Mormon Country (Wallace Stegner)

A 1930s travelogue that is interesting both for its history and for its applications to the present moment. (This article was first published December 19, 2017.)Show more

The written, original version of this article can be found at https://theworthyhouse.com/2017/12/19/book-review-mormon-countrywallace-stegner/

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This and all Worthy House narrations are offered with accurate closed captions (not auto-generated).

"Wallace Stegner, writer about the American West, is famous mostly for his novel Angle of Repose. This book is not famous, but it is worth reading. Mormon Country is a travelogue centered on the areas settled by the Mormons—basically Utah, of course, but also parts of Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona, and New Mexico. It is not a book about Mormons, though they appear prominently; it is about the country, as it was in the 1930s. Stegner did not write this book to make a point. There is no ideological overlay, and Stegner is neither pushing nor denigrating Mormonism. He was not Mormon, but he respects them and their culture. Mormon Country draws a picture of the area and its history, as of the time of writing, and offers intriguing tales (many of which have modern postscripts)." . . .