Tuesday, December 1, 2009

About Under the Banner of Heaven

What's not to love about Under the Banner of Heaven, our December Featured Book of the Month? It's a true crime story, an exploration into the extremes of religious belief, and it's written by Jon Krakauer, one of my all-time favorite authors.

Under the Banner of Heaven tells the true story of Mormon fundamentalists Dan and Ron Lafferty, who murdered the wife and infant daughter of their younger brother Allen in 1984, but claimed they were acting on direct orders from God.

So take a break from the holiday madness, grab a blanket and some hot chocolate, and spend a chilly winter's night absolutely mesmerized.

Be sure to listen to Krakauer's informative NPR interview about his book or read my blog post on Turning the Page, our staff blog about books and reading.

2 comments:

Katie said...

I started this book a while ago. I stopped reading about halfway through (and I very rarely fail to finish a book, no matter how bad) because it was so strongly anti-Mormon. I expected a book about Mormon extremism, but he sneaks in unjustified, negative commentary about Mormons in general. I was very surprised to see what I considered to be an inflammatory, discriminatory book featured on the Cincinnati Library page. I will be interested to see what others think of it.

Jan said...

I did not find this book to be anti-Morman, or negative about Mormans. The book is about fringe religious fanatics who can be found in any faith, and this is made clear by the author from the beginning. The history of religious faith has included much violence that is reflected to this day in these fanatical extremes. The Morman religion is the only religion original to America,the fastest growing world religion, very politically influential, and this is why it is of particular interest to me. I was fascinated by the historical information, endured the criminal violence, and appreciated the author's sensitive point of view.