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Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
by Jon Krakauer
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9781400032808 
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Powells.com Staff Pick
"Under the Banner of Heaven is not a typical Krakauer book that takes you on an adventure into the wilderness. Instead, it delves into a world that is misunderstood by most of America, the world of Mormonism and Fundamental Mormonism. Krakauer gives an appropriate overview of Mormon history that is used as a backdrop for the development of Mormon Fundamentalism. He also explores the psychology and culture of the Mormon religion and the Mormon community. Krakauer's journey into Mormon Fundamentalism could be about any Fundamentalist belief, religious or non-religious, and focuses on how these beliefs are formed and how they affect a whole society. Faith and belief are core human characteristics that many people may take for granted, but Krakauer analyses the multifaceted aspects of these human traits." Megan, from Staff Top 5s of 2003
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
Jon Krakauer's literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. In UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN, he shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders. At the core of his book is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this "divinely inspired" crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith. Along the way, he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America's fastest-growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief. <BR>Krakauer takes readers inside isolated communities in the American West, Canada, and Mexico, where some forty-thousand Mormon Fundamentalists believe the mainstream Mormon Church went unforgivably astray when it renounced polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the leaders of these outlaw sects are zealots who answer only to God. Marrying prodigiously and with virtual impunity (the leader of the largest fundamentalist church took seventy-five "plural wives," several of whom were wed to him when they were fourteen or fifteen and he was in his eighties), fundamentalist prophets exercise absolute control over the lives of their followers, and preach that any day now the world will be swept clean in a hurricane of fire, sparing only their most obedient adherents. <BR>Weaving the story of the Lafferty brothers andtheir fanatical brethren with a clear-eyed look at Mormonism's violent past, Krakauer examines the underbelly of the most successful homegrown faith in the United States, and finds a distinctly American brand of religious extremism. The result is vintage Krakauer, an utter
Review:
"[T]old with raw narrative force and tight focus....Krakauer lays the portent on beautifully, building his tales carefully from the ground up until they irresistibly, spookily combust." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"In collecting evidence, Mr. Krakauer ventures out to a lunatic fringe of polygamous self-appointed prophets....[T]his book provides more voyeuristic astonishment than curiosity or understanding." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Synopsis:
Krakauer shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief in this true story of an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon Fundamentalist brothers who insist God commanded them to kill.
About the Author
Jon Krakauer is the author of Eiger Dreams, Into the Wild, and Into Thin Air and is editor of the Modern Library Exploration series.
What Our Readers Are Saying
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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
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Suz, April 3, 2007 (view all comments by Suz)
Krakauer has once again demonstrated his ability to write page-turning non-fiction. This book explores the differences between Mormons and Mormon Fundamentalists. Krakauer skillfully explains the origins of Mormonism, and the point where the Mormon Fundamentalists branched off from the Church of Latter Day Saints. Krakauer presents the information through true stories, interviews and historical fact, and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions.
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crowyhead, September 26, 2006 (view all comments by crowyhead)
An excellent nonfiction book exploring religious fanatacism. Krakauer chooses as his focus a particularly brutal murder that occurred in Utah in the early 80s, committed by two Mormon fundamentalists. Brenda Lafferty and her daughter Erica were murdered in 1984 by Ron and Dan Rafferty, her brothers-in-law, who believed God had ordered the murders. Krakauer relates the events leading up to the murder in meticulous detail, as well as providing a history of both mainstream Mormonism and the fundamentalist sects that exist alongside the official LDS church.
I expected that this would be a very well-researched and well-told story before I even began to read, being familiar with Krakauer's other excellent books. I wasn't disappointed. Krakauer remains carefully impartial, while raising profound questions about faith and fanatacism.
View all 2 comments
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9781400032808
- Subtitle:
- A Story of Violent Faith
- Author:
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Anchor Books
- Subject:
- United States - 20th Century (1945 to present)
- Subject:
- Mormon fundamentalism.
- Subject:
- Christianity - Mormonism
- Subject:
- Murder - General
- Subject:
- Christianity - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Da
- Subject:
- United States - 20th Century (1945 to 2000)
- Subject:
- Christianity - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saomts (
- Subject:
- Christianity - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (
- Copyright:
- 2003
- Edition Description:
- Anchor Books
- Publication Date:
- June 2004
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Language:
- English
- Pages:
- 432
- Dimensions:
- 8.04x5.27x.91 in. .70 lbs.
