Press
Fundie Fridays
“[I] got the chance recently to speak with Claire Hoffman, the author of the forthcoming book Sister, Sinner… Claire is, in addition to being an incredible author and journalist, one of the world’s foremost experts on this particular historic figure.”
The New York Times
This vivid biography explores “the dark and demented frenzy of scandal” that surrounded the charismatic Los Angeles evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, whose weekslong disappearance in 1926 helped make her an object of media fascination and “the pioneer of 20th century self-mythologizing.”
The Wall Street Journal
In the early 20th century, genuine celebrity was rare, which is what makes Claire Hoffman’s telling of the story of Aimee Semple McPherson so compelling.
Rolling Stone
A new book, Sister, Sinner, tracks the fantastic rise of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson in 1920s Los Angeles — and her mysterious disappearance.
The New Yorker
With Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson, Hoffman has written her own ballad, resurrecting much of the glory and tragedy of McPherson’s ministry, along with the origins of Pentecostalism and the early days of L.A
Vanity Fair
The Pentecostal maven Aimee Semple McPherson, who captured the nation’s attention, gets her close-up in Claire Hoffman’s Sister, Sinner, adapted here for VF.
Publisher’s Weekly
Journalist Hoffman (Greetings from Utopia Park) offers a vivid biography of Aimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944), an evangelical leader and radio pioneer whose ascendance to near-sainthood was shattered by scandal.
Literary Hub
Coming Undone: Telling the Stories of Women Who Burn It All Down. Claire Hoffman on Aimee Semple McPherson
Books & Looks Podcast
Claire Hoffman dives into Sister Sinner, uncovering the sensational life of 1920s evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson—a media pioneer, a mystery, and a legend.
Listen now ->
Los Angeles Review of Books
A review of Claire Hoffman’s brilliant new book Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson, out this April from FSG.
Kirkus Reviews
Hoffman’s discerning biography is as much a work about faith, self-mythologizing, and ambition as it is, in Hoffman words, “a cautionary tale about fame.” A well-researched portrait of an outsize personality.
Library Journal
Readers who enjoy richly detailed biographies that read like fiction will appreciate Hoffman’s latest. Many will note comparisons to modern televangelists and women religious leaders.
The Millions
This biography of the fascinating Aimee Semple McPherson, America’s most famous evangelist, takes religion, fame, and power as its subjects alongside McPherson, whose life was suffused with mystery and scandal.