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aleatha's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book about western Mormon culture, history, and landscape, written by a non-Mormon author. This is the third book I've read by Wallace Stegner and I've loved them all. My kind of book.
tjwallace04's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like I have so much to say about "Mormon Country" and yet also somehow nothing to say. Published in 1942, the book is a collection of essays, primarily about Mormon history of the 1850s - early 1900s, with a few vignettes that advance up to the 1940s. The writing is beautiful (I mean, it's Stegner, come on!), and I liked the general tone of the book - it felt warm, friendly, interested. Stegner is aware of the difficulties and oddities of Mormon history and culture without sensationalizing them or giving the impression of rubber necking. This is not a page-turner by any means, but I enjoyed it, slowly and tranquilly, reading an essay at a time. I learned some new things and met some new historical figures. (I kept my phone near me to do my own research about people and incidents he introduced like the Mountain Meadows Massacre, J. Golden Kimball, Earl Douglass, and Marie Ogden. Oh, and it was fascinating to hear about the origins of the Short Creek community, now a base of Fundamentalist LDS members). I literally just realized while flipping through the book to write this review that "Mormon Country" is part of a series edited by Erskine Caldwell that includes many other entries like "Short Grass Country" (Stanley Vestal) and "Palmetto Country" (Stetson Kennedy). Interesting. Anyhow, if you love Wallace Stegner and are even remotely interested in LDS history, then you will probably enjoy this book.
dmahanty's review against another edition
2.0
very dry reading. Learned some interesting things, but hard to get through.
bibliothecarivs's review against another edition
4.0
Mormon Country, first published in 1942, is my first Stegner work and I quite enjoyed it. Being a jack-Mormon in Utah, but with a strong sense of my heritage and love for my state, I was excited to delve into this respected look at the Mormon West by an inside-outsider. I also wanted to read it around Utah's unique state holiday, Pioneer Day (celebrated annually on July 24), which I did. The book is a collection of mostly unrelated historical topics which help us to understand "Mormon Country", which can be loosely defined as Utah plus the parts of surrounding states that border it. The topics, divided into those about Mormons and those about non-Mormons, consisted of some I knew nothing about and others I had discovered before, but all the stories were told in an entertaining way that made them a joy to read. As I travel around the state in the future, I think I will take Mormon Country along and share the relevant chapters with my family. I can definitely say I am now better educated about my land and my people.
jbracken's review against another edition
3.0
Debated on 3 or 4 stars on this one. I have great admiration for Wallace Stegner, and feel his is one of the fairest outsider perspectives on Mormons and Mormon culture. A great overview for those unfamiliar with the people and landscape of this part of the world. Ultimately decided on 3 stars because it took me sooooo long to plod through it.
imperfectcj's review
I'm sorry, Wallace Stegner. I love your writing and some of the stories were quite engaging, but this is the second time I've tried to read this book, and throwing in the towel again. I admire the level of detail, but I'm just not interested enough to read it to the end.
raehink's review
4.0
An amazing read! I love Wally Stegner. I especially enjoyed learning about the community of Iosepa and the "king" of Hawaii. Good stuff.
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