Written about independent bookstores, and it occurred to me i would have to deliver a brief encomium to bookstores that are sort keeping flame of bookselling alive and i thought i might compare them to the monasteries in medieval england which were these islands of learning and scholarship and a horrible ravaged countryside. Been a member henry viii actually toward the monasteries and seized all their property and through the monks out into the countryside. Im sure we know who henry viii is in this particular comparison, but anyway, i wish politics and prose a long and happy life, much longer impact than the monasteries in medieval england. Theres three parts to what id like to do tonight. Im going to explain how i came to this book, which is a a question some people are asked me about, but its a question that really interests mormons, members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints, whom ive been speaking to in recent days. Secondly, i want to explain all of mormon history in about three or four minutes because it will help situate where this book is, why the events that are described in this book are important both in mormon history and in american history. And lastly i want to read from a book because im very oldfashioned and i really believe that at an author reading, authors should read. I once attended a reading by novelist name jonathan and you such a great writer i bought his book on the spot. Im not asking for that to happen here, but im very suspicious of authors who wont read that author readings. What do they have to hide . In any case i have nothing to hide and im going to be reading a little bit from the book. So i wish, i wish i had, there is of course a truly incredible story that my mother and joseph smith, the founder of the Mormon Church do share a birthday. But thats not come to write this book but its a very prosaic little tale impact right now at a bad moment in my life. In june 2011 i received an email from my literary agent, a one line email with a misspelling saying we like to write a book about joseph smith . And i was utterly astonished for two reasons. First of all i was really sure my literate agent had no idea who joseph smith was, so this whole thing was interesting and questionable at the same time. And secondly i wondered why did he send me this email, and i think i realized that from midtown manhattan my friend michael knew that i attended church, and to think the way his whole intellectual world is mormons far away, strange, attend church, crazy beliefs. Alex, far away, attend church, possible crazy beliefs. So anyway, it turned out he had lunch with the young editor of a really intelligent guy who worked at the same Publishing House, he published two books, public affairs, two books by brad, this young guy had an idea for a book and he thought there would be an interesting and compelling work of Popular History to be written about the murder, the killing of joseph smith. And here are the reasons he thought it would be an interesting book. It was about religion which is inherently interesting subject, a new religion on the American Continent but its a very violent story, obviously. Some of you may or may not know, joseph smith is murdered essentially in cold blood why an angry mob. Its a violent incident that takes place on the american frontier, which i certainly wouldnt have nothing to started researching the book. The settlement of the United States ended of the Mississippi River what joseph smith decide to found his colony in far southwestern illinois. There was no state to the west of where he settled his colony. There was the iowa territory. Missouri was to the west but it wasnt across the more smith was, so smith had moved his people sort of this nation as far away as possible from the seat of american power. I will get to that when i resume all history in four minutes. But it was a wild and lawless area. Of course, you dont think of illinois that way, but this was the far reaches of the United States. Abraham lincoln fought the indians there in 1830. It was a wild pleased to another reason that i dont think we cant hide from anyone, because there is sex in it. Polygamy is a big deal in this book. It was a big deal in the life of joseph smith in 18431844, which was essentially the years that are covered. And polygamy is much more than a proximate cause. Literally was a secret doctrine at the time, something i get to sort out he came with it as it were. But it literally split the church can have, and argued cost him his life. The first statement is easily defensible because after joseph smith dies, the Mormon Church in fact does split in half. Would probably most of it in this room think of as the Mormon Church, the utah church, called the breed mice at the time, they follow Brigham Young across the river to utah. They were the polygamy but there was a prince of the church and still is, in fact, that was long called the reformed church of jesus christ of latter day saints. That state in illinois and eventually moved to independence, missouri, because its adherents refer to accept the doctrine of polygamy. Joseph smiths son eventually became president of that religion. Joseph smith the third and his mother, Joseph Smiths first wife also identified herself with the breakaway religion for many years. And lastly, they thought this would be a good book but it turned out to be a good book so thats okay. Its unusual story to tell because it takes place in a very compressecompresse d piece of time, if you will. He asked me to read a book which some you may read called manhunt by a local author named James Swanson but it doesnt book, a good Popular History but its the account of the search for John Wilkes Booth in the virginia countryside after he kills abraham lincoln. And he correctly new that this book takes place in a favorite compressed timeframe. Dissidence rise up against joseph smith on june 7 of 1844 and his dead on june 27 of 1844. Source life is sort of extinguished in incredibly dramatic and certainly unforeseen by m. Series of events. The difference between my book and swansons excellent book, manhunt, and ill get back to this in a second if i remember reading his book and it begins with lincolns second inaugural book, but one of the earlier scenes as i recall at least, is a stable boy holding john wilkes escape worst with the horseshoes are sort of clattering to 15 street that i can remember if he escapes on a horse or not. I was so india is of the swanson because of course indias because he can start his story at a place that youve heard a. You can start at fords theater with approach of heard of, John Wilkes Booth. His point of departure is in the that is the mode to everyone. I didnt have that luxury. Modeled in researching this book but also in retelling the story i really had to start from out to do. I had to assume that even though the relatively wellinformed reader like myself simply now fully nothing about this subject. And it takes me a moment or two to explain how joseph smith managed to found the largest city in illinois in a southwestern town, larger than chicago at the time but it just takes me a moment or two to explain how 12 to 14,000 mormons got there and eventually were chased out. Now, all of mormon history. But im not trying to be facetious, but i am, its complicated to do and i can be situated where my book takes place. Ive never used audiovisual props and i will be starting now, but imagine that this is vermont where joseph smith is born as many of you know. This is where he interacts if you will with the angel where he gets the golden plates that become the book of mormons. This is where he found, excuse me, not in vermont. He moves to in your new york. It gets the tablets, found his religion in 1830. The mood from vermont to upstate new york and begins to gather adherents, largely on the strength of his charismatic preaching but also due to the fact is brought to the world a third bible for his followers, or his followers. The bibles or the Old Testament, a new custom and the book of mormons. Smith again gains more people, gains adherents, gains followers and brooms and moved to ohio which is vermont, new york, ohio, the first serious mormon settlement. The church is growing partly through preaching, and, of course, also through aggressive missionary work. The kind of aggressive missionary work that continues right into our day, has always been a key part of the growth of the Mormon Church. So the church is growing, and in what will be the first of a series of very similar events, smith and the mormons are chased out of kirkland ohio. Smith decides to start a bank which really was not a good idea and most of the citizens lost all the money in the mormon bank and they took it out on the mormons and they chased the mormons to the Mississippi River, the middle. They chased the mormons all the way to missouri. Some of you either know or dont know that missouri is a key place for joseph smith in the book of mormons because thats what he said jesus christ came to visit america but he also situated the original garden of eden, independence, missouri, and his original zion was deemed to be independence, missouri. So we moved, his people were chased out of ill. In all the way here across the mississippi to missouri. They live in misery for three or four years and their chased out again, whats called the mormon war takes place but their extremity. There is an extermination order enacted by missouri against the mormons in 1839. Extermination has a different meaning in 1839 from the meaning that we take it today. It literally means to chased out of your boundaries but it means the mormons had to leave missouri and fast and under force but it doesnt mean they were killed, although many mormons in fact were killed by angry missourians in 1839. That they are extremity, sent to the border. The board is the Mississippi River and they are forced to go into illinois. Now they are on the Mississippi River. This is what book takes place. 14,000 mormons, smith is eventually started in vermont, ends up in illinois, going to be killed right here in carthage, illinois, and this is where the first pendulum of mormon history begins, which was its interesting or informative dont know but its worth knowing. Their extremity again. Smith is killed. A genuine threat that many more mormons are going to be killed so Brigham Young essentially negotiates the extermination of thousands of mormons and says we will leave and in february 1846 he begins this incredible track to Salt Lake City where he takes five or 6000 mormons, exact number are not sure, perhaps more. He takes an outside attorney. Theres no kind of chip equipment quite yet completed a land grab from mexico and spain. He takes them to the Great Salt Lake. That part you know for all of the 19th century he found a country the size of france in the Great Salt Lake basin, becomes an amazing economic power and then through missionary work, there come to be just a vast mormon presence, not only in utah around the Great Salt Lake but in what is now called to the usher you know. There is a reason a lot of shares in arizona are mormons. For every reason they ostracize themselves from america and washington and new york, beginning in 1890 and later they want to become a state, dual polygamy, and mormons want to gain power in america, the first senators elected, a big deal, talking statehood. The way the pendulum swings back, and a mormon who is a credible candidate for presidency in the United States which in my mind is an incredible series of events given that they were a completely sort of ostracized and hated group and within a hundred years they had swung back to the center of american power. What set that pendulum in motion was this brutal killing of the founder of their religion. I am going to read three things from the book. The first thing i am going to be is a little bit about joseph smith himself. When i was comparing my dilemma to that of writing a book about lincoln or John Wilkes Booth, the real dilemma is you are starting from zero and need to come to grips with joseph smith. What can you say . He is regarded by hundreds of millions of people as a charlatan and worse, and so i had to figure out was i going to be making fun of joseph smith for 280 pages . Laughing at him . Sending up his spree optic nature . Even the most staid mormons note he had 345 wives, 50 bear is a serious question posed itself to me. I will just read you a couple of passages of my own writing about joseph smith. One of first introduce him, he is actually trying to escape across the mississippi, very biblical story, trying to escape his own fate. He has been indicted in carthage, a lawyer, he will probably be killed. He and his brother in three other confederates escape to iowa. They are all on a boat. I start my book. Bought a gun waves of the swollen river was theyearold joseph smith, profit, sear and revelers for, candidate for presidency of the United States, king of the kingdom of god, commanderinchief of the armies of israel, judge maier architect, recorder of deeds, postmaster, hotel operator, steamboat owner and has been many times over, born in vermont, smith was a far cry from the stereotypical new england man of god, people coming here expected to find john the baptist but they found a very jolly profit, a convert remembered. Used to laugh from the crown of his life to the soles of his feet, it should every bit of flush in him. He was no hair shirt and profit, joseph, reared on subsistence farms, score and the pious pharisees of the preaching profession, quote, i love that man better this wears a stream as long as my arm and is attentive to administering to the poor and the dividing his substance, the long smith faced hypocrites he told the saints in 1843. Mormons were supposed to shun alcohol as prescribed by the revelation known as the word of wisdom but joseph didnt. When he heard the brethren had been drinking whiskey, i investigated the case satisfied no evil had been done, joseph gave a couple dollars with directions to replenish the bottle to stimulate them in fatigues of their sleepless journey. A lot of mormon reviewers quite correctly said joseph at that megalomaniacal ledge to him. I guess that starts on page 7 because if he indulged in megalomania he came by it honestly. From his Humble Beginnings as diviner and squire, a person who sees a reckless occurrences through transmission sear stones he had accomplished the work of several lifetimes. There were plenty of millenarian preachers with apocalyptic scenarios spinning their tails in northern new yorks turnover district when smith started out. Charles finney who became one of smiths the tractors claims to have entertained jesus christ in his law office. The campbellites, the millerites, by 1844 they were forgotten, quote, i am the only man who has ever been able to keep the Church Together since the days of adam, smith bragged to his followers a month before this perilous river crossing. A large majority of the hole stood behind me, paul, john, peter nor jesus ever did it. The followers of jesus ran away from him but the latter day saints never ran away from me yet. Huge personality, you can say, at the very least. Joseph kept a diary which is a big deal, and it is an invaluable source of information about his life, this is an excerpt from his diary in 1843, he spent the morning shopping would, chopping wood with the brethren who are retiring their services to him. He devotes two hours to reciting in german before he oversaw Court Proceedings in the upstairs office of his red brick store. Joseph was mayor and justice, there was a lawsuit to adjudicate that day and the theft, supervising the court joseph looked out the window and spotted two boys fighting with clubs in front of a nearby tavern, quote, his journal, his own diary refers to himself in the third person, the mayor side and ran over and immediately. Restocked the other, he tried standards for not breaking out the fight and walks back to his store. His final message to the three and miscreance, nobody is allowed to fight in the city but me. I am now going to have a whole chapter on polygamy. It goes without saying, it is almost infinitely interesting. The part i am going to read i will attempt to explain how polygamy worked. There was a revelation about polygamy came to joseph in the 1830s and quite correctly josephs spiritual grounding, i am not sure i could argue successfully but in the Old Testament mormons are constantly likened to the people of the book, the jewish people and there are many examples in the Old Testament of polygamy. Joseph smith loved to talk about and he claimed god had told him like the people of abraham, he and his followers would have to raise up seat to god and have many children and polygamy began as a whispered secret joseph shared only with his closest and most intimate followers. It was still secret at the time of his death, of polygamy wasnt announced as attentive to the Mormon Church until they got to utah in 1852. Is a very pernicious secret, it goes without saying. Every person including Brigham Young and josephs wife, absolutely closest friends, simply could not stomach the idea of taking on another wife. Theres a sense in which there was a non puree and overweight because he was nearing his friendss wives, there was an element of prurience to it that there is no one of his followers, joseph would claim when the angel told about polygamy even he himself was repels. In any event this is a micro example, and a woman who for its knees joseph smith as a girl, in kirkland ohio, one of the first colonies, kind of precocious as a little girl, memorized a little bit of the book of mormon and joseph praises her and it is a very moving moment. After joseph leaves, you know who was here . The girl says no, i have no idea, an angel