Orrin Porter Rockwell: Man of God Son of Thunder [Paperback] Review

Harold Schindler's biography on Mormon bad-boy Orrin Porter Rockwell is still the best biography of Rockwell out there. Moreover, it may be one of the best biographies of any early Mormon written. This book is not even so much about the quiet, enigmatic Rockwell as it is the genesis of an American religious movement.
Rockwell is a hard historical figure. He is a legendary figure whom the LDS church has tended to whitewash. Non-Mormon historians have had a tendency to villify him, making him a murderer and a theif. Somewhere, undoubtedly in the middle, lies the truth. Instead of writing an indictment or an apology for his life, Schindler writes a well-balanced account of Rockwell's life. He doesn't necessarily try to provide answers or justifications, only gives the facts and lets the reader decide. No doubt Schindler's objectivity and meticulous research has made this volume stand the test of time to become a classic in Mormon history.
I don't think I have ever said this about a book before: Probably just as engaging and interesting as the book itself are the footnotes which sometimes take up more of the page than the text. This is an awesome bibliographic reference as well. Not only does Schindler tell you about the life and times of Rockwell, he also tells many fascinating historical asides. If you don't believe or are suspcious about his research, then one may look at the documents he was viewing. Schindler does an excellent job of backing up most everything that he says.

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Mornings On Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD] Review

The two readers for this meticulously researched biography of Theodore Roosevelt add appeal, especially when reading the parts with the southern lady or Irish accents.Well done!

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Product Description:

FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF JOHN ADAMS
Winner of the 1982 National Book Award for Biography, Mornings on Horseback is the brilliant biography of the young Theodore Roosevelt. Hailed as a masterpiece by Newsday, it is the story of a remarkable little boy -- seriously handicapped by recurrent and nearly fatal attacks of asthma -- and his struggle to manhood.
His father -- the first Theodore Roosevelt, "Greatheart," -- is a figure of unbounded energy, enormously attractive and selfless, a god in the eyes of his small, frail namesake. His mother -- Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt -- is a Southerner and celebrated beauty.
Mornings on Horseback spans seventeen years -- from 1869 when little "Teedie" is ten, to 1886 when he returns from the West a "real life cowboy" to pick up the pieces of a shattered life and begin anew, a grown man, whole in body and spirit.
This is a tale about family love and family loyalty...about courtship, childbirth and death, fathers and sons...about gutter politics and the tumultuous Republican Convention of 1884...about grizzly bears, grief and courage, and "blessed" mornings on horseback at Oyster Bay or beneath the limitless skies of the Badlands.

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Red Sky at Morning: A Novel (Perennial Classics) [Bargain Price] [Paperback] Review

It's funny; I've read this book at least 10 times and I see from the reviews here that lots of people have seen fit to revisit Red Sky at Morning.
I, too, grew up in the "real" Sagrado. In fact, Bradford's son and I were briefly acquainted as teenagers. I think the book is more autobiographical than Bradford would like to admit; my aunt has said that almost all of the teenaged characters were recognizable as actual people at the local high school at that time--especially Chango.
Any time I'm homesick, all I have to do is reread the book and I'm right back home again. I'm glad that so many people from so many walks of life have enjoyed it as much as I have. It totally captures, very affectionately, all of the GOOD things about Northern New Mexico--things you wish would stay the same forever.
It's like Catcher in the Rye, but it's warmer. It lovingly represents the wholly unique people of Northern New Mexico, who are unlike people anywhere else in the world. But it also reflects human nature and adaptation through scenes of humor, pain, the clashing and meshing of cultures, and the inevitable unwelcome changes that come with the passage of time. Red Sky at Morning bears witness to the coming of age of Joshua Arnold--the futile battle to remain young and untouched by the uglier side of the world, the bittersweet and inevitable transformation of boy to man. It was originally an allegory, I believe, parelleling Josh's growing pains with those of a post-war America. Ironically, it is now an allegory for what has become of the "real" Corazon, Sagrado--full of bittersweet memories--the end of an old road and the beginning of newer, less innocent one.
Just beware: you won't be able to put it down and you WILL read it again and again. It really is that good.

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