Lost Boy by Brent W. Jeffs

Bufkinite@evpl — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:08:00 GMT

Anyone familiar with John Krakauer's book Under the Banner of Heaven will be familiar with the polygamous, Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints (FLDS). In that book Krakauer recounts how religious polygamy was often used as a cover for pedophilia, and how anyone who questioned the motives of the church leaders often paid in "blood atonement."

The last name of the author of Lost Boy, Jeffs, may be familiar to anyone who has followed the saga of the FLDS, which has been in the news a lot in the past five years. Warren Jeffs, the "prophet" of this splinter cult off of the mainstream Mormon church, is the uncle of the author. The author's grandfather, Rulon Jeffs, was the "prophet" before him, and this book recounts the power struggles that took place within the FLDS, as well as the power struggles that went on within his own family - his father had three wives and 12 children, a small family by FLDS standards.

In a church like the FLDS, where men are guaranteed a "seat in the Kingdom" when they achieve "a quorum," or three wives, young men tend to be seen as "in the way" by older men in looking to complete their quorum with younger - often much younger - women.

The book is divided into four sections called "Before," "During," "After," and "Fighting Back." Brent Jeffs recounts how, as a very young child - just a boy of six or seven - he was forcibly and brutally raped by Warren Jeffs, as were at least two of his brothers. He recounts how young men were singled out for "discipline" for the slightest infractions, and made to feel like they didn't and couldn't belong to the church because of their unsanctified ways.

He recounts how, upon assuming the mantle of leadership of the FLDS, Warren Jeffs began to transform it from a faith - a fringe faith, yes, but a faith - into a cult. Outlawing such small things as pet dogs, the color red, any sort of clothing that was "worldly," and a host of other everyday things like videos of popular television shows like The Simpsons, or name brand clothing or running shoes.

He recounts how his own father was expelled from the the church by his brother, and the life they led trying to keep at least part of their family together. (Warren Jeffs had the authority to "reassign" the wives of expelled church members, and broke up hundreds of families this way in his struggle to maintain power.) He details his and his brothers slide into alcoholism and drug addiction, as they became marginalized from the only community they'd ever known.

Finally though, we are told about his long struggle to return to sanity, and even to filing a Civil suit in 2004 accusing Jeffs of abusing him.

Ultimately, this book is an uplifting look at how people can find happiness and meaning in life, even those who have had truly horrific and demeaning experiences.

Link to the segment of NPR's "Fresh Air" where Terry Gross interviews Brent Jeffs.

Love As Always, Kurt: Vonnegut As I Knew Him, by Loree Rackstraw

Bufkinite@evpl — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:21:00 GMT

In September of 1965 Lorree Rackstraw was a graduate student in her second year at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, apprehensive about her new teacher, a relatively unknown writer named Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut had published just three books: The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, and Cat's Cradle. He'd also finished writing God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater the previous spring, and was struggling to get onto paper what he referred to as his "Dresden Book."

Love As Always, Kurt, recounts the friendship that began that summer, and lasted over 40 years, until Kurt Vonnegut died in April of 2007. To call it a friendship cheapens the care that this memoir makes clear they shared with one another. Rackstraw is now Professor Emeritus and the University of Northern Iowa & former editor of The North American Review.

This memoir of Rackstraw's forty-year relationship with Kurt Vonnegut is a very personal and deep look into both the human and the writer behind the name Kurt Vonnegut. We see clearly how, as a writer, he labors in draft after draft of everything he wrote from Slaughterhouse Five to Man Without a Country, and down to the speeches he gave at countless colleges, universities, graduations, and memorial services. We see, just as clearly, how he champions common humanity, and simultaneously enjoys the company of the famous and relatively well-to-do. We see how, despite periods of darkness and cynicism, this relationship buoyed Vonnegut, and provided Rackstraw with an escape from the pressures of her academic career as well.

We see, most plainly, a deep and abiding friendship that transcends all normal definitions. Was it love? Definitely. What it friendship? In the most useful meaning of the word, yes. But it was more: it was a collegial relationship - Vonnegut sent her page proofs of everything from Slaughterhouse Five forward; it was an intimate relationship, certainly: "Kurt and I toured the town of Key West, hand in hand like kids, and took photographs of each other beside somebody else's catch of a huge fish... Later, we danced barefoot under moonlight on that beach, to ragtime music from the piano bar;" and ultimately, it was a lifelong relationship, that saw a parting of the ways only in the death of one.

Being a long-time Vonnegut fan, I loved this book. It represents a first-hand account of four decades of his life by someone who he consistently loved, and who loved him in return. A tender portrait.

Books Blog : relationships, books

Lost Boy by Brent W. Jeffs

Love As Always, Kurt: Vonnegut As I Knew Him, by Loree Rackstraw