Jerry Earl Johnston on Mormontimes.com: Great novels need doubt as vantage
New Harmony
There are perks with this job — perks like the chance to spend quality time with quality people.
And a perk I'll always cherish is the afternoon I spent with Wallace Stegner talking about Montana, Mormons and modern writing.
Stegner was the guru of all things Western. And he understood Mormons about as well as someone not of the faith can. Yet even then, he missed things. He told me that in his novel "Recapitulation," he had a chaste, young Mormon couple getting married in the backyard of a friend. Someone had to point out to him that chaste, young Mormon couples get married in the LDS temple.
He didn't know.
And he didn't know when "The Great Mormon Novel" would show up.
Read the full column on MormonTimes.com
Recent comments
"He told me that in his novel "Recapitulation," he had a chaste,...
Anonymous | June 12, 2009 at 5:40 p.m.
Wallace Stegnar would not be able to understand what Joseph Smith...
Wallace couldn't understand | June 11, 2009 at 8:19 a.m.
Would this be a novel about the culture that embraces members of the...
kenny | June 10, 2009 at 8:27 p.m.
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