The result is a book that does not state who Smith was, but explores who he might have wanted to be. Brodie must then run down, cross-reference, and categorize each piece before arranging them together again in the most plausible explanation. It’s as if whenever Brodie closes in on a certain conclusion about Smith, a little explosive is triggered and scatters his motivations in a number of different directions. How then do you write about this guy? How can a biographer maintain both objectivity and interiority, especially given the fact that a powerful organization has spent much effort and time to ensure that certain records are interpreted a certain way? Consciousness without conjecture seems impossible. Joseph Smith is, if this is indeed a category, one of America’s best secret keepers, particularly surrounding the foundation of Mormonism-the story, of course, being that Smith found the Book of Mormon buried in the earth and inscribed in an ancient language on a set of golden plates-and some of its early practices, in particular, polygamy. Often afterwards, I read, she was referred to as “that awful woman.” After the book’s release, the church ex-communicated her on charges of apostasy. She submitted the manuscript to a prize held by Knopf and won. McKay, the ninth president of the church, managed to gain access to confidential LDS church archives.

Brodie, a Mormon herself and the niece of David O. That a woman has written the definitive biography of Smith should not be taken lightly, given the historical restrictions Mormonism has placed on female members. In his lifetime, Joseph Smith was a prophet, visionary, farmer, treasure hunter, populist, Lieutenant General, presidential candidate, charlatan, polygamist, mayor, and founder of the greatest popular religious movement in the United States. The word mercurial seems to put it lightly.

No Man is a celebrated and controversial book because Joseph Smith is a celebrated and controversial figure. What interests me about Brodie is the difficulty and enormity of her task.

My computer tells me it’s 9:30 am, though I have no idea what time it really is. We hope to land in Guangzhou in the morning. To boot, I am currently flying over the Artic Circle in a China Southern aircraft about to enter Siberian airspace. I, however, know very little about Mormonism-you might say I am as unlettered in the subject as Brodie says Smith was when he translated the Book of Mormon at the age of 23-and am aware the position of an outsider brings certain limitations. Brodie’s No Man Knows My History, the celebrated and controversial 1945 biography of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism.

Fawn brodie joseph smith