New York: Doubleday, 2003. hardcover. Book VG: mild shelf wear to boards and spine, writing on rear endpaper, else clean square tight unmarked./DJ VG: spot stain on front, mild age toning, not clipped.. 8vo 372pp. from front flap: "...At the core of his book is an appalling double murder committed by a pair of Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, and unyielding faith. In the process, he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America's fastest growing religion, analyzes the abduction of fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart (and fher forced "marriage" to her polygamous kidnapper), and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief." #02118.

Synopsis

Jon Krakauer's literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. In UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN, he shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders. At the core of his book is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this"divinely inspired" crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion,savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith. Along the way, he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America's fastest-growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.Krakauer takes readers inside isolated communities in the American West, Canada, andMexico, where some forty-thousand Mormon Fundamentalists believe the mainstream Mormon Church went unforgivably astray when it renounced polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the leaders of these outlaw sects are zealots who answer only to God. Marrying prodigiously and with virtual impunity (the leader of the largest fundamentalist church took seventy-five "plural wives," several of whom were wed to him when they were fourteen or fifteen and he was in his eighties), fundamentalist prophets exercise absolute control over the lives of their followers, and preach that any day now the world will be swept clean in a hurricane of fire, sparing only their most obedient adherents. Weaving the story of the Lafferty brothers and their fanatical brethren with a clear-eyed look at Mormonism's violent past, Krakauer examines the underbelly of the most successful homegrown faith in the United States, and finds a distinctly American brand of religious extremism. The result is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of nonfiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behavior.From the Hardcover edition.

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Details

Bookseller: Matthew's Books LLC (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 2056
Title: Under the Banner of Heaven
Author: Krakauer, Jon
Format/Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Used - Book VG: mild shelf wear to boards and spine, writing on rear endpaper, else clean square tight unmarked.
Jacket Condition: DJ VG: spot stain on front, mild age toning, not clipped.
Quantity Available: 1
Binding: Unknown
ISBN 10: 0385509510
ISBN 13: 9780385509510
Publisher: Doubleday
Place of Publication: New York
Date Published: 2003
Keywords: true crime, nonfiction, Mormonism, religion

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About Matthew's Books LLC

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Tight: Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
Shelf Wear: Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
Spine: The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....