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They started showing up this summer on doorstops and in mailboxes all around Baltimore - thousands of copies of the same book. No explanation, just a lurid cover and an intriguing title - "The Great Controversy." Some recipients were perplexed, others annoyed. Few, if any, knew the real story behind these books until now. Scott Maucione from member station WYPR reveals the mystery.
SCOTT MAUCIONE, BYLINE: The Club Car in Baltimore is a queer-owned bar known for drag shows and art exhibits, but on a recent Friday night, it was more of a book club. People walked in with their copies of "The Great Controversy," a tome that mysteriously showed up in most Baltimoreans' mail this summer. With the book as an admission ticket, patrons got all-night happy hour prices.
RYAN HAASE: I had a friend, and she made a post online being like, did anyone else get this book?
MAUCIONE: Ryan Haase is part owner of Club Car.
HAASE: And we had, like, a back and forth that was kind of, like, funny. And then as, like, the weeks went on, it was, like, more and more people started sharing it on Instagram. But everyone's like, I'm going to toss this book. I'm going to throw it away. And we were like, maybe we should throw a happy hour for anyone who got the book, and we just collect all these books and we'll figure out what we do with them next (laughter).
MAUCIONE: Over the summer, the books filled trash cans, littered street corners, made their way into little libraries and into bars. Sammie Major (ph), who joined the happy hour, says hers was just plain ruined.
SAMMIE MAJOR: I think it came in the door. Ours had already been soaked in the rain because our mailbox was left open. I'm sure there's people out there reading them. It just - you know, it isn't me or people that I know.
MAUCIONE: If you're wondering why Sammie isn't particularly interested, the 470-page book was written in 1858 and contains passages like, when the protection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those who honor the law of God, there will be, in different lands, a simultaneous movement for their destruction. Not exactly light summer reading.
The books came from Remnant Publications, a religious company founded by Seventh-day Adventists. It predicts a future alliance between the Vatican and the United States that persecutes Seventh-day Adventists. The book was penned by Ellen White, the co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a prolific author who wrote about everything from agriculture to social relationships. She also claims to have had more than 2,000 prophetic visions. Jeff Wright's a former Seventh-day Adventist member and works on a research project at Elon University about the religion.
JEFF WRIGHT: This particular book is hugely important to the Adventists. If you think about the Mormons - missionaries who knock on your door and want to leave a copy of the Book of Mormon - this is, I think, as close as the Adventists get to, you know, something kind of similar and at that level.
MAUCIONE: Ron Goss, a Seventh-day Adventist minister who works with Remnant Publications, says Baltimore isn't the first city to receive the books. Philadelphia has gotten about 720,000 copies, as have San Francisco, Portland and Chicago.
RON GOSS: The goal is to try to - in other words (ph), people can accept it. You know, they can throw it away. It's up to them, but we just want to try to help them to understand about history.
MAUCIONE: Goss says the books cost about $1.40 to make and send out, something he says is a cheap way to spread the word. But there's debate on if mass-mailing books in antiquated language is really the best way to win over an audience. Mara Einstein is the author of "Hoodwinked," a book on religious marketing practices.
MARA EINSTEIN: If they get even a handful of people to read the book and then talk about it with other people, then it's doing the job that marketing's supposed to do. That said, who is going to be particularly interested in reading this kind of writing? I don't think there's going to be a lot of people that do this. I think it - frankly, I think it's them throwing money away.
MAUCIONE: Goss says the Seventh-day Adventists use other forms of media as well, but Remnant Publications still wants everyone in the nation to own a copy of "The Great Controversy," so it may end up on your doorstep next.
For NPR News, I'm Scott Maucione in Baltimore.
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