Pulse en una miniatura para ir a Google Books.
|
Cargando... On the Road With Joseph Smith: An Author's Diary (2006)por Richard L. Bushman
   Ninguno Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro.  Katya0133 | Aug 11, 2010 |  sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
Es un comentario sobre el texto de
After living with Joseph Smith for seven years, biographer Richard Lyman Bushman went "on the road" for a year. After delivering the final proofs of his landmark study, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling to Knopf in July 2005, Bushman crisscrossed the country from coast to coast, delivering numerous addresses on Joseph Smith at scholarly conferences, academic symposia, and firesides. This startlingly candid memoir concludes eleven months later with an article written for Common-Place in August 2006. Bushman confesses to hope and humility, an unexpected numbness when he expected moments of triumph, and genuine apprehension as he awaits reviews. He frets at the polarization that dismissed the book as either too hard on Joseph Smith or too easy. He yields to a very human compulsion to check sales figures on amazon.com, but partway through the process stepped back with the recognition, "The book seems to be cutting its own path now, just as I] hoped." For readers coming to grips with the ongoing puzzle of the Prophet and the troublesome dimensions of their own faith, Richard Bushman, a temple sealer and stake patriarch but also a prize-winning scholar, openly but not insistently presents himself as a believer. "I believe enough to take Joseph Smith seriously," he says. He draws comfort both from what he calls his "mantra" ("Today I will be a follower of Jesus Christ") and also from ongoing engagement with the intellectual challenges of explaining Joseph Smith. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
Debates activosNingunoCubiertas populares 
 Google Books — Cargando...GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)289.3092Religions Christian denominations Other Christian sects Mormonism Biography And History BiographyClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio: (4.42)
¿Eres tú?Conviértete en un Autor de LibraryThing. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1
"[H]ow can a reasonable historian even pretend the events of the Book of Mormon were true? That is a fact of life for Mormons all the time. They live with the realization that much of the world they believe to exist is nonsense for everyone else. It is disorienting for Mormons to live that way, and now I am discovering it is disorienting for non-Mormons who think they understand their Mormon friends but then realize they don't."
This paragraph struck me as a good thesis statement for "On the Road with Joseph Smith." Bushman is a well-respected historian and a faithful Mormon, who decided to write a biography of Joseph Smith that could satisfy both believing Mormons and skeptical academics.
Whether or not he succeeded (or if the task he set for himself was even possible to achieve) is a matter of opinion; this diary chronicles the first year after "Rough Stone Rolling" was released, including a travelogue of speeches and book signings, and Bushman's responses to reviews, both positive and negative.
For those who are used to Bushman's academic style, a peek into his more personal thoughts may be surprising. He's very hard on himself and very concerned that he act as a "servant of Jesus Christ" in everything he does.
This book will be of interest to those who have read "Rough Stone Rolling," and especially to Mormons who are interested in the exploration of balancing a personal religious life with a public academic persona. (