Krakauer’s creepy, gripping book uses a brutal double murder committed by Mormon fundamentalists as a vehicle for exploring the convoluted history of Mormonism, with a special emphasis on the Mormon church’s ambivalent relationship over time with polygamy and with direct personal revelation. (I never knew, for instance, that although Joseph Smith practiced polygamy himself, he [...]
Entries Tagged as 'k-author'
Jon Krakauer: Under the Banner of Heaven
19 Feb 2010 · No Comments
Tags: history · k-author · u-title
Ben Karlin (ed.): Things I Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me
25 Jan 2009 · No Comments
Things I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me has an impressive list of contributors with ties to institutions that I think are almost objectively funny and trenchant: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Mr. Show, The Onion, even McSweeney’s. It even includes a pair of essays by guys in bands I almost like.
So I feel [...]
Tags: k-author · nonfiction · t-title
Mark Kurlansky: Salt – A World History
27 Feb 2008 · 1 Comment
Several people asked me what I was reading while my answer included “a book about the history of salt.” To my bemusement, this answer was usually greeted with a drawn-out, “oh-kaaay” that seemed to ask, “Why would you want to read that?” if not “Why would anyone want to write that?”
The reaction puzzled me. Before [...]