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God the Bestseller: How One Editor Transformed American Religion a Book at a Time – Eugene Exman and the Cultural Quest for Individual Spirituality
New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed religion scholar, Stephen Prothero, captures the compelling and unique saga of twentieth-century America on an identity quest through the eyes and books of one of the most influential editors of the day—a search, born of two world wars, for resolution of our divided identity as a Christian nation and a nation of religions.
One summer evening in 1916 in Blanchester, Ohio, a sixteen-year-old farm boy was riding his horse past the town cemetery. The horse reared back and whinnied, and Eugene Exman saw God. For the rest of his life, he struggled to recreate that moment. Through a treasure of personal letters and papers, God, the Bestseller explores Exman’s personal quest. A journey that would lead him in the late 1920s to the Harper religious books department, which he turned during the Great Depression into a money-making juggernaut and the country’s top religion publisher.
Exman’s role in the shaping of American religion is undeniable. Here was a man who was ahead of his time and leading the rest of the nation through books on a spiritual exploration. Exman published bestsellers by the controversial preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick, the Catholic radical Dorothy Day, the Civil Rights pioneer Howard Thurman, and two Nobel Albert Schweitzer and Martin Luther King Jr. Exman did not just sit at a desk and read. In addition to his lifelong relationships with the most influential leaders of the day, Exman was on a spiritual journey of his own traversing the world in search of God. He founded a club of mystics, dropped acid in 1958, four years before Timothy Leary. And six years before The Beatles went to India, he found a guru there in 1962.
In the end, this is the story of the popularization of the religion of experience—a cultural story of modern America on a quest of its own. Exman helped to reimagine and remake American religion, turning the United States into a place where denominational boundaries are blurred, diversity is valued, and the only creed is that individual spiritual experience is the essence of religion.
One summer evening in 1916 in Blanchester, Ohio, a sixteen-year-old farm boy was riding his horse past the town cemetery. The horse reared back and whinnied, and Eugene Exman saw God. For the rest of his life, he struggled to recreate that moment. Through a treasure of personal letters and papers, God, the Bestseller explores Exman’s personal quest. A journey that would lead him in the late 1920s to the Harper religious books department, which he turned during the Great Depression into a money-making juggernaut and the country’s top religion publisher.
Exman’s role in the shaping of American religion is undeniable. Here was a man who was ahead of his time and leading the rest of the nation through books on a spiritual exploration. Exman published bestsellers by the controversial preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick, the Catholic radical Dorothy Day, the Civil Rights pioneer Howard Thurman, and two Nobel Albert Schweitzer and Martin Luther King Jr. Exman did not just sit at a desk and read. In addition to his lifelong relationships with the most influential leaders of the day, Exman was on a spiritual journey of his own traversing the world in search of God. He founded a club of mystics, dropped acid in 1958, four years before Timothy Leary. And six years before The Beatles went to India, he found a guru there in 1962.
In the end, this is the story of the popularization of the religion of experience—a cultural story of modern America on a quest of its own. Exman helped to reimagine and remake American religion, turning the United States into a place where denominational boundaries are blurred, diversity is valued, and the only creed is that individual spiritual experience is the essence of religion.
377 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 14, 2023
12 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Prothero
23 books94 followersStephen Prothero is a professor in the Department of Religion at Boston University and the author of numerous books, most recently Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know—And Doesn't and American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Idol. He has commented on religion on dozens of National Public Radio programs and on television on CNN, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, MSNBC and Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. A regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal, he has also written for The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Slate, Salon.com, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.
Prothero has argued for mandatory public school Bible literacy courses (along the lines of the Bible Literacy Project's The Bible and Its Influence), along with mandatory courses on world religions. Prothero defines himself as a "confused Christian".
Prothero has argued for mandatory public school Bible literacy courses (along the lines of the Bible Literacy Project's The Bible and Its Influence), along with mandatory courses on world religions. Prothero defines himself as a "confused Christian".
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 20, 2024
Interesting book about Eugene Exman, a former religion editor at Harper & Row, by Religious Studies scholar Stephen Prothero. For much of the 20th century, Exman and his publications helped promote the “spiritual not religious” movement (which rejects organized religion) that is popular today, along with perenniallism, the belief that all religions are “paths up the same mountain.” Prothero—based on my reading of other works by the author—is not a perennialist.)
Chapters discuss Exman and the authors he published, including Albert Schweitzer, MLK, Jr., and Howard Thurman. Highlights for me were the sections on the Catholic convert, journalist, and activist Dorothy Day.
A favorite passage, perhaps because it reminds me of the Little Monk’s speech in Brecht’s Galileo, comes in the final chapter: “Exman’s professional accomplishments did not go unchallenged. There are many millions of traditional religious folks in the United States today who go to church regularly and draw comfort as they make their way over the course of the year through the same rituals, the same hymns, the same Bible passages, and in some cases, the same sermons. These people don’t find their rituals to be empty or their pastors’ sermons to be shallow. What they look for in religion is solidarity, not excitement. They grew up in their church with their parents and grandparents and expect their children to do the same.”
Recommended to anyone interested the history of religion/spirituality in the U.S.
I alternated between reading and listening to this book.
Chapters discuss Exman and the authors he published, including Albert Schweitzer, MLK, Jr., and Howard Thurman. Highlights for me were the sections on the Catholic convert, journalist, and activist Dorothy Day.
A favorite passage, perhaps because it reminds me of the Little Monk’s speech in Brecht’s Galileo, comes in the final chapter: “Exman’s professional accomplishments did not go unchallenged. There are many millions of traditional religious folks in the United States today who go to church regularly and draw comfort as they make their way over the course of the year through the same rituals, the same hymns, the same Bible passages, and in some cases, the same sermons. These people don’t find their rituals to be empty or their pastors’ sermons to be shallow. What they look for in religion is solidarity, not excitement. They grew up in their church with their parents and grandparents and expect their children to do the same.”
Recommended to anyone interested the history of religion/spirituality in the U.S.
I alternated between reading and listening to this book.
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June 10, 2023“Exman’s books were the offspring of an arranged marriage between commerce and culture. He wanted to make money for Harper and earn capital (cultural and otherwise) for himself. As a missionary for religion, he also wanted to bring into the world books that were excellent and meaningful. He was convinced that the world was in crisis, held captive by materialism and militarism. He was also convinced that religion books had a role to play in saving the world, by redirecting readers’ lives from themselves to God and from God to others” (40-1).
November 16, 2023
The following was a required reflection of this book for REL 771:
In God the Bestseller, Stephen Prothero offers up a personal tale of enlightenment that treks through the transformation of “American” consciousness. Prothero’s approach of defining this consciousness regarding religion and spirituality stemmed directly from one individual. In this sense, Prothero sort of upended the notion that spirituality became individualized from a broader variety of religious options, and presented us with another narrative. This narrative is one that’s the opposite, providing evidence that that historical individuals affected our society in a way that allowed for this broad range of religious and spiritual experience to choose from. This inverted narrative serves as a paradox, of sorts. Through historical analysis of intellectual influence regarding “American” spirituality and religion, we can see the power and legacy of individuals that have molded our current religious and spirtiual realities. This is especially true in the literary world, as Prothero so exclusively provides evidence of. He traces this wield of literary power back to a very influential individual of a major publishing company, following up with detailed accounts of how this individual influenced generation upon generation of spiritually enlightened and religiously-open individuals. Prothero laid out for us an in-depth story of the domino effect that individual had on “American” spirituality and “seeking” to redefine the religious and spiritual character of the United States. This individual, according to Prothero, is to thank for the spiritual and religious diversity we have in this country and it was all the result of seeking to find meaning in this life.
Prothero offered an early account of this search for meaning of the individual, relaying that he had a vision during a rather mundane moment plowing. He then followed the individual’s vision with a brief narrative of how he made personal changes in his own life that resulted in such an influential status. Prothero offered that the individual, Eugene Exman, had went off to school, traded in his status of being exclusively fundamentalist Protestant for being an inclusive liberal Protestant. Prothero then offered more historical insight into the intellectual influence of Exman and his respective transformation, claiming that Exman traded in the concept of doctrine for experience. Prothero stated, “...I began to see Exman as a man who remade American religion and culture by remaking himself”(Prothero, 14). From this, we can see that Prothero drew upon the centuries old notion of rebirth or englightenment. This very notion is the same one Prothero used to tell the tale of how Exman’s rebirth led to the rebirth of “American” spirituality and thereby it’s culture. Prothero stated, “It is a story of the emergence of the religion of experience as an American religion, perhaps the American religion…”(Prothero, 28). In this approach, we see Prothero equate the rebirth and enlightenment of religious thought and spirituality in the United States to the rebirth and englightment of one very influential individual. Prothero provided the utmost influential examples, linking Exman to Martin Luther King Jr., founder of the AA, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Albert Schweitzer, and Dorothy Day, among countless others. Considering the acutal domino effect of intellectual influence, we can see that Prothero provided a sound finding for his theory of how “American” spirituality and religion was indeed influenced by historical individuals.
Given the serious claim of Prothero’s theory, I think it’s monumentally important to note that while his claims hold a great deal of merit, they aren’t entirely exact. His theory that intellectual influence plays a huge, immeasurable role in the way a society views something so pertinent as spirituality and religion is unmistakably true. However, that premise along cannot account for a plethora of other factors. While books play such a vital role in our society, there is a great deal of illiteracy to consider. Undeniably, the readers in turn, spill their opinions and newfound perspectives out into society in a variety of mediums and rhetorical fashions, the books cannot account for other various aspects that have transformed “American” spirituality and religions. Other important concepts like shame, guilt, resentment, indoctrination, and culture often go unaffected by literary concepts or notions. I have found that concepts such as these don’t waver with public thought so easily. This is especially true of Indigenous cultures and subcultures. Many religious and spiritual concepts of the American Indigenous people have gone unchanged under all amounts of duress from the public opinion of the majority. So, Prothero has a great deal of considerable value in his theory. However, it falls short it some comparisons.
I think Prothero’s theory is valuable, nonetheless. It calls for a recognition of the historical context surrounding intellectual influence. That has undoubtedly been a huge theme in this class, thus far. So, this can be applied in nearly every culture around the globe, not just in the United States. I found his theory both admirable and remarkable. He bothered to do the research and found ways to incorporate group after group within society. However, given the nature of this book, and the titles of his other books, he does write with a tone of confused Christian curiosities. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is noticeable. Exman had this great moment that resulted in transforming part of our society. Trying to equate our own experiences with everyone else’s is somewhat human nature. So, I find him more than relevant and very interesting. I think he has a deserved place in the field of American religious studies. Although, his theory should be adequately noted for its context. In addition, I found his theory very poetic as a modern answer to Lynn Townsend White Jr. That scholar also had a very religious spark from the plow. Perhaps this theme of religious light coming from contemplating the plow speaks to the very process with which humans search for existential meaning in the mundane.
In God the Bestseller, Stephen Prothero offers up a personal tale of enlightenment that treks through the transformation of “American” consciousness. Prothero’s approach of defining this consciousness regarding religion and spirituality stemmed directly from one individual. In this sense, Prothero sort of upended the notion that spirituality became individualized from a broader variety of religious options, and presented us with another narrative. This narrative is one that’s the opposite, providing evidence that that historical individuals affected our society in a way that allowed for this broad range of religious and spiritual experience to choose from. This inverted narrative serves as a paradox, of sorts. Through historical analysis of intellectual influence regarding “American” spirituality and religion, we can see the power and legacy of individuals that have molded our current religious and spirtiual realities. This is especially true in the literary world, as Prothero so exclusively provides evidence of. He traces this wield of literary power back to a very influential individual of a major publishing company, following up with detailed accounts of how this individual influenced generation upon generation of spiritually enlightened and religiously-open individuals. Prothero laid out for us an in-depth story of the domino effect that individual had on “American” spirituality and “seeking” to redefine the religious and spiritual character of the United States. This individual, according to Prothero, is to thank for the spiritual and religious diversity we have in this country and it was all the result of seeking to find meaning in this life.
Prothero offered an early account of this search for meaning of the individual, relaying that he had a vision during a rather mundane moment plowing. He then followed the individual’s vision with a brief narrative of how he made personal changes in his own life that resulted in such an influential status. Prothero offered that the individual, Eugene Exman, had went off to school, traded in his status of being exclusively fundamentalist Protestant for being an inclusive liberal Protestant. Prothero then offered more historical insight into the intellectual influence of Exman and his respective transformation, claiming that Exman traded in the concept of doctrine for experience. Prothero stated, “...I began to see Exman as a man who remade American religion and culture by remaking himself”(Prothero, 14). From this, we can see that Prothero drew upon the centuries old notion of rebirth or englightenment. This very notion is the same one Prothero used to tell the tale of how Exman’s rebirth led to the rebirth of “American” spirituality and thereby it’s culture. Prothero stated, “It is a story of the emergence of the religion of experience as an American religion, perhaps the American religion…”(Prothero, 28). In this approach, we see Prothero equate the rebirth and enlightenment of religious thought and spirituality in the United States to the rebirth and englightment of one very influential individual. Prothero provided the utmost influential examples, linking Exman to Martin Luther King Jr., founder of the AA, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Albert Schweitzer, and Dorothy Day, among countless others. Considering the acutal domino effect of intellectual influence, we can see that Prothero provided a sound finding for his theory of how “American” spirituality and religion was indeed influenced by historical individuals.
Given the serious claim of Prothero’s theory, I think it’s monumentally important to note that while his claims hold a great deal of merit, they aren’t entirely exact. His theory that intellectual influence plays a huge, immeasurable role in the way a society views something so pertinent as spirituality and religion is unmistakably true. However, that premise along cannot account for a plethora of other factors. While books play such a vital role in our society, there is a great deal of illiteracy to consider. Undeniably, the readers in turn, spill their opinions and newfound perspectives out into society in a variety of mediums and rhetorical fashions, the books cannot account for other various aspects that have transformed “American” spirituality and religions. Other important concepts like shame, guilt, resentment, indoctrination, and culture often go unaffected by literary concepts or notions. I have found that concepts such as these don’t waver with public thought so easily. This is especially true of Indigenous cultures and subcultures. Many religious and spiritual concepts of the American Indigenous people have gone unchanged under all amounts of duress from the public opinion of the majority. So, Prothero has a great deal of considerable value in his theory. However, it falls short it some comparisons.
I think Prothero’s theory is valuable, nonetheless. It calls for a recognition of the historical context surrounding intellectual influence. That has undoubtedly been a huge theme in this class, thus far. So, this can be applied in nearly every culture around the globe, not just in the United States. I found his theory both admirable and remarkable. He bothered to do the research and found ways to incorporate group after group within society. However, given the nature of this book, and the titles of his other books, he does write with a tone of confused Christian curiosities. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is noticeable. Exman had this great moment that resulted in transforming part of our society. Trying to equate our own experiences with everyone else’s is somewhat human nature. So, I find him more than relevant and very interesting. I think he has a deserved place in the field of American religious studies. Although, his theory should be adequately noted for its context. In addition, I found his theory very poetic as a modern answer to Lynn Townsend White Jr. That scholar also had a very religious spark from the plow. Perhaps this theme of religious light coming from contemplating the plow speaks to the very process with which humans search for existential meaning in the mundane.
Want to Read
August 21, 2023Only one copy in the whole bccls system. Need to request.
Summary: Summary: "One summer evening in 1916 in Blanchester, Ohio, a sixteen-year-old farm boy was riding his horse past the town cemetery. The horse reared back and whinnied, and Eugene Exman saw God. For the rest of his life, he struggled to recreate that moment. Through a treasure of personal letters and papers, God the Bestseller explores Exman's personal quest. A journey that would lead him in the late 1920s to the Harper religious books department, which he turned during the Great Depression into a money-making juggernaut and the country's top religion publisher. Exman's role in the shaping of American religion is undeniable. Here was a man who was ahead of his time and leading the rest of the nation through books on a spiritual exploration. Exman published bestsellers by the controversial preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick, the Catholic radical Dorothy Day, the Civil Rights pioneer Howard Thurman, and two Nobel laureates: Albert Schweitzer and Martin Luther King Jr. Exman did not just sit at a desk and read. In addition to his lifelong relationships with the most influential leaders of the day, Exman was on a spiritual journey of his own traversing the world in search of God. He founded a club of mystics, dropped acid in 1958, four years before Timothy Leary. And six years before The Beatles went to India, he found a guru there in 1962. In the end, this is the story of the popularization of the religion of experience -- a cultural story of modern America on a quest of its own. Exman helped to reimagine and remake American religion, turning the United States into a place where denominational boundaries are blurred, diversity is valued, and the only creed is that individual spiritual experience is the essence of religion"-- Provided by publisher.
Summary: Summary: "One summer evening in 1916 in Blanchester, Ohio, a sixteen-year-old farm boy was riding his horse past the town cemetery. The horse reared back and whinnied, and Eugene Exman saw God. For the rest of his life, he struggled to recreate that moment. Through a treasure of personal letters and papers, God the Bestseller explores Exman's personal quest. A journey that would lead him in the late 1920s to the Harper religious books department, which he turned during the Great Depression into a money-making juggernaut and the country's top religion publisher. Exman's role in the shaping of American religion is undeniable. Here was a man who was ahead of his time and leading the rest of the nation through books on a spiritual exploration. Exman published bestsellers by the controversial preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick, the Catholic radical Dorothy Day, the Civil Rights pioneer Howard Thurman, and two Nobel laureates: Albert Schweitzer and Martin Luther King Jr. Exman did not just sit at a desk and read. In addition to his lifelong relationships with the most influential leaders of the day, Exman was on a spiritual journey of his own traversing the world in search of God. He founded a club of mystics, dropped acid in 1958, four years before Timothy Leary. And six years before The Beatles went to India, he found a guru there in 1962. In the end, this is the story of the popularization of the religion of experience -- a cultural story of modern America on a quest of its own. Exman helped to reimagine and remake American religion, turning the United States into a place where denominational boundaries are blurred, diversity is valued, and the only creed is that individual spiritual experience is the essence of religion"-- Provided by publisher.
July 20, 2023
Since I am a former editor of HarperOne, GOD THE BESTSELLER reads like an origin story of the imprint. Prothero stumbles upon the archive of Eugene Exman, the head of the Harper & Row (now HarperCollins) religion department from 1928 to 1965 (which later turned into HarperOne after Exman). Prothero argues that Exman's string of classics and bestsellers played a big part in moving America from valuing religion to spirituality, making us distrust institutions and emphasize personal experience. Still, the authors that Prothero emphasizes--Henry Emerson Fosdick, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Albert Schweitzer, Howard Thurman, Bill W from AA--do not line up perfectly with this theme. Still, I loved reading history from Exman's perspective, since editors seldom see ourselves playing that role. After all, even Exman saw himself as succeeding professionally but falling short of being important religiously. I was surprised how actively Exman participated in the religious searches of his authors, exploring and publishing leaders of Eastern religions before their later popularity, experimenting with LSD as a religious vehicle before Timothy Leary came along, while being a lifelong church member as well (with most of his career being a lay leader at Riverside Church in Manhattan). Many of the tensions Exman felt--such as publishing what is important versus what will make money--are the same today, though the assumption that "religion" is a profitable category has disappeared among the major NY houses (except with their evangelical imprints). All that to say that I enjoyed this thoroughly.
November 15, 2023
I loved learning about Exman in this book, and Prothero did an admirable job charting the currents of American culture and religious culture as both influencing and influenced by this notable, forgotten man. Summaries of key figures in American religious thought and history were excellent and very appreciated, and helped paint a comprehensive picture of the complex relationship between spirituality, culture, and commerce. I loved that this was a book about a man, but also a book about the people and institutions that helped form that man and that that man formed. This made for a complex but enjoyable and notably impactful narrative that was interesting and even fun to read.
August 14, 2025
This is the story of Gerald Exman, who guided the religious books division of Harper and Row for four decades. He acquired books by some of the most eminent Christian thinkers of the last half of the twentieth century, including Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King Jr., Howard Thurman, and Dorothy Day. Along the way, Exman experimented with a variety of spiritual experiences in his own quest for a meaningful relationship with God. Prothero's access to his correspondence and hundreds of pages of interviews brings a revealing transparency to Exman's story.
September 24, 2024
There were some interesting stories in the book such as Bill Wilson, Martin Luther King and Albert Schweitzer but overall the book seemed to have an unclear focus or message if one was intended at all. The beginning seems to be very new age/unitarian and to some degree negative toward Christianity and for a book with that title it was not what I was expecting. I did like some of the history so it was a mix.
November 29, 2023
A well researched, thoughtful and engrossing book that looks at the influence of Eugene Exman, religious books editor at Harper for multiple decades. Part Bio, part history, part reflection, this book took me into Exman's world on a contemplative ride. The ride is worth the time.
June 19, 2023
Enjoyed this book, but it lacked pictures !
July 14, 2023
Very Good, really interesting book about a guy no ones heard of- and his journey through publishing and religious movements through the 20th century.
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July 24, 2023Picked up on something the copy editor missed right on page 5...the misuse of "mucous" instead of the correct "mucus"...the former is an adjective, though it was placed in the text as a noun. "Mucus" is the correct noun.
I felt like there was a lot of repetition. There are 47 pages of notes.
The author spent much time attempting to show that the "spiritual not religious" was brought to the fore by Exman's books he chose for publication and his own life, somewhat "blaming" him for the current trend away from defined doctrinal religion.
I wish there had been a bibliographical listing of all the books Exman chose that Harper published.
I felt like there was a lot of repetition. There are 47 pages of notes.
The author spent much time attempting to show that the "spiritual not religious" was brought to the fore by Exman's books he chose for publication and his own life, somewhat "blaming" him for the current trend away from defined doctrinal religion.
I wish there had been a bibliographical listing of all the books Exman chose that Harper published.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews