American Exorcism
An inside look at this burgeoning phenomenon. Michael W. Cuneo attended more than fifty exorcisms and interviewed many of the participants-both the exorcists who performed the rituals and the people from all walks of life who believed they were possessed by the devil. He brings vividly to life the ceremonies themselves, and dissects the arguments of such well-known exorcism advocates as Malachi Martin, and self-professed demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren of Amityville Horror fame. As he explores this netherworld of American life, Cuneo reflects on the meaning of exorcism in the twenty-first century and on the relationship between religious ritual and popular culture. Touching on such provocative topics as the "satanic panics" of the 1980s, repressed memory, and ritual abuse, American Exorcism is a remarkably revealing, consistently entertaining work of cultural commentary.