The Last Supper

Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980's

By: Paul Elie

Narrated by: Paul Brion

Circa 1980, tradition and authority are in the ascendant, both in Catholicism and in American civic life. But the public is deeply divided on issues of body and soul, devotion and desire. Enter the figures Paul Elie calls "cryptoreligious"—Leonard Cohen writing "Hallelujah" on his knees in a Times Square hotel room; Andy Warhol adapting Leonardo's The Last Supper in response to the AIDS pandemic; Prince making the cross and altar into "signs o' the times."

In Elie's acclaimed first book, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, Catholic writers ventured out into the wilds of postwar America; in this book, creative figures who were raised religious go to the margins of conventional belief, calling forth controversy. Episodes such as the boycott sparked by Madonna's "Like a Prayer" video and the tearing-up of Andres Serrano's Piss Christ in Congress are early skirmishes in the culture wars—but here the creators (not the politicians) are the protagonists, and the work they make speaks to conflicts that remain unsettled.

The Last Supper explores the bold and unexpected forms an encounter with belief can take. It traces the beginnings of our postsecular age, in which religion is at once surging and in decline. Through a propulsive narrative, it reveals the cryptoreligious imagination as complex, credible, daring, and vividly recognizable.

©2025 Paul Elie (P)2025 Tantor Media

Lavish spread, poorly served

Great material. Too bad the narrator sounds like an automaton. The content deserves a better presentation.

A History Rarely Told (and told well)

Flawless storytelling from a Village Voice journalist who lived through the events. Focuses on big name musicians and artists, U2, Sinead, Madonna, Dylan, Neville Brothers, Prince, Mapplethorp, Warhol, Serrano, and Scorcese. But reveals a side of their work rarely seen. The audio was clear and even handed, as was the storytelling, which shows rather than tells.