Customer Reviews

Quicksand And Cactus

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I purchased this book as I was driving through the Mormon country of Dixie in southwest Utah to try to get a better understanding of Mormonism. We had just toured Pipe Springs National Monument, a fort constructed by Mormons used to house polygamous families. For non-Mormons, polygamy and Mormonism is fascinating and nearly as exotic as bedouin nomads in Morrocoo.

Quicksand and Cactus is a flowing narrative of Mormon life in the last century told in a non-judgemental tone by the granddaughter of a polygamist. What sets this book apart from other books about Mormonism I've read, such as Jon Krakauer's Banner of Heaven is that Juanita Brooks fully believed in her faith from day one and practiced. There is nothing in her book that would lead you to believe that there was anything unusual at all about her grandfather being polygamous. As such, her book provides a truthful look at what being Mormon must really be like.

In addition, the book is very readable. Her voice is charming and likeable. It's a bit like Little House on the Prairie and made me admire the deep pioneering spirit of these particular Mormons who occupied an unhopitable corner of the country.

This Must Read will tell you more about the Mormon frontier in Southern Utah than any other book I have read. It is definitely one I will keep in my personal library.

Bought this for my wife. I ended up reading and enjoying it. Just a great easy to read book about a time and place that not a lot of people know about. Liked it so well that I read more of her books and recommend them as well.

One of the most accessable, yet honest histories I've read. Brooks was a well-respected historian in academic circles, yet with her straightforward style instantly transports the lay reader into the early Mormon frontier.