Falwell Jr. began to deny this relationship, even more damaging news came out, ultimately forcing him to resign as president of Liberty University, which many consider to be the largest evangelical Christian university in the world.
Giancarlo Granda is now ready to share the story of his years on an "only in America" rollercoaster ride through the monied corridors of power and profound hypocrisy.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 25, 2022
56 people are currently reading
330 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
October 30, 2022
It’s as disgusting a story that has ever been told, but if you are a Christian, it is a story that you need to read. No one comes across well, including the author, but the incredible rot at the core of the largest Christian university in the world needs to be looked at straight in the eye. If we don’t get serious about the cancer in the church, we will lose a generation. Not for the faint of heart; it’s really gross.
November 10, 2022
While some people love murder podcast, I love corrupt evangelicals podcasts, so I've listened to several featuring the story of the downfall of Jerry Falwell, Jr. and the toxic culture he fostered on the Liberty University campus.
One of the stories that helped unravel this whole scandal was the tale of the "pool boy" that slept with Jerry's wife, Becki on and off for over 5 years, and now we finally get to hear Giancarlo Granda's side of the story. I think one of the key pieces of this story is that because of the access the Falwell's gave Granda, it became clear that they weren't just grooming young adults for inappropriate sexual relationships, but they were also master manipulators of the Liberty community and the wider community of evangelicals who took his endorsement of Donald Trump as all the evidence they needed to put aside all of his decidedly un-evangelical behavior and elect him President.
It's a slow motion train wreck that's still unfolding and I feel terrible that I needed to know all the details and yet satisfied that I'm now confident I know whose stories to give more credence to in this whole mess. Granda and his co-author made sure to dot the "i"s and cross the "t"s, so this feels like a complete recounting of a sordid tale. There's a new documentary out on Hulu that has significant cooperation from Granda and his co-author, so if you've seen that and don't want to take the time to read a book covering similar ground, you won't miss much.
One of the stories that helped unravel this whole scandal was the tale of the "pool boy" that slept with Jerry's wife, Becki on and off for over 5 years, and now we finally get to hear Giancarlo Granda's side of the story. I think one of the key pieces of this story is that because of the access the Falwell's gave Granda, it became clear that they weren't just grooming young adults for inappropriate sexual relationships, but they were also master manipulators of the Liberty community and the wider community of evangelicals who took his endorsement of Donald Trump as all the evidence they needed to put aside all of his decidedly un-evangelical behavior and elect him President.
It's a slow motion train wreck that's still unfolding and I feel terrible that I needed to know all the details and yet satisfied that I'm now confident I know whose stories to give more credence to in this whole mess. Granda and his co-author made sure to dot the "i"s and cross the "t"s, so this feels like a complete recounting of a sordid tale. There's a new documentary out on Hulu that has significant cooperation from Granda and his co-author, so if you've seen that and don't want to take the time to read a book covering similar ground, you won't miss much.
May 31, 2023
Well, that was quite a wild story. Most of us should by now be disabused of the notion that powerful people who are on a vendetta to legislate away the rights of women and the LGBT community in particular, have bothered to apply any of their ideas of "family values" to their own lives. However, for those who may not yet be aware, this is a look into the sordid world of the infamous Falwell dynasty and their Liberty University, which boasts famously strict "purity" rules for its students.
January 25, 2023
Extremely disappointing telling of a good story, mishandled by a co-author and turned into an anti-Trump propaganda piece filled with mistakes and biased leftist spin.
The basic story of Granda is fascinating and what happened to him with the Falwells is certainly worth a great book if not a movie. However, from the cover on you can tell this isn't really about Granda's story. The subtitle "The Collapse of an Evangelical Dynasty" positions it as something greater, a giant moment in political and religious culture, and from its first pages tries to present the story as one that had much greater impact on Trump and evangelicals than actually happened.
This obviously isn't coming from Granda--he's a barely educated kid that could never write this type of book with the historical perspective and polished tone of a longtime propagandist. Instead attribute it to tabloid co-author Mark Ebner, who helped write such classics as "Six Degrees of Paris Hilton" and "Hollywood Interrupted." He's mostly a pop culture fake journalist who twists misinformation to draw incorrect conclusions about sensational stories.
With an attempt to add another Trump scandal to the books, Ebner becomes an "investigative journalist" and includes all sorts of things that have nothing to directly do with Granda. About half the book is outside the first person telling of Granda's story, and most of that is pure speculation with little evidence to support a conspiracy theory that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and other sinister Trump connections were used by the Falwells to get back at the pool boy.
Ebner begins the book writing that Falwell's endorsement of Donald Trump in 2016 "helped deliver Trump the evangelical vote." There is zero factual evidence of this and it grossly overstates any influence Jerry Falwell Jr. had on Christians. He was not his father, and to try to claim that this was similar to his dad's Moral Majority helping Reagan win shows a horrible misinterpretation of history and inept Jerry Falwell Jr.
There are many of these type of errors that reflect typical liberal misinterpretation of conservatives. Ebner/Granda says Liberty "was officially a nonprofit institution and therefore politically agnostic," implying that the school was acting illegally when hosting Republican candidates. But nonprofits are not "politically agnostic" and most universities host off-the-deep-end leftist politicians all the time! Thousands of nonprofits, including religious groups from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, support only Democrats while excluding conservatives, many more than there are that support Republicans. And based on the little evidence presented in the book, Falwell Jr. was no different in his attempt to legally use his private voice to sway followers.
The authors even write that Becki and Jerry Jr. were "two of the most powerful people in the state, if not the country." What? Are these writers insane? The couple had very little influence across America and setting them up as some type of major influence over most Christians nationwide is simply wrong. Calling them "the first family of evangelicalism" and "kingmakers" is absurd. Falwell Sr. certainly had major influence 40 years ago, but his son or any evangelical Christian leader today has almost no nationwide power anymore. The couple that Granda was sexually involved with over 50 times certainly were NOT two of the most powerful people in the country simply because they hosted Donald Trump like any other organization did.
The co-author goes on to claim that Granda's "youthful indiscretion" (a misnomer, like others in the book) "may also have played a not insignificant role in making a person like Trump president."
Huh? Trying to claim that a pool boy's affair with a college university president's wife in 2012 helped get Trump elected in 2016? Ludicrous and zero proof beyond a typical liberal's stereotyping of the evangelical sheep blindly following a supposed leader. What they call in the book a "campaign stop" by Trump actually occurred almost four years before he ran for president, so they are spinning this in a biased manner to build a narrative that's false. Trump was at Liberty because he was a non-religious TV celebrity, not a politician, and would bring credibility to the campus.
Falwell Jr. was the goofball non-religious leader that was impressed by Trump, but he was also known for not being the moral standard like his father. He didn't host a nationwide TV show like his father or create a giant movement followed by a third of the country as dad did, and if you look into the history Jr. barely was allowed to take over when his father died because he was so much unlike Sr. and had no interest in the religious part of the family business! (If you want a great read on Liberty, find "Unlikely Disciple," where a liberal non-believer enrolls and finds that the place is nothing like stereotyped Christianity.)
If the writers want to come up with a theory of why Trump was invited to campus in 2012, maybe it was simply that Falwell Jr. admired another womanizing non-religious business leader and wanted to parade him in front of one of his biggest fans, non-religious and sexually promiscuous real estate investor Giancarlo Granda. It could have all simply been done to get the kid to have sex again with Becki. How does the book miss the possibility that the Falwells were simply trying to use Trump's celebrity status to entice Granda back into their private bedroom?
I've seen Granda on the streaming documentary and he verbalizes what is written in the book about the Falwells--that he believes they used "Mafia-like" tactics and were "con artists" from the start. I don't agree with that analysis. They seem like a horny drunk non-religious "Christian" couple looking for a way to satisfy a wife with an incredible need for sex, then get upset when Granda pulls away after he gets a girlfriend.
They invited him to be part of the family meeting with Trump because Becki was horny and wanted her boy toy back--it was as simple as that! People in powerful positions will do almost anything for you once they feel they can trust you to meet their hidden sexual desires. How does the author turn it into some underhanded cultlike plot to manipulate a very average and undereducated young guy? They could have better manipulated their Liberty students if they wanted blind followers; what they wanted with Granda was simply sex, and they tried to assure he'd continue providing that for them by making him part of the family business dealings.
The one real spot where the Falwells make a mistake is in admitting they have video of some of the early sexual meetings. Jerry Jr. would stand in the corner in the dark watching his wife make out with the young man and must have recorded some of that. However, Florida is a two-consent state and Granda says he was unaware of being recorded, so what the Falwells did was against the law. They, of course, may have a different story. But even then when the author claims the Falwells held the video against him trying to "brainwash" him to return it seems like an overreaction. They could simply have wanted him back because they liked him so much, but Granda turns it into a planned scheme to manipulate him from the start.
Meanwhile Granda admits that he recorded phone calls with the Falwells without their knowledge. If he did this in Florida, a two-consent state, then he actually was more guilty than they were. At least Falwells could claim he was a knowledgeable participant in the videos being made. He also agrees that in later years he consented to them making videos having sex, so kind of hard for him to get mad at them when in truth he's the one that made illicit recordings.
Granda also is a certified liar, who gave official statements that contradict what he now says. What are we supposed to believe?
This is not to take away from the horrible things Becki and Jerry Jr. did. They are obviously guilty of all sorts of moral and legal wrongs. But this book isn't about them, and isn't even a fair investigation of them since they have no chance to respond. It's supposed to be about Granda, and his "feelings" about their motives have little factual basis.
The end of the book is a mess. First the authors try to toss around a "racism" claim when it comes to Jerry Jr. with little basis. Then they go into a long final chapter on sexual harassment at Liberty, none of which has anything to do with Granda. It's obviously simply meant to make the Falwells and hypocritcal Christians look bad, but it's out of place. No one needs to do that because Jerry Jr. and Becki made themselves look foolish enough.
This situation, the authors write in the book, is to "serve as a cautionary tale for those of us who fall prey to the powerful and the influential." No, it's cautionary for young hot uneducated guys having sex with hotel guests and blindly doing whatever a rich person says instead of using their heads above their waist to make good decisions. Granda made bad choices, often was misled but still he was an adult responsible for his actions. And this book seems to be an attempt to blame-shift by turning it into a major political scandal where the author is the mostly innocent victim.
It's not. It's just a dumb young hot-blooded adult male working the pools having sex, allowing himself to be used, and then whining that it's "an albatross around my neck. Forever."
He should have thought of that when he agreed to go into a married woman's hotel room. Or the many other times he tried to use the situation to benefit himself.
Granda's story didn't get Trump elected nor bring the downfall of Christendom. Instead a famous preacher's sleazy son who inherited a kingdom he was unqualified to run was kicked out of office. Deservedly so. But Liberty University continues to live on. Evangelicals still believe in their moral leaders. Trump actually got more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016. And c0-authors like Mark Ebner continue to go "off the deep end" by misusing victims' stories to try to make an invalid larger political claim in order to ensure that Christians and conservatives look bad.
The basic story of Granda is fascinating and what happened to him with the Falwells is certainly worth a great book if not a movie. However, from the cover on you can tell this isn't really about Granda's story. The subtitle "The Collapse of an Evangelical Dynasty" positions it as something greater, a giant moment in political and religious culture, and from its first pages tries to present the story as one that had much greater impact on Trump and evangelicals than actually happened.
This obviously isn't coming from Granda--he's a barely educated kid that could never write this type of book with the historical perspective and polished tone of a longtime propagandist. Instead attribute it to tabloid co-author Mark Ebner, who helped write such classics as "Six Degrees of Paris Hilton" and "Hollywood Interrupted." He's mostly a pop culture fake journalist who twists misinformation to draw incorrect conclusions about sensational stories.
With an attempt to add another Trump scandal to the books, Ebner becomes an "investigative journalist" and includes all sorts of things that have nothing to directly do with Granda. About half the book is outside the first person telling of Granda's story, and most of that is pure speculation with little evidence to support a conspiracy theory that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and other sinister Trump connections were used by the Falwells to get back at the pool boy.
Ebner begins the book writing that Falwell's endorsement of Donald Trump in 2016 "helped deliver Trump the evangelical vote." There is zero factual evidence of this and it grossly overstates any influence Jerry Falwell Jr. had on Christians. He was not his father, and to try to claim that this was similar to his dad's Moral Majority helping Reagan win shows a horrible misinterpretation of history and inept Jerry Falwell Jr.
There are many of these type of errors that reflect typical liberal misinterpretation of conservatives. Ebner/Granda says Liberty "was officially a nonprofit institution and therefore politically agnostic," implying that the school was acting illegally when hosting Republican candidates. But nonprofits are not "politically agnostic" and most universities host off-the-deep-end leftist politicians all the time! Thousands of nonprofits, including religious groups from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, support only Democrats while excluding conservatives, many more than there are that support Republicans. And based on the little evidence presented in the book, Falwell Jr. was no different in his attempt to legally use his private voice to sway followers.
The authors even write that Becki and Jerry Jr. were "two of the most powerful people in the state, if not the country." What? Are these writers insane? The couple had very little influence across America and setting them up as some type of major influence over most Christians nationwide is simply wrong. Calling them "the first family of evangelicalism" and "kingmakers" is absurd. Falwell Sr. certainly had major influence 40 years ago, but his son or any evangelical Christian leader today has almost no nationwide power anymore. The couple that Granda was sexually involved with over 50 times certainly were NOT two of the most powerful people in the country simply because they hosted Donald Trump like any other organization did.
The co-author goes on to claim that Granda's "youthful indiscretion" (a misnomer, like others in the book) "may also have played a not insignificant role in making a person like Trump president."
Huh? Trying to claim that a pool boy's affair with a college university president's wife in 2012 helped get Trump elected in 2016? Ludicrous and zero proof beyond a typical liberal's stereotyping of the evangelical sheep blindly following a supposed leader. What they call in the book a "campaign stop" by Trump actually occurred almost four years before he ran for president, so they are spinning this in a biased manner to build a narrative that's false. Trump was at Liberty because he was a non-religious TV celebrity, not a politician, and would bring credibility to the campus.
Falwell Jr. was the goofball non-religious leader that was impressed by Trump, but he was also known for not being the moral standard like his father. He didn't host a nationwide TV show like his father or create a giant movement followed by a third of the country as dad did, and if you look into the history Jr. barely was allowed to take over when his father died because he was so much unlike Sr. and had no interest in the religious part of the family business! (If you want a great read on Liberty, find "Unlikely Disciple," where a liberal non-believer enrolls and finds that the place is nothing like stereotyped Christianity.)
If the writers want to come up with a theory of why Trump was invited to campus in 2012, maybe it was simply that Falwell Jr. admired another womanizing non-religious business leader and wanted to parade him in front of one of his biggest fans, non-religious and sexually promiscuous real estate investor Giancarlo Granda. It could have all simply been done to get the kid to have sex again with Becki. How does the book miss the possibility that the Falwells were simply trying to use Trump's celebrity status to entice Granda back into their private bedroom?
I've seen Granda on the streaming documentary and he verbalizes what is written in the book about the Falwells--that he believes they used "Mafia-like" tactics and were "con artists" from the start. I don't agree with that analysis. They seem like a horny drunk non-religious "Christian" couple looking for a way to satisfy a wife with an incredible need for sex, then get upset when Granda pulls away after he gets a girlfriend.
They invited him to be part of the family meeting with Trump because Becki was horny and wanted her boy toy back--it was as simple as that! People in powerful positions will do almost anything for you once they feel they can trust you to meet their hidden sexual desires. How does the author turn it into some underhanded cultlike plot to manipulate a very average and undereducated young guy? They could have better manipulated their Liberty students if they wanted blind followers; what they wanted with Granda was simply sex, and they tried to assure he'd continue providing that for them by making him part of the family business dealings.
The one real spot where the Falwells make a mistake is in admitting they have video of some of the early sexual meetings. Jerry Jr. would stand in the corner in the dark watching his wife make out with the young man and must have recorded some of that. However, Florida is a two-consent state and Granda says he was unaware of being recorded, so what the Falwells did was against the law. They, of course, may have a different story. But even then when the author claims the Falwells held the video against him trying to "brainwash" him to return it seems like an overreaction. They could simply have wanted him back because they liked him so much, but Granda turns it into a planned scheme to manipulate him from the start.
Meanwhile Granda admits that he recorded phone calls with the Falwells without their knowledge. If he did this in Florida, a two-consent state, then he actually was more guilty than they were. At least Falwells could claim he was a knowledgeable participant in the videos being made. He also agrees that in later years he consented to them making videos having sex, so kind of hard for him to get mad at them when in truth he's the one that made illicit recordings.
Granda also is a certified liar, who gave official statements that contradict what he now says. What are we supposed to believe?
This is not to take away from the horrible things Becki and Jerry Jr. did. They are obviously guilty of all sorts of moral and legal wrongs. But this book isn't about them, and isn't even a fair investigation of them since they have no chance to respond. It's supposed to be about Granda, and his "feelings" about their motives have little factual basis.
The end of the book is a mess. First the authors try to toss around a "racism" claim when it comes to Jerry Jr. with little basis. Then they go into a long final chapter on sexual harassment at Liberty, none of which has anything to do with Granda. It's obviously simply meant to make the Falwells and hypocritcal Christians look bad, but it's out of place. No one needs to do that because Jerry Jr. and Becki made themselves look foolish enough.
This situation, the authors write in the book, is to "serve as a cautionary tale for those of us who fall prey to the powerful and the influential." No, it's cautionary for young hot uneducated guys having sex with hotel guests and blindly doing whatever a rich person says instead of using their heads above their waist to make good decisions. Granda made bad choices, often was misled but still he was an adult responsible for his actions. And this book seems to be an attempt to blame-shift by turning it into a major political scandal where the author is the mostly innocent victim.
It's not. It's just a dumb young hot-blooded adult male working the pools having sex, allowing himself to be used, and then whining that it's "an albatross around my neck. Forever."
He should have thought of that when he agreed to go into a married woman's hotel room. Or the many other times he tried to use the situation to benefit himself.
Granda's story didn't get Trump elected nor bring the downfall of Christendom. Instead a famous preacher's sleazy son who inherited a kingdom he was unqualified to run was kicked out of office. Deservedly so. But Liberty University continues to live on. Evangelicals still believe in their moral leaders. Trump actually got more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016. And c0-authors like Mark Ebner continue to go "off the deep end" by misusing victims' stories to try to make an invalid larger political claim in order to ensure that Christians and conservatives look bad.
November 8, 2022
All I can say is, what a mess!
July 6, 2025
This book is the personal memoir of Giancarlo Granda. Granda was working as a pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida when he met Becky Falwell. Falwell was the wife of Jerry Falwell JR. Falwell JR was the president of Liberty University, a Christian college, and the son of the televangelist Jerry Falwell. The Falwell's groomed Granda, entering into a sexual affair with him. This was a spiderweb of secrecy, manipulation, and general weirdness. Granda made some stupid decisions regarding the Falwell's which would go on to really be a detriment to his life, but he was also a young person being groomed by rich, powerful, scummy people.
There is a documentary about this available on Hulu if you are interested, called God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down A Dynasty. I would also like to say that the rotten apple does not fall far from the scumbag tree in the Falwell family. Jerry Falwell SR made many horrendous remarks about the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He was also just a hate filled jackass in general, who raised a scummy son. This book also outlined the relationship between the Falwell family and Donald Trump. (No shock there.) It is so disheartening that people worship and follow scummy human beings like this and vote against their own best interest to install someone who is hate filled and disgusting in a position of power like the Presidency. Anyway, the book was interesting and the documentary was good as well.
There is a documentary about this available on Hulu if you are interested, called God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down A Dynasty. I would also like to say that the rotten apple does not fall far from the scumbag tree in the Falwell family. Jerry Falwell SR made many horrendous remarks about the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He was also just a hate filled jackass in general, who raised a scummy son. This book also outlined the relationship between the Falwell family and Donald Trump. (No shock there.) It is so disheartening that people worship and follow scummy human beings like this and vote against their own best interest to install someone who is hate filled and disgusting in a position of power like the Presidency. Anyway, the book was interesting and the documentary was good as well.
February 2, 2023
Poor Boy! Lots Of Terrific Sex, But No Fortune!
My synopsis: Poor, uneducated, unsophisticated ‘20 year old adult’ pool boy has lots of great sex over years with an older, married woman while her husband likes to watch. Did I mention he had great sex with the wife? I think all three had their own kink, obviously. He rubs shoulders with wealthy and famous people, and is exposed to (and enjoys) the experiences.
He finally realizes that he will never be wealthy or one of them through his prostitution-like activities. He becomes upset, and decides that although he had a great time & great sex, feels used. He then plots his revenge for all the great sex he had while showing off for the husband. Let’s see, how does this end? Well, it’s a big surprise: Not great for anyone.
And, of course, since it was 2022 the author and the ghostwriter had to pepper it all with Trump hating, conservative bashing, Christianity slamming, race baiting, MeToo, Karen professing drivel. This part is shameful since there may really be sexual assault, abuse, and rape coverup at Liberty University by various leaders. Its significance is smothered by all the “Oh poor me, enjoying tons of great sex” by the author. It was hard to empathize with his poor mouthing. This book should have been one page. Just my humble opinion, of course, but I am glad I borrowed and didn’t have to buy this thing.
My synopsis: Poor, uneducated, unsophisticated ‘20 year old adult’ pool boy has lots of great sex over years with an older, married woman while her husband likes to watch. Did I mention he had great sex with the wife? I think all three had their own kink, obviously. He rubs shoulders with wealthy and famous people, and is exposed to (and enjoys) the experiences.
He finally realizes that he will never be wealthy or one of them through his prostitution-like activities. He becomes upset, and decides that although he had a great time & great sex, feels used. He then plots his revenge for all the great sex he had while showing off for the husband. Let’s see, how does this end? Well, it’s a big surprise: Not great for anyone.
And, of course, since it was 2022 the author and the ghostwriter had to pepper it all with Trump hating, conservative bashing, Christianity slamming, race baiting, MeToo, Karen professing drivel. This part is shameful since there may really be sexual assault, abuse, and rape coverup at Liberty University by various leaders. Its significance is smothered by all the “Oh poor me, enjoying tons of great sex” by the author. It was hard to empathize with his poor mouthing. This book should have been one page. Just my humble opinion, of course, but I am glad I borrowed and didn’t have to buy this thing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2024
As someone who once attended Liberty and lived in Lynchburg when the Falwells fell from the pedestal they’d managed to claw their way onto, I had high hopes for this book. The story in and of itself is entirely worth knowing, but the writing fell utterly flat to me. Political/religious scandal tell-alls can be both informative and riveting and this one certainly had that potential, but Granda’s voice was something reminiscent of a personal diary and a bad high school essay rolled into one, and I’m honestly not even sure where or how Mark Ebner comes into play as a writer since everything is written in first person. Overall the whole thing read as “this happened, then this happened; they did this, then I did that.” Again, I believe his story completely and am happy he gave it voice and helped dismantle some of the ridiculous power and influence the Falwells once wielded, but as a… I don’t even know what to call it? Autobiography? Tell-all? Regardless, it was a struggle to get through. A great deal of potential but it did not live up, sadly.
July 14, 2023
The story is written by a flawed twenty-year-old concerning his "adventure" with a sexually dysfunctional religious affiliated family in its sordid detail. It is hard for me to comprehend the wealth and lifestyle of the "spiritual leaders" of mega-churches and colleges and the continued support and loyalty in spite of the exposed deception and failed moral leadership.
As with all sensational exposures, lawsuits, and countersuits continue with each claiming they were damaged in the various transactions with each side claiming there is lying all around. What really is the truth, is that there is enough fire and smoke in this story to know that all are dirty to some degree and that the mess is filled with plenty of sin on the part of all involved. "You cannot go into a coal mine without getting black", so there is enough truth exposed to indict the whole Falwell/Liberty University group including the MAGA Trump crowd.
A soap opera read.
As with all sensational exposures, lawsuits, and countersuits continue with each claiming they were damaged in the various transactions with each side claiming there is lying all around. What really is the truth, is that there is enough fire and smoke in this story to know that all are dirty to some degree and that the mess is filled with plenty of sin on the part of all involved. "You cannot go into a coal mine without getting black", so there is enough truth exposed to indict the whole Falwell/Liberty University group including the MAGA Trump crowd.
A soap opera read.
January 2, 2023
Not What I Expected
I wasn't sure exactly what I was expecting with this book and after 30 pages or so I considered DNF-ing the book because I didn't want to read 200 plus pages of "I had sex with Jerry Falwell's wife".
Jerry and Becki Falwell are serious predators if you believe Giancarlo's story, and I do. And when the ultimate evil known as Donald Trump entered the story I knew that i would finish the book.
I wasn't sure exactly what I was expecting with this book and after 30 pages or so I considered DNF-ing the book because I didn't want to read 200 plus pages of "I had sex with Jerry Falwell's wife".
Jerry and Becki Falwell are serious predators if you believe Giancarlo's story, and I do. And when the ultimate evil known as Donald Trump entered the story I knew that i would finish the book.
November 3, 2022
>Book Review – Off the Deep End
>I am an independent reviewer. This book is a memoir by Giancarlo Granda, the young man who had an affair with the Falwell’s. The Falwell’s were the picture of conservative Christians. They aligned themselves with Donald Trump for his election. The Falwell’s also owned Liberty University, a conservative Christian university where a student could get fined for holding hands with the opposite sex. Granda portrayed his part in the Falwell downfall as being groomed for their pleasure. He had a decade-long affair with Becki Falwell, but Jerry Falwell video-recorded and watched their trysts.
>Many times, Granda stated he was “deeply ashamed” of his actions, especially when he tried to have a girlfriend, but was still involved with the Falwell’s. He even introduced a couple of his girlfriends to the Falwell’s, but never told them the truth of his relationship. Granda never stated he was sorry for his actions. Granda seemed to not have a moral compass.
>This book is appropriate for an adult audience. I am giving this book 3 stars. Granda mentions a lot of photos, yet none are included in his book. His story evolves into a revelation of sexual misconduct at Liberty University. I wanted to know how Granda’s life is now, without the Falwell’s, for the first time in his adult life. Granda also stated that he was only a pool boy for a very short time and as his first-ever job. He said he was embarrassed to be known as a pool boy, yet he names his book “Off the Deep End”.
>I am an independent reviewer. This book is a memoir by Giancarlo Granda, the young man who had an affair with the Falwell’s. The Falwell’s were the picture of conservative Christians. They aligned themselves with Donald Trump for his election. The Falwell’s also owned Liberty University, a conservative Christian university where a student could get fined for holding hands with the opposite sex. Granda portrayed his part in the Falwell downfall as being groomed for their pleasure. He had a decade-long affair with Becki Falwell, but Jerry Falwell video-recorded and watched their trysts.
>Many times, Granda stated he was “deeply ashamed” of his actions, especially when he tried to have a girlfriend, but was still involved with the Falwell’s. He even introduced a couple of his girlfriends to the Falwell’s, but never told them the truth of his relationship. Granda never stated he was sorry for his actions. Granda seemed to not have a moral compass.
>This book is appropriate for an adult audience. I am giving this book 3 stars. Granda mentions a lot of photos, yet none are included in his book. His story evolves into a revelation of sexual misconduct at Liberty University. I wanted to know how Granda’s life is now, without the Falwell’s, for the first time in his adult life. Granda also stated that he was only a pool boy for a very short time and as his first-ever job. He said he was embarrassed to be known as a pool boy, yet he names his book “Off the Deep End”.
April 23, 2023
When I got this book free for my Kindle, I didn't really didn't know the details of the sordid story of Jerry and Becki Falwell and their infamous "Christian" college- Liberty University. I had seen some items on the news about the Falwells and their "pool boy" but I honestly thought it was like so many other evangelical ministers who fell from grace, like Jim Bakker, Ted Haggard and Jimmy Swaggart. This book tells a sordid and disgusting tale of Jerry Falwell, son of the famous televangelist who helped engineer the election of Ronald Reagan and both Bushes. The junior Falwell was president of the Christian university his father founded when he and his wife seduced a 20-year-old employee of the Miami Beach resort Fontainebleau into having a three-way sexual affair with them that lasted for several years. This book is written by the "pool boy" in the story , Giancarlo Granda, and it is a no-holes-barred account of not only of what was actually sexual exploitation of a young man, but also Falwell's involvement with Michael Cohen (Donald Trump's fixer) and his king-maker status which helped propel Trump into the presidency with overwhelming Evangelical support. The book was honest, detailed, well-documented and interesting. It is a startling account of unchecked power and hubris entangled with religion and faith. I gave the book 5/5 stars and recommend it as an important cautionary tale about those who use religion to manipulate , exploit, and exert power over others.
December 4, 2023
Giancarlo Granda's memoir is a decent portrait of the believably manic and insane treatment he received at the hands of Jerry and Becki Falwell. He offers up receipts about their time together and does an admirable job portraying just how salacious, sickening, and simply mean the Falwell's were, but without getting too explicit in a way that seems equally as predatory. He knows that his story is sensational enough without leaning into that aspect of it, which is strangely appreciated and kind of impressive in a book about this kind of twisted sexual relationship. The book predictably makes Granda perhaps overly innocent and unknowing, at times, but it's hard to deny what he consistently brings up: he was so young when this happened, to the point that it is mostly believable that he simply wouldn't know how to say no or how to extricate himself. My main critique of the book is just that the parts that are not in Granda's voice or telling, where he starts to commentate on the state of contemporary American politics or evangelical culture, are almost gratingly obvious and a little too absurdly flowery in their tone to fit in with the rest of the book. As a whole this is not a phenomenal book by any means, and its status as a witness to the great scandal of contemporary evangelicalism is suspect given the nature of the genre itself; but this was nonetheless a fairly interesting read, in spite of its obvious flaws and odd tonal shifts.
July 8, 2025
Prime Example of One of America's Pharisees
Fallwells 2015 endorsement of Trump and his lies about Trump's "follower of Christ" absolutely got Trump elected in 2016.
MAGA "Christianity" has the U.S. back to following the OT and Mosaic Law (the 10 commandments + 603 more edicts like "kill all witches and gay men") instead of Jesus' Teachings (known as "liberal talking points" by the MAGA Cult); not a single Christian among them. MAGA religion is fully aligned with Orthodox Judaism and Islam in its application of Mosaic Law (called Sharia in Islam) as the OT=Torah=Koran. America is now governed by Project 2025, the implementation of Mosaic Law. The cruelty is the point and equals the cruelty in Israel and Iran. There are only 3 property rights codified in Mosaic Law: male ownership of their wives, slaves and cattle. America hasn't just moved back to the 1950's but all the way back to 250 BC Jeruselm where the Pharisees oppressed the masses which led to Jesus' rebellion against them.
Jesus' take on the Trump Administration and MAGA supreme court.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
Pharisees outwardly appeared righteous and devout, but Jesus saw their inner lives were full of hypocrisy, wickedness, and spiritu
Fallwells 2015 endorsement of Trump and his lies about Trump's "follower of Christ" absolutely got Trump elected in 2016.
MAGA "Christianity" has the U.S. back to following the OT and Mosaic Law (the 10 commandments + 603 more edicts like "kill all witches and gay men") instead of Jesus' Teachings (known as "liberal talking points" by the MAGA Cult); not a single Christian among them. MAGA religion is fully aligned with Orthodox Judaism and Islam in its application of Mosaic Law (called Sharia in Islam) as the OT=Torah=Koran. America is now governed by Project 2025, the implementation of Mosaic Law. The cruelty is the point and equals the cruelty in Israel and Iran. There are only 3 property rights codified in Mosaic Law: male ownership of their wives, slaves and cattle. America hasn't just moved back to the 1950's but all the way back to 250 BC Jeruselm where the Pharisees oppressed the masses which led to Jesus' rebellion against them.
Jesus' take on the Trump Administration and MAGA supreme court.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
Pharisees outwardly appeared righteous and devout, but Jesus saw their inner lives were full of hypocrisy, wickedness, and spiritu
January 20, 2024
Definitely revelatory. The organization of the book was confusing, because it's not exactly chronological, and the way it jumps around makes it difficult throughout the book to put events in order. Sometimes occurrences that happened years later are sandwiched in the middle of an otherwise chronological story without it being immediately clear that it happened at a different time period. I do hope it was freeing for Granda to tell his story and escape the abuse and control of the Falwells. The gut punch, for me, is something that goes unsaid. Describing his interaction with Becki and Jerry when he drove them home, it certainly sounds like Granda was sexually assaulted by Becki. I don't now if Granda sees it that way, and no one can tell him how to view his own experiences. But it doesn't sound like anything he consented to, and he throws out the self-blaming points any survivor of sexual assault would recognize about how he didn't stop it and he didn't say no and even views it as infidelity to his then-girlfriend. It is terrible and heartbreaking to read.
December 20, 2022
I didn't follow this scandal closely when it originally happened. i.e. The sex scandal of Jerry Falwell Jr and his wife Becky involving their "pool boy" which revealed some larger sexual, financial, and political misdeeds. I was curious enough to pick this up. However, it's written in a way that assumes the reader already knows all about what happened, and this is, essentially, Gian's retort - letting his voice be heard fully for the first time to set the record straight, at least from his perspective. There are some interesting insights to gain from reading this, especially in the evangelical community, but it was less about the Falwells as the book title suggests and more an intimately personal account of Gian's story. That's not a bad thing, but I would have liked this a lot more with better context.
November 25, 2022
This is a terrible book, about people who do/did terrible things. I apparently didn’t pay attention to what this book was about when I placed it on hold at my library and didn’t pay attention to the Jerry and Becki Falwell scandal when it happened because I hadn’t ever heard of this. This book is written by Giancarlo Granda, who was known as “the pool boy” by the press. He worked as a pool attendant at the Fountainbleau in Miami, a hotel that the Falwell’s spent time at. Jerry and Becki Falwell asked him to have sex with Becki whole Jerry watched. Disgusting people. All of them.
This book was terribly written.
This book was terribly written.
January 4, 2024
Let me help you read this quickly:
Wah wah wah, I’m a victim.
But I hero worship JFJ and Becki. He’s a brilliant businessman and he took me under his wing and helped me so much.
But he/they destroyed my life, threatened me, and I’m a victim.
The end.
While I have zero doubt this man was groomed and taken advantage of, he may have wanted to undergo therapy or at the very least a good editor that would take the pining, love sick puppy voice out of the telling.
There are so many horrible things that have been covered up at Liberty but he chose to talk about how JFJ took him under his wing and “was like the dad I never had”.
Thumbs down.
Wah wah wah, I’m a victim.
But I hero worship JFJ and Becki. He’s a brilliant businessman and he took me under his wing and helped me so much.
But he/they destroyed my life, threatened me, and I’m a victim.
The end.
While I have zero doubt this man was groomed and taken advantage of, he may have wanted to undergo therapy or at the very least a good editor that would take the pining, love sick puppy voice out of the telling.
There are so many horrible things that have been covered up at Liberty but he chose to talk about how JFJ took him under his wing and “was like the dad I never had”.
Thumbs down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2023
This was better than expected. While the whole thing is disgusting and I have no sympathy for the predators and a bit for the prey - if this were a 20 year old woman I think people would be unfairly more upset - I didn’t find it to be overly graphic. His story is believable to me. The author and co-writer laid out the way this then kid was sucked in and didn’t know enough how to get out (or perhaps didn’t try hard enough, given the lure of money and power). The book opened up some details of the lavish lifestyle of these sick people.
March 31, 2025
A good way for Giancarlo Granda to clear the air and tell his story once and for all. I did think the book would be more of a memoir or a reflection on Granda himself and the fallout of the Falwell's actions, but overall it wasn't bad. I do think the real estate and investment focus was a bit heavy at times, and at this point in time admitting you're a fan of Donald Trump's business acumen (or anything about him, really) doesn't come off well. Still, I hope Granda can find peace and put this affair behind him once and for all.
January 11, 2023
If you want to read about slime, slutty so-called christians this is the book for you. How anyone could contribute money to the likes of Jerry Falwell & his slutty wife amazes me. The contributors usually know about what is going on but for some reason they ignore it & sweep it under the rug. I think it is partly due to ignorance & the willingness to put their "preachers" on a pedestal. The main objective is to make a ton of money. It happens in all religions which is why so many younger people are leaving the church because they see through the hypocrisy. The Catholics & Baptists are the worst for not taking responsibility for all the rape , porn , adultery and paedophilia but they are not alone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2023
The first half of this book is insanely intriguing and fast-paced, but it does slow down a bit in the second half and he tends to use a lot of business/real estate jargon I just didn’t understand, and his narrative gets a bit muddy/confusing at parts. Overall though, it was still a strong book about such a wild real-life story, and the author does a good job exposing the hypocrisy and dangers of political identity in evangelicals overtaking faith and morals.
November 20, 2022
I mean, I will read anything and everything related to the Falwells. Granda is brave to tell his story and I believe every word of what happened, but this really amounts to nothing more than a gossip column, nearly the equivalent of watching some sort of reality show. Not a very well written book, but still intriguing nonetheless.
January 19, 2023
Another expose of corrupt evangelicals in power. Too bad their followers don’t read books like this and learn the truth. Or, if they do, they write reviews that say how terribly this is written. Some simple minded people will never be able to think differently.
February 16, 2023
4/10
It was fascinating to hear how his thoughts on working at a hotel. Giancarlo writes well. Most of this sounds kinda like semi-self justifying gossip, so I don't think I'd recommend it. Still, I think I feel for and like Giancarlo.
It was fascinating to hear how his thoughts on working at a hotel. Giancarlo writes well. Most of this sounds kinda like semi-self justifying gossip, so I don't think I'd recommend it. Still, I think I feel for and like Giancarlo.
July 31, 2025
Best thing about this book is the clever jacket photo. Oh also fing Donald Trump is part of every disgusting thing ever. That was unexpected. Oh and spoiler alert I thought he had sex with Jerry. He didn’t. Bummer.
November 6, 2022
Outstanding book!
I am always for the truth and believe this book to be factual. Sad for the people that are still being thrown under the bus. Great read!
I am always for the truth and believe this book to be factual. Sad for the people that are still being thrown under the bus. Great read!
November 7, 2022
This was a very weird read for me. I definitely did not like this one. It's about s guy who had an affair with Becki Falwell with the approval of Jerry Falwell, Jr, who run Liberty University.
Read
November 24, 2022Can’t believe I finished this book in one day. I respect Giancarlo for telling his truth.
December 4, 2022
Now I need a shower.
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