Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
LC Class BX8695.S6 B875 2005 | | |
Followed by | 2007 Vintage Books paperback |
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Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling: A Cultural Biography of Mormonism's Founder is a biography of Joseph Smith, founder and prophet of the Latter Day Saint movement, by historian Richard Bushman. Bushman is both a practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Gouverneur Morris Professor of History emeritus at Columbia University. Rough Stone Rolling received the 2005 Best Book Award from the Mormon History Association and the 2005 Evans Biography Award from the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies.
Approach
The title of the book refers to a self-description by Smith, "I [am] a rough stone. The sound of the hammer and chisel was never heard on me nor never will be. I desire the learning and wisdom of heaven alone."[1] Bushman is the author of many books on early American cultural and religious history, and his own religious and academic background enables him to locate Smith in the cultural context of early nineteenth-century America.
Although the five-hundred eighty-four page biography (with additional extensive notes and documentation) does not avoid controversial aspects of Smith's life and work, such as his practice of polygamy and his youthful treasure-seeking, it treats them cautiously, and as Bushman himself admits, with "greater tolerance for Smith's remarkable stories than most historians would allow."[2]
Reception
Jane Lampman, reviewing the book for the
In a long academic review, Jan Shipps called the book "the crowning achievement of the new Mormon history," that is likely to "serve as the standard work on Mormonism's coming in to being" for the foreseeable future.[6] Marvin S. Hill, a retired Brigham Young University professor, wrote in Dialogue that Bushman "comes up markedly short at times and he does not always examine controversial issues carefully" but that "his book suggests that thought about the Prophet has matured among some faithful Latter-day Saints" and that "there is much to praise".[7] In 2011, Laurie Maffly-Kipp, a non-Mormon historian of Mormonism, called Rough Stone Rolling "the definitive account ... on Joseph Smith’s life and legacy."[8]
In 2007, Bushman published a brief memoir about the publication of Rough Stone Rolling, which outlined both the genesis of the book and the reaction of audiences and reviewers during his yearlong book tour.[9]
Awards
- 2005 Best Book Award from the Mormon History Association[10]
- 2005 Evans Biography Award from the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies at Utah State University[11]
Publication data
- Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005) ISBN 1-4000-4270-4(hardcover)
- Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Vintage Books, 2007) ISBN 978-1-4000-7753-3(paperback)
References
- ^ Diary, June 11, 1843.
- ^ Richard Lyman Bushman, On the Road with Joseph Smith: An Author’s Diary (Salt Lake City: Gregg Kofford Books, 2007), 124.
- ^ Jane Lampman, "He founded a church and stirred a young nation," Christian Science Monitor, December 17, 2005
- ^ Walter Kirn, New York Times Book Review, January 15, 2006, 14-15.
- New York Review of Books, November 17, 2005, 35-37.
- ^ Jan Shipps, "Richard Lyman Bushman, the Story of Joseph Smith and Mormonism, and the New Mormon History Archived 2008-04-30 at the Wayback Machine," Journal of American History, 94 (September 2007)
- JSTOR 45227297.
- .
- ^ Richard Lyman Bushman, On the Road with Joseph Smith: An Author’s Diary (Salt Lake City: Gregg Kofford Books, 2007).
- ^ "MHA Awards" (PDF). Mormon History Association. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
- ^ "Previous Winners - Evans Biography Award" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-10-22.
External links
- Biographical sketch of Richard Bushman from the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History(archived on September 14, 2006)
- "Interview with Richard Bushman"
- Online weblog symposium on Rough Stone Rolling—Four book reviews and four responses from the author, Richard Bushman
- MP3 Radio Interview with Richard Bushman about Rough Stone Rolling