I have a real TBM wife who will jump off a cliff onto the rocks if only some leader (any leader, it would appear) told her to. Since my exit from the church, we don't get along particularly well, although we've been married a few decades. For Christmas, she wanted all kinds of books, and really loves biographies. So I got her "Mormon Enigma, Emma H. Smith." In inscribed it only "From Cludgie, Christmas 2010," instead of writing what I thought that I could have written. My intent (not ploy) is merely to provide her with something that is LDS but is not all about Joseph Smith and what a great guy he was. Mormon Enigma is one of the few LDS books that is really, actually about the person in the title.

Will I get crucified for this? Has anybody read it? I've only read excerpts from the Mormon Enigma web site and all the Amazon reviews. Was it a good plan? Or was it stupid?

board that many former TBM's have read it, and that the material was life changing relative to their TBM status. If I'm not mistaken, the author(s) are LDS and were even given some sort of accalade/award by Monson. In my opinion, this is the "go to" book for TBM females because it shows the truth - an in this case the truth ain't dat good (if you're a TBM). I have a feeling she'll be glued to the book for awhile. Let us know.

I'm only guessing, what do *I* know?

I'd buy her more than just this book - perhaps another LDS book and a couple of secular books. You don't want to make it obvious what you're up to. She will resent it, and if she resents it she won't read it. So, yes, I think it will backfire.

I read it about 4 months ago. Truly a pearl of great price. I thought it was better than "In Sacred Lonliness" in that the message was compact and fast paced. Now that I think about it, I need to challenge my TBM wife to read it as well.

My mega tbm wife won't read anything unless its from Deseret Book... can I get it there?

Not a chance in Hades ... suggestion, buy it and put it in a deseret book bag. OR, buy her one of these top ten "gems" from Deseret Books ...

1 To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson
2 The Messiah Series (Collectors Edition) by Bruce R. McConkie 3 Prayer at Valley Forge (30x42 Framed Art)
4 Families Are Forever Clock 21"
5 The Eternal Christ by Truman G. Madsen
6 100: Celebrating a Century of Recording Excellence by Mormon Tabernacle Choir
7 In the Dark Streets Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story
8 Christmas with the Prophets
9 Leven Thumps Book Set
10 The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Mormon Tabernacle Choir

OR GIVE HER A LUMP OF COAL -- that's actually useful! ;)

They used to sell it and Compton's book both at Deseret Book. I bought them both there as I began my study 9 yrs. ago. But no longer does DB carry them, gee I wonder why? Perfect choice IMO. She may hesitate to read it , but she will be tempted, and well it is just so very offensive to women. It made me hate JS.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2010 03:25PM by think4u.

Go to the BYU bookstore online now and type in "Emma" ... all you will get back is fluff. Reminds me of Deseret Book.

It actually can be a fun game. Type in "Meadows" and you will only get Turley's book on the Mountain Meadows Massacre ... not Bagley or Brooks. My kids will not go to BYU if I can help it.

It's too bad that the BYU Bookstore has gone all DeseretBook. They used to have a large number of doctrinal books. I also got my copy of Orson Pratt's "The Seer" there, which is ironic because Brigham Young wanted that book destroyed when he was alive and then it was for sale at the university named after him. I don't think they had Fawn Brodie's book though.

They also had a big section of Scifi/Fantasy, and I made friends standing there looking at all their books. They had a lot of D&D books too, which was funny to me because of all the hand wringing done by Mormons in my stake about D&D. Gawd.

I want my wife to not depend always on the Mormon church's revisionist, so-called "history." I think if I hear her actually voice the opinion that the book is "anti-Mormon," I'll be somewhat disappointed. But I'll try to build on the fact that its authors were always faithful LDS, and that the book almost singlehandedly began the Mormon church's renewed interest in including Emma Smith in its "history" again, even if those stories were greatly flawed and made her out to be the supportive, demure thing that Mormons say she was.

It left me much more sympathetic toward Emma Smith and made me decide for the first time her husband was a selfish, lying jerk. The book won the Mormon History Association award in 1984.

to wear while she reads it.

Cause it's gonna give her the chills.

My wife was TBM and this book blind sided her. Makes Joes infidelities undeniable. Also makes one understand why the church would vilify Emma as it has. But as important the book shows what sanitized history the church has been spinning. All done in a very non-threatening way.You have better put it in a Dessert Book shopping bag. It could cause a crack in the dam.

book that will probably be read, and accepted. It's one of the more acceptable ones for the LDS believer.
I'd give that book to a Mormon.
I have it, I've read it. I didn't find it threatening in any way.

It is possible you might get it from Deseret Books. I found Juanita Brook's "Mountain Meadows Massacre" there much to my surprise. It was the only bookstore I visited that had it in stock. I'd try. I also like the suggestion to get several other books to go with it-maybe some LDS books.

DW looked thoughtful. I said, "It's the first real biography of Emma Smith. I got it because you love biographies so much."

TBM DS perks up and says suspiciously, "Hmm. Who published it?"

DW: "University of Illinois."

DS, sarcastically, "Uh-huh."

DW put it down, and we went on. I think she'll read it. I may have to explain that the book almost single-handedly kicked off the LDS church's renewed interest in (and "rehabilitation" of) Emma Smith. The whole time I grew up, Emma Smith was an enemy, somebody who failed Joe Smith in his time of need, someone who rejected the church under Brigham Young's mantle of leadership. She did not appear in lessons or manuals. Now she's the freakin' Blessed Virgin, the Holy Mother of Mormonism.

...at the time they wrote it. I think it says that in the author information on the book. Make sure to bring that up to her!

I credit Emma first of all for just staying sane. There were SO many tribulations in her life--including the deaths of some of her children--besides the obvious tribulation of being married to a philandering narcissistic con-man.

Emma lived 35 years longer than Joseph. She was a very hard worker. When someone in the community was in physical decline, Emma would take them in and care for them until they died. She did this for many people who otherwise had no place to go. The book left me with a healthy respect for Emma (and a greater disgust for JS and for the church's abuse of power.)

That said, Cludgie... your wife (no dummy) can guess that your motive in giving her the book is not to increase her faith in The One True Church™! Hopefully she will peek into the book at some point anyway.

Keep us posted. Good luck!

I KNOW that Deseret Book used to sell it. I am sure of it. I remember looking it up online. I think that it was a special order but I know that you could buy it through them.

I just checked on their website and got nothing. They have completley expunged it from their database. For some reason I just find that so weird. It is so Orwellian. It makes me feel like I am in some crazy nightmare where I am losing my mind.

Sometimes I get the urge to cut/save/paste everything lest it disappear. I have to shake myself from a feeling of paranoia. Especially when I read that TBM's don't believe that SWK ordered no oral/anal for married people.

You begin to worry that they really can rewrite history, like

Who's Mark Hofmann?
What papyri?
Speaking like a man again, he was.
Current profit trumps.
That was only for TV

Etc, etc.


Anagrammy

Did you know they no longer sell Mormon Doctrine or Jesus the Christ ? They just have so much crap to hide , they pull the books.

Two weeks ago I actually got an email request for a "buy back" for a book with a whole big chapter on the "Mission to the Lamanites"- Susan Easton Black. It was put out about 3 years ago, and then mysteriously disappeared in about 6 months. They do not want to have people reading all this stuff about the Lamanites, that they now say was only a cultural term, not a term of heredity. I told them no, I will not sell it back, this one is full of damning evidence and I am keeping it!!

and get that book for myself.

Read what you want, let her read what she wants.

Since she is all Mormony, I wouldn't get her anything but the kind of books she likes.

Think about it, would you want her giving YOU Mormony type books?

Since you already got it, I guess you will find out, but I suspect it won't be a winner in her eyes. Maybe you could get her the Mormony type book about Emma, you know the fake b.s. kind. At least she will be happy and think you respect her point of view.

As an LDS female I went to Deseret Book in 2004 and bought "Reflections of Emma" by Buddy Youngreen. It is no longer sold there (at least it isn't in their online bookstore). I accredit it with the first very large doubts I had regarding the prophet JS. From that point on, I doubted him. I could not reconcile what he did with him being a prophet and make it right in my mind. So, that being said, this book could likely be her undoing. She won't view JS the same again. I couldn't after reading that. It pokes at a woman's most vulnerable spot which is we want to be the only one cherished in the eyes of our man.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2010 03:06PM by suckafoo.

It is a very, very good choice, and well documented, that book was the beginning of my exit out, and I was very strict TBM. It is offensive to women ( a good thing for her to feel and I think she will) because it documents Joe and how he lied and coerced many of his wives into marrying him.

Once I read that book in a few days, me, a former TOTAL TBM, KNEW the church was not true, though I continued to study for 5 years more before leaving. These little fears just kept creeping back, "What if I am wrong" for all of those 5 years, and finally they stopped. I knew what I knew and I went and told everyone close to me I no longer believed and that the church had lied to all of us.

A most excellent choice you made for her, a quick and easy read, and she will most likely not want to believe some of it, but it is well documented like I said.

Especially I remember the most offensive story to me in that book was about how he married the young Partridge sisters twice, in order to fool emma into believing that he had not already secretly married them, which would have made her furious. It is a great story that shows what a man of bad character he was. That story is really what did it for me.

But don't expect an immediate reaction from her like this. It took me years to feel sure enough and safe enough to say the truth of all I had learned. And that, my first book on my way out, I bought back then at Deseret Book along with Compton's book which was much longer ,but I read soon after. Yes, D B used to sell them both. NO longer! Those 2 books for me were really all I needed , though I did study every single aspect of the fraud.

weird ... I just googled "Deseret Book Mormon Enigma" and got this working link.

http://deseretbook.com/Mormon-Enigma-Emma-Hale-Smith-Linda-K-Newell/i/2708518

but if you type in the book, author or the sku, you get zero results. Probably and "digital echo" from the "memory hole"

It took me almost 6 years after I read that one book I mentioned before I finally was done. Like you, it was the rock in my shoe.