A Peculiar People: The Mystical and Pragmatic Appeal of Mormonism

Abstract

This 1999 Los Angeles Times Book Review essay examines Richard and Joan Ostling's account of contemporary Mormonism in the United States. Richard Ostling, a reporter for Time Magazine, obtained extensive access to Mormon Church officials in the course of researching the book, and it gives the fullest account available currently of Mormon life in America. The review finds the book to be very evenhanded and objective, and perhaps the best introduction to the Mormon faith extant today, whether by Mormon church members or non-members.

Keywords: Mormon, Mormonism, Joseph Smith, Mormon Church, Book of Mormon, Ostlings, Rigoberta Menchus, History, Theology, Brigham Young, Ezra Taft Benson, Mormon Fundamentalism

JEL Classification: B25, B29, B30, B31