- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) was a television and radio personality, a bestselling author, and a bishop in the American Catholic Church. Between 1930 and 1950 Sheen presented the Catholic Hour radio program, offering spiritual solutions to millions of listeners. He went on to host a weekly prime-time television show, Life is Worth Living, which at its peak reached a national audience of more than twenty million viewers and earned him an Emmy Award. Sheen remains a towering figure in American Catholicism whose canonization cause continues to grab headlines.
In Prime-Time Bishop Alexander Nachaj uses the life of Fulton Sheen to argue that sanctity is a form of celebrity and to propose a new framework for studying modern religious figures. Although religious and secular modes of fame are usually considered mutually exclusive and even taboo to pair together, saints and celebrities have certain things in common: they are the focus of adoration, they have cults of followers, and they deploy charisma to effect emotional responses in the devoted. By examining intersections of sacred and the secular celebrity in Sheen’s autobiography Treasure in Clay, in his immensely popular television series, in his cause for canonization, and in his body and masculinity, Nachaj emphasizes how intertwined religious sanctity and fame can be in the modern era for religious celebrities.
Through the life and afterlife of Fulton Sheen, Prime-Time Bishop shows convincingly that modes of fame are reflections of the cultures sustaining them.
Frequently asked questions
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: The Busy Life, Many Names, and Numerous Intersections of Fulton J. Sheen
- 1 Auto-Hagiography and Authenticity: Treasure in Clay and the Celebrity Biography
- 2 Locating the Saint: Celebrity Remains and the Urban-Rural Divide
- 3 Celebrating the Sacred: Watching Television’s Celebrity Preachers
- 4 From Suspicion to Stardom: Realism and the Hollywood Priests
- 5 Hard Bodies, Hard Nation: Catholic Bodily Responses to the Cold War
- Conclusion: The End and the Beginning
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index