August 06 Book Club Meeting
| Photos |
Where: At my home at 249 Savona Ave., in Goleta. Driving instructions are given below.
The book: Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer, a fascinating and highly readable study of the inner workings (to put it mildly) of the Mormon Church. Two critical reviews from Amazon are attached below.
Future plans: On Sept 20 we'll be discussing some of the writings (TBA) of Wendy Kaminer, who will be the guest speaker at the Society's September 23, meeting. Our selection for October 18 is Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses.
Here are the directions to my home:
Directions to our house coming from Santa Barbara:
Take 101 to the Stork Road/Glen Annie Exit. At the stop light, turn
towards the mountains. Go North about a half a mile on Glen Annie
Road. At the first traffic light, turn left on Cathedral Oaks Road.
Go through one traffic light (Alameda) and make a left onto the next
street, Placer Drive, just before the 40 MPH sign. From Placer take
the FIRST possible right at the yellow School Crossing sign onto Mirano
Drive, and then immediately right again onto SAVONA. We're half way up
the block on the left side of the street. 249 Savona Ave. is a white
house with green trim. The number 249 is easily visible on the
mailbox. You'll usually see our new gray Prius and Honda Civic in the
driveway. Our phone is (805) 968-0478
Here are the two book reviews from Amazon:
Take 101 to the Stork Road/Glen Annie Exit. At the stop light, turn
towards the mountains. Go North about a half a mile on Glen Annie
Road. At the first traffic light, turn left on Cathedral Oaks Road.
Go through one traffic light (Alameda) and make a left onto the next
street, Placer Drive, just before the 40 MPH sign. From Placer take
the FIRST possible right at the yellow School Crossing sign onto Mirano
Drive, and then immediately right again onto SAVONA. We're half way up
the block on the left side of the street. 249 Savona Ave. is a white
house with green trim. The number 249 is easily visible on the
mailbox. You'll usually see our new gray Prius and Honda Civic in the
driveway. Our phone is (805) 968-0478
Here are the two book reviews from Amazon:
Amazon.com
In 1984, Ron and Dan Lafferty murdered the wife and infant daughter of their younger brother Allen. The crimes were noteworthy not merely for their brutality but for the brothers' claim that they were acting on direct orders from God. In Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer tells the story of the killers and their crime but also explores the shadowy world of Mormon fundamentalism from which the two emerged. The Mormon Church was founded, in part, on the idea that true believers could speak directly with God. But while the mainstream church attempted to be more palatable to the general public by rejecting the controversial tenet of polygamy, fundamentalist splinter groups saw this as apostasy and took to the hills to live what they believed to be a righteous life. When their beliefs are challenged or their patriarchal, cult-like order defied, these still-active groups, according to Krakauer, are capable of fighting back with tremendous violence. While Krakauer's research into the history of the church is admirably extensive, the real power of the book comes from present-day information, notably jailhouse interviews with Dan Lafferty. Far from being the brooding maniac one might expect, Lafferty is chillingly coherent, still insisting that his motive was merely to obey God's command. Krakauer's accounts of the actual murders are graphic and disturbing, but such detail makes the brothers' claim of divine instruction all the more horrifying. In an age where Westerners have trouble comprehending what drives Islamic fundamentalists to kill, Jon Krakauer advises us to look within America's own borders.
In 1984, Ron and Dan Lafferty murdered the wife and infant daughter of their younger brother Allen. The crimes were noteworthy not merely for their brutality but for the brothers' claim that they were acting on direct orders from God. In Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer tells the story of the killers and their crime but also explores the shadowy world of Mormon fundamentalism from which the two emerged. The Mormon Church was founded, in part, on the idea that true believers could speak directly with God. But while the mainstream church attempted to be more palatable to the general public by rejecting the controversial tenet of polygamy, fundamentalist splinter groups saw this as apostasy and took to the hills to live what they believed to be a righteous life. When their beliefs are challenged or their patriarchal, cult-like order defied, these still-active groups, according to Krakauer, are capable of fighting back with tremendous violence. While Krakauer's research into the history of the church is admirably extensive, the real power of the book comes from present-day information, notably jailhouse interviews with Dan Lafferty. Far from being the brooding maniac one might expect, Lafferty is chillingly coherent, still insisting that his motive was merely to obey God's command. Krakauer's accounts of the actual murders are graphic and disturbing, but such detail makes the brothers' claim of divine instruction all the more horrifying. In an age where Westerners have trouble comprehending what drives Islamic fundamentalists to kill, Jon Krakauer advises us to look within America's own borders.
From Booklist
On July 24, 1984, Dan and Ron Lafferty cut the throats of their brother Allan's wife, Brenda, and baby daughter, Erica, fulfilling part of a revelation Ron received from God. Ron is now on death row. Brother Dan, serving two life sentences for the murders, has never denied killing his sister-in-law and niece but has absolutely no remorse. "I was doing God's will," he says, "which is not a crime." Krakauer, best known for his adventure writing in Outside magazine and his books Into the Wild (1995) and Into Thin Air (1997), has shifted gears to tackle issues of faith in this true-crime/religious expose, which delves deep into the heart of Mormon fundamentalism, where revelations from God are commonplace and polygamy not only still exists but is "a matter of religious duty." Alternating between the bloodier aspects of the origins of the Mormon Church (Joseph Smith Jr.'s lynching in Nauvoo, Illinois, and the Mountain Meadows Massacre in Utah) and some of the more extreme aspects of today's Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (fraud, incest, and murder), Krakauer's account is gripping yet deeply disturbing. Not only does he interview Dan, an admitted murderer, but also he talks with former child brides and victims of incest. Debbie Palmer, raised to be an obedient wife in FLDS, married at 14 and became a stepmother to 31 kids, including her own stepmother, which made her "a stepmother to her stepmother, and thus a step grandmother to herself."
On July 24, 1984, Dan and Ron Lafferty cut the throats of their brother Allan's wife, Brenda, and baby daughter, Erica, fulfilling part of a revelation Ron received from God. Ron is now on death row. Brother Dan, serving two life sentences for the murders, has never denied killing his sister-in-law and niece but has absolutely no remorse. "I was doing God's will," he says, "which is not a crime." Krakauer, best known for his adventure writing in Outside magazine and his books Into the Wild (1995) and Into Thin Air (1997), has shifted gears to tackle issues of faith in this true-crime/religious expose, which delves deep into the heart of Mormon fundamentalism, where revelations from God are commonplace and polygamy not only still exists but is "a matter of religious duty." Alternating between the bloodier aspects of the origins of the Mormon Church (Joseph Smith Jr.'s lynching in Nauvoo, Illinois, and the Mountain Meadows Massacre in Utah) and some of the more extreme aspects of today's Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (fraud, incest, and murder), Krakauer's account is gripping yet deeply disturbing. Not only does he interview Dan, an admitted murderer, but also he talks with former child brides and victims of incest. Debbie Palmer, raised to be an obedient wife in FLDS, married at 14 and became a stepmother to 31 kids, including her own stepmother, which made her "a stepmother to her stepmother, and thus a step grandmother to herself."