Sometimes it's fun to be so behind on your reading list. I've wanted to read "Gospel According to America" ever since it first came out...11 years ago. (That gives you a good idea of my chances of EVER finishing my reading list.) However, I'm sure many wounded conservatives would heartily agree that, in that intervening decade, America has undergone a radical revolution and a decided slide to the left. Here is why that matters: Dark is writing in the aftermath of the 2004 presidential election (you know, Bush vs. Kerry), but I promise you I had to constantly remind myself of that fact for it seemed like Dark was writing about the current 2016 election cycle.

In a sentence: This book explores the important relationship of the Christian Gospel and the American ideal of democracy as expressed through popular culture (literature, music, movies, et. al). In a word: This book is "prophetic" ( in the best and most biblical sense of that term). It is not, however, some sort of dark and foreboding "expose" of moral crisis. Sure, there is moral crisis aplenty-hypocrisy, will-to-power, consumerism, rage against "the Other," politics run amok-but Dark manages to keep the book focused on redemptive themes.

Ever since reading "Everyday Apocalypse" (one of the books that first produced a hunger in me to truly and deeply understand my culture), I've been astounded by Dark's range of cultural knowledge. He appears to be as comfortable with Nathaniel Hawthorne as he is with Bruce Springsteen. It's a rare gift, but it also made the book a bit difficult to follow at points. For example, halfway through his spectacular chapter on American pop music, I realized I hadn't even heard half of the songs he was referencing. But the range of references demonstrates the depth of these conceptions in the American psyche. He literally finds support for his claims EVERYWHERE.

Dark's basic assessment is that American democracy (in its purest sense) is ultimately an expression of the Gospel (in its purest sense). The point of connection is "truth-telling." And only "truth-telling" is liberating. However, Dark also emphasizes an important caveat: the truth that humans are able to tell is always and ever and only a PARTIAL truth for we are finite beings. In fact, the most dangerous elements of American culture arise from those sectors that claim THE (final, complete, overpowering) Truth. The pursuit of Truth to Dark is more valuable than its capture, for then it so often and so easily gets twisted to meet our own small ends.

I suppose perhaps the highest compliment that I could pay is to say that this book made me wish to write a book like it...to continue the conversation...to explore these ideas in new cultural generations and different cultural arenas. Or, at the very least, go sit in on one of Dark's highschool English classes. Now THAT would be something to behold. ( )