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Show ‘TheSalt Lake Tribune BOOKS Truth trumpsaccuracy in 2. Life of Pi. Yann Martel (Harvest) 3. # 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Al ‘Under BannerofHeaven’ 4. The Virgin Blue. Tracy Chevalier (Plume) 5. East of Eden. John Steinbeck (Penguin) 6. Three Junes. Julia Glass (Anchor) Ann 8, Atonement. lan Giraffe. Alexander Me- (Washington Square) 15. Prague. Arthur Phillips (Random House) Paperback Nonfiction 1. Seabiscuit. Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine) 2. Small Wonder.Barbara Kingsolver (Perennial) 3. Running with Scissors. Augusten Burroughs (Picador) 4, Fast Food Nation. Eric Schlosser (Perennial) 5. Don't Let’s Go to the Alexandra Fuller (Random 6. Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. Robert C. Atkins, M.D. Quill) Barbara 8, What Not to Wear. Trinny Wood- all, Susannah Constantine(Riverhead) 9. The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Greg Palast(Plume) 10, A Heartbreaking Workof Stag- gering Genius. Dave Eggers (Vintage) Mass Market 1. Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. Robert C. Atkins, M.D. (Avon) 2, Angels & Demons. Dan Brown (Pocket) 3. Seabiscuit. Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine) 4, The Shelters of Stone. Jean M. el (Bantam) 5. The Beach House.James Patterson (Warner) 6. Dr. Atkins’ New Carbohydrate Gram Counter. Robert C. Atkins, M.D. (M.Evans) 7. Standing in the Rainbow. Fannie Haunted by Tragedy for 150 Years. Edward Klein (St. Martin's) 12. The Teammates. David Halberstam (Hyperion) 13. Invisible Eden. Maria Flook (Broadway) (Ballantine) 14, Leapof Faith. Queen Noor(Mira: Plagg 8, Hard Eight. Janet Evanovich (St. max Books) Martin's) 15. Atkins for Life. Robert C. Atkins, 9, The Wailing Wind. Tony Hiller ‘back Fiction 1, The Secret Life of Bees. Sue Monk 10. Shadow Puppets. Orson Scott Card (Tor) to each other(one is “a stepgrandmother between Mormon history and the vio- lence to herself”). The fourth strand is thelist ofvicious crimes committed by members associated with oddball polyga- mistcults. People truth, whichled its early leaders to rationalize whatever they did, including lying and vio- ing up as stepmother: predis- of these cults, ranging posed to be defen- Jon Krakauer sive to criticism of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- from the 1977 murderof Rulon Allred by members ofa rival cultto the day Saints are unlikely to appreciate the nuances of Krakauer's argument. 2002 kidnapping of Eliz- Hedoes not, for example, argue thatviolence in the early history of the LDS Church makes violence in contemporary polygamistcults inevitable. But he does present a portrait in which the presentis the sum ofall that is past. Hehas structuredhis bookas a fourstrand rope, each wrapping another so tightly they seem to be one. One strand is the brutal murders by Ron and Dan Lafferty in 1984 of the wife and 15month-old daughter of their youngest brother because, they claimed, God told them to. A secondstrandis the early history of the LDS Church with a focus on the violence that sometimes originated with Mormons.(Healso discusses violence against Mormons, sich as the 1838 Haun’s Mill massacre in Missouri, but that is not the book's focus.) That violence includes the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, Porter Rockwell’s killings of people whom Joseph Smith or Brigham Young considered enemies, “UNDER TH BANNER tcrrs. OF HEAVEN were once members of the mainstream LDSChurch andwere excommunicated might absolve the current church of responsibility for any violence by cult members, but historyitself is not al- lowed such absolution. murdered by Mormons whothenlied aboutit by blaming Indians. The more fully history is acknowledged and the more detailed that ac- knowledgment,the more history andits se strands are wovenso tightly, a reader could conclude Krakauer presents only one strand. That is compoundedbyat least a few dozenfactual consequences are explored, the more likely we are to understand the ! affertys among us and to prevent the evil they do. Under the Banner of Heaven errors. One example:Hecalls President dames Buchanan “pro-slavery,” when, ‘makesa significant contribution toward that understanding. in fact, Buchanan was so opposedtoslavery that, before he becamepresident, he traveled to the South to purchase Martin Naparsteck reviews books from and about the West for The Salt Lake Tribune. slaves and brought them to Pennsylvathem their freedom. ERIE 5 gate gEEizezizis FHHECICEETYpeetteire vi ran iHep lygamyandits argumentthatthe early monsdisguised as Indians robbed another wagontrainin southern Utah; and that three members of John Wesley Powell's first expedition through the Grand Canyon were almost certainly give the polygamist, funda- violence is past or overstated or balancedbygood the church has since done is irrelevant. The fact that many ofthe cult leaders prostitute; that within days or weeks of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Mor- to self, is what Krakauer explores. And because today trace their origins to the teachings of Smith and Young, the church’s rejectionof po- thatwill displease many devout defenders. Among these are reports Joseph Smith visited prostitutes; that a grandson of Brighain Young murdered a nia lence, as sanctioned by God. The heritage of that sense ofmoral certainty, and not the violenceit- mentalist cults that exist abeth Smart. These strands are coated with burs Hit man (HarperTorch) i ERLETLTERE EPfeq Es HE i c stp Fayre if afo anial Fiz g i SEE Pete } M.D.(St. Martin's) stand if there is a causal connection a belief that the LDS Churchaloneis the conduit to salvation and is widely accepted. One particularly odd case has two women,because of intermarriage, end- fiz Frizz Ehrenreich (Owl) Dimed. be read by anyone hoping to under- ished, and the belief the rest of the world is evil iBf nT Nickel the Banner should argument uer explores. Good writing is always exploratory; writing that seeks to proveapoint is likely to be Procrustean. The violence in the church's early history, in Krakauer’s exploration, results from if 7. ply connectionsthatcan’t be supported. But onthe whole, he has written.a gutsy book. Because truth trumps accuracy and courage is more important than pleasing readers, Under determined to dislike the book, but neverdothe errors damagetheessential ish Columbia; Big Water, Utah; Colonia LeBaron, Mexico; and elsewhere cults in which fathers marry daughters, menrape little girls, contact with non: polygamists is discouraged, anything less than absolute obedience is pun: Hie Weiner and has structured his narrative to im- ing in the Constitution gave him the powerto limit slaveryin any way. Factual errors provide fuel for people A third strandis the polygamistcults in ColoradoCity, Ariz.; Bountiful, Brit- iff 5. Beyond Belief. Elaine H. Pagels (Random House) A Short History of Nearly Everything. Bill Bryson (Broadway) 7. Treason. Ann Coulter(Crown) 8. The Essential 55: An AwardWinning Educator's Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child. Ron Clark (Hyperion) 9, Reading Lolita in Tehran. Azar Nafisi (Random House) 10, Moneyball. Michael Lewis Jennifer Jon Krakauer has made somefactual errors in Under the Banner of Heaven Buchanan did, however, believe noth and Smith’s order that the office of a newspaper that denounced himbe destroyed (the order led to his murder). vt (Putnam) Nanny tei Hardcover Nonfiction 1. Living History. Hillary Rodham Clinton (S&S) 2. The South Beach Diet. Arthur Agatston, M.D. (Rodale) 3. Benjamin Franklin. WalterIsa son (S&S) 4, Kate Remembered. A. Scott Berg The Diaries. Emma McLaugh lin, Nicola Kraus (St. Martin’s) 12, Peace Like a River. LeifEnger (Grove) 13. Dive from Clausen's Pier. Ann Packer SFRtTEy 9. Vi to. ‘Tom Robbins (Bantam) 10. The Kalahari ‘Typing School for Men. Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon) 1, Lucia, Lucia. Adriana Trigiani (Random House) 12. Probable Future. Alice Hoff man (Doubleday) 13, TheSinister Pig. Tony Hillerman (HarperCollins) 14. Bare Bones. Kathy Reichs (Scribner) 15, Ten Little Indians, Sherman Alexie (Grove) McCall jetty iit (sEprey ae u By Martin NAPARSTECK Special to The Tribune Ee (Anchor) Book reviews ofregionalinterest By Jon Krakauer; Call Smith (Anchor) ander THE West UNDER COVER Under the Banner ofHeaven Patchett S 885 Canto. SREELEI2 Zz Bel ff iii Hyer 7. 3. The FEQEGeET Kidd (Penguin) exander McCall Smith (Anchor) ey Brst SELLERS Here are the week's Booksense best sellers, based on sales from more than 350 independent bookstores across America. Hardcover Fiction 1, The Da Vinci Code. Dan Brown (Doubleday) 2. The Lovely Bones. Alice Sebold (Little Brown) Sunday, July 27, 2003 FREE GIFT WRAP AND DELIVERY Free wrapping with any Wedding Registry gift purchase of $50 or more. Plus, free shipping for your Wedding registry Crystal, china andsilver gifts. All other gifts can be sent anywhere for just $3. |