The Cross and the Switchblade

Title: The Cross and the Switchblade
Genre: Autobiography/Religion
Author: The Reverend David Wilkerson (1931-2011) with John and Elizabeth Sherrill
Illustrator: Lee Gregori
Publisher: Spire Books, Old Tappan, New Jersey
Year: 1976 (53rd printing of 1962 book)
Pages: 176
Format: Paperback, Mass Market
Provenance: Unknown
Back Cover Blurb: "Five years ago, David Wilkerson, a young country minister, started a lonely—and seemingly doomed—crusade. He went into the streets and slums of New York to preach the gospel of redemption to the big city's gang kids—teen-agers hardened to every kind of crime and viciousness."
Opening Sentence: "This whole strange adventure got started late one night when I was sitting in my study reading Life magazine, and turned a page."
Random Passage: "I pointed to the place, watching Nicky's face. Behind that curtain, as well as the stage steps, there was a door to the street. A big arrow announced it: EXIT. Nicky accepted the carton solemnly, but in his eyes I could read mockery and contempt."
Notes: Country minister journeys to the ghetto, reforms a bunch of hoodlums in this '60s best-seller. According to Wikipedia, The Cross and the Switchblade had more than 60 million copies printed in 30 different languages. This particular, pristine paperback copy appears to have never been opened.