“Good preachers don’t preach about God and heaven, and things like that. They always preach against something, like hell and the devil. Them is things to be against. It wouldn’t do a preacher no good to preach for God. He’s got to preach against the devil and all wicked and sinful things. That’s what the people like to hear about. They want to hear about the bad things.”

Today's the birthday of Erskine Caldwell, who scandalized the post-war South in the most unflattering way. And just when they thought they'd got shed of H.L. Mencken!

Caldwell's book, God's Little Acre, was a major force in the creation of America's last experiment with state-run censorship, and he had a powerful effect on decades of Southern writers.