John Collings

America Has Talent / Against the Grain John Collings

Like its 2006 predecessor, America Has Talent/Against the Grain, the 2020 book now in your hands. goes deep into the absurdly comical-yet-disturbing world of televangelical confidence games. It rips open the hypocrisy of such "giants" of the field as Jim Bakker, the disgraced (though back for another payday) "minister" who originally set the stage for Tammy Faye Bakker's stardom - an enterprise that backfired on him eventually -and who isn't averse to backstage-groping a boy or two as he tries with a new broadcast partner to recapture the lightning of those days when melting mascara and hankie-wringing lured viewers to send in those donation they likely couldn't really afford.