Mormonism is a complicated thing. Whether you’re in it or whether you’ve extracted yourself from it, there are bits of Mormon belief and culture that you can’t stand, and other bits that you can’t shake. Sometimes it’s the same bits. And its always a little different from one person to…
Category: Book Review
“Selling the City of Enoch” by Johnny Townsend
Johnny Townsend has done it again. He’s delivered more deliciously subversive Mormon fiction in his delightful new collection, Selling the City of Enoch. As in his previous works, Townsend’s well-drawn characters are too complex to fit into the Mormon cookie-cutter mold. For example, the overly curious Sister Covino who can’t…
Through Abuse and out: Todd Maxwell Preston’s “Sacred Road”
My father was sexually abused as a boy. I found this out when I was thirty-five years old. Was I shocked? Not really – he was raised with violence and abuse, in a very dysfunctional system. The abuse was accepted as normal, I get that now. The fact that it…
Dragons of the Book of Mormon by Johnny Townsend
In his new collection of short stories, Dragons of the Book of Mormon, Johnny Townsend introduces compelling, sympathetic, and at times, hilarious characters struggling to live simultaneously within the rigid structure of Mormonism, the real world, and, in some cases, the magical world inspired by Mormon doctrine. In “Going Home, 
Those Mysterious Murdering Mormons! Donna Banta’s “False Prophet”
What’s more valuable than life itself? Eternal life? Perhaps. What would drive a person to kill says a lot about what that person values. Following the trail of a murderer, Donna Banta takes you on a wild and scenic tour of the peculiar culture and values of Mormonism in her…
When you can’t lock your heart: Elder Peterson’s Mission Memories, by Jeff Laver
Always in sight of each other — 24/7 — except while showering or on the toilet: It’s hard to imagine a more intimate relationship than that of Mormon missionary companions. In some ways a mission is training for a Mormon-style marriage: The two companions are expected to love each other…
No longer invisible: Latter-Gay Saints
They try to convince gay people that it’s in their best interests to be straight. In fact, they try to convince them that they’re already straight. (from “Ockham’s Razor”) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a gay problem. Specifically, the church has a plan for how to…
The Dangers of Obedience: Lawrence Pratt’s “Dark Deception”
Imagine that a pair of fresh-faced young women show up at your door with a message of hope just as you’re trying to cope with the recent death of your baby. And they offer an idyllic community — a perfect Zion that seems too good to be true. And it…
Exit Strategy by Micah McAllister
Since I began writing about my former life within Mormonism, countless true believers have asked me: “So Donna, if the LDS Church is ‘false,’ why are there so many websites, blogs, bulletin boards, and groups out there to help people who leave the Church? After all, Satan doesn’t need those…
Adventures in family-building: “The Book of Thompson” by David J. Larkin Jr.
What do you do when you’re a housewife raising four kids and you suspect your husband of cheating on you? If you’re also Mormon and it’s 1954, the answer is: have another kid! And then another… The Book of Thompson by David J. Larkin Jr. tells the story of three…