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As in fiction, the men chosen as subjects have distinct characteristics, and their exploits create several narrative threads. Salesman resonates with many themes and insights into American life. On the surface, the film is about the business of selling Bibles door to door. As with many verite filmmakers, the Maysles strived for objectivity and searched to find the story that unfolded during the extended filming process. The subjects themselves should reveal their motivations and the reality of the situation in a word, the truth as it can best be obtained.

Just minutes into the film, it is clear that salesmen are salesmen regardless of the product they are selling. The Holy Bible is sold using every sales technique the viewer has experienced and then some. The men are not actually or particularly sacred or religious about their professions or lives. They smoke, gamble, tell ethnic jokes, and when away from the public do not demonstrate much good will toward their fellow man.