I wouldn't be surprised if Krakauer's first books were fiction novels, which I don't think they are, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were. Why? This book reads like a novel, a very confusing novel, but a novel nonetheless.

First things first, there should have been some sort of family tree or timeline or some sort of organizational medium provided besides a map. By the end of the book you have so many people and so many families roaming around you no longer really know who's who except for Joseph Smith.

I also didn't like how we kept jumping around. One minute we're talking about Ron Lafferty trying to kill himself in his jail cell and then suddenly we're hearing about how Joseph Smith found the golden plates in the dirt. In a history such as this one, I would have much perferred a straight-thru shot of everything, rather than this somewhat confusing bundle that was presented to me.

One last thing, while I completely understand the neccessity of recounting the history of the Mormon church so it's easier to comprehend the different factions of the church that are out there know and understand their various reasonings, there were certain storylines that only served to confuse more, rather than add to this journey.

The book does not put the Mormon church in it's entirety into a bad light, so if you're Mormon, don't let it deterr you from reading this book. Krakauer, while shining light on the wrong the church and it's split-offs have done, he also shows the wrong that's been done to the church and the persecution it's had to go through since it's conception.

The whole book is shocking and makes you think, but it's not until the end when we get to the argument of whether or not Ron Lafferty should be declared insane, that you really sit up in interest. It presented a serious problem: If Ron was judged insane, then nearly everyone with a religious conviction of any degree could therefor also be seen as insane. It was that moment that really brought the book together, I felt. Which is sad, because while an interesting and informational read, there wasn't much else to the book until the end when this problem was presented.

Read the book, like I said, it's an interesting if not entertaining read and really sheds some light on a religion not many people REALLY understand outside of stupid stereotypes.