Swaggart

Jimmy Swaggart could be an easy target. The former crown prince of televangelism, who channeled the Holy Ghost with unprecedented made-for-TV gusto and turned quickly on fellow Assemblies of God pastors embroiled in sex scandals during the mid-1980s, was the butt of many jokes after his own less-than-pure habits came to light in 1988 courtesy of a vengeful former colleague. But Seaman, an editor and native Texan, approaches her subject not with Old Testament invective but with a patience that conveys an intimate understanding of the man's world. While not an apologist for Swaggart, Seaman probes beyond the headlines for the factors that shaped the pastor's psyche and defined his world. The result is an intelligent and smoothly readable personal history that chronicles a fascinating slice of Americana. Swaggart was part of a trinity of first cousins--along with country star Mickey Gilley and rock icon Jerry Lee Lewis--all natural entertainers in an intermarried clan of dirt-poor laborers and moonshiners in tiny Ferriday, La., during the heart of the Depression. Desperate to establish an identity within a family increasingly dedicated to the growing Pentecostal movement, Swaggart became inextricably wedded to his role as crusader. The final chapters bring the story full circle with a detailed account of Swaggart's 1990s comeback attempts (one capacity 1991 San Diego crusade was followed less than a week later by another well-publicized rendezvous with a prostitute), and the book ends with the indomitable evangelist preaching to a tiny church with a choir of four people. (Nov.)