THE GREEN ROLLER

Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York, 1949.. 12 mo., hardcover, near fine in VG white and green pictorial dj protected in mylar. 117 pp. b & w illustrations. -"Roark Bradford's best book. . . . Excerpt from the dust jacket flap: "Certainly none of his books ever displayed more advantageously his great gifts-that special sensitivity to the cadence and meaning of folk speech; the heart that understood and interpreted the world around him with such sympathy; the craftsmanship to communicate this love and enthusiasm intact so that others might share it. How he will be missed!" There were those who claimed the Green Roller never lived. He must have been a h'ant, they said. But others knew better. They knew the Green Roller had preached up and down the swamp lands of Louisiana for a hundred years. And after that he went to glory, dissatisfied that he hadn't had time to make for it a stretch on the surface of iniquity. But the Green Roller did more. He trained twelve men to take up his work. Some were smarter than others. Sin Splitting Samuel and Elder Johnson may have been hard on the collection plate. Butt-Cut Bo~tick may have been handy with the ladies and a lazy hypocrite besides. But they preached powerfully. These twelve sermons. by the men the Green Roller taught to carry on the Lord's work against Satan rightly concern themselves with Sin and Righteousness, with the troubles that visited people in Bible times and still visit people today, and with the Lord God Jehovah who runs the show.,,,