Possessed
In 1949, a teenaged boy in suburban Washington, D.C., exhibited signs of demonic possession. His desperate family moved him to a relative's home in St. Louis, where they persuaded a team of Jesuit priests to perform an exorcism (a practice unheard of at the time). William Peter Blatty noticed a news article concerning the incident, which provided him with the inspiration for his novel and screenplay The Exorcist. Allen, coauthor with Norman Polmar of several American histories, based his work on a secret diary of one member of the exorcism team and personal interviews with another. His account is horrific, and he will succeed in forcing even highly skeptical, worldly readers into doubting their preconceived ideas about the "medieval" notion of demonic possession. Recommended for most collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/93.- Richard S. Watts, San Bernardino Cty. Lib., Cal.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.