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F. M. Brodie—“The Fasting Hermit and the Very Saint of Ignorance”: a Biographer and Her Legend

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F. M. Brodie—“The Fasting Hermit and the Very Saint of Ignorance”: a Biographer and Her Legend Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011 Volume 8 Number 2 Article 11 1996 F. M. Brodie—“The Fasting Hermit and the Very Saint of Ignorance”: A Biographer and her Legend Louis Midgley Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/msr BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Midgley, Louis (1996) "F. M. Brodie—“The Fasting Hermit and the Very Saint of Ignorance”: A Biographer and her Legend," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011: Vol. 8 : No. 2 , Article 11. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/msr/vol8/iss2/11 This Other Publication is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011 by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Title F. M. Brodie—“The Fasting Hermit and Very Saint of Ignorance”: A Biographer and her Legend Author(s) Louis Midgley Reference FARMS Review of Books 8/2 (1996): 147–230. ISSN 1099-9450 (print), 2168-3123 (online) Abstract Review of No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet (1995), by Fawn McKay Brodie. Fawn McKay Brodie. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Proph t t. New York: Vintage Books, 1995 (paperback reprint of second, revised, and enlarged edition). xiii + 449 pp., with bibliography and index. $16.00. Reviewed by Louis Midgley F. M. Brodic-"The Fasting Hermit and Very Saint of Ignorance": A Biographer and Her Legend Oh, I had always wanted to write fi ct ion. F. M. Brodiel In any case, I started out not to write a biography of Joseph Smith but to write a short art icle on the sources of the Book of Mormon. F. M. Brodie2 I am quietly tearing my hair over the Book of Mormon agai n. Th ose chapters are the ones I have worked over the most and lthey] are still the least sati s­ factory. F. M. Brodie3 The title for my essay is taken from the second sentence of Garry Wills. "Uncle Thomas's Cabin:' New York Review oj Hooks 21 (18 April 1974): 26. I Fawn M. Orod ie, "Fawn McKay Brodie: An Oral History Interview:' Dialoglle 1412 (1981): 104. Ilereafrer cited as "An Oral History Interview." This is a truncated. modified. and partially garbled version of Shirley E. Stephenson's transcription of an interview. which is entitled " Biography of Fawn MeKay Brodie:' California State University, Fullerton, 30 November 1975. In a later in­ terview Brodie's story had shifted somewhat; she granted that she "had always wanted to write fict ion:' but then she claimed that she had "discovered after writ­ ing numerous short stories th at this was not [her] forte." Then she ind icated that her husband had urged her "find oUlthc roots and sources of what Joseph Smith's ideas were:' That endeavor led to her writing her biography of Joseph Smith. 2 Ibid. 148 FA RMS REVIEW OF BOOKS 812 (J 996) I wns convinced before I ever began writing the book that Joseph Smith was no! a true prophet. r. M. Brodie4 The histori cal magazines have nor been 100 kind to me. F. M. Brodie5 Fawn McKay Brod ie's adroit ly fashioned biography o f Joseph Smith was released to the publ ic on 22 November 1945- over fift y years ago. No Mall Kn ows My Hisloif was re published as a paperback in 1995. This most recent appearance of Brodie's book provides an occasion for a close look at the history of the controversy her work engendered. There are, I believe. important lessons to be learned from the debate, scholarl y and ot herwise, that has subsequcmly take n pl ace over Ihe sound ness of her book. I wi1l not examine in detai l crit icisms made by fa ithful Laue r-day Saints, but will focus on the commentary about and subsequ ent debate over Brodie's biography. Launching the Legend No Man KnolVs had, it seems, e verythin g going for it: it was we ll written, it was the work of someone with roots in Mormoni s m (which always counts for much with the gentile audience), and il gave the appearance of ha ving been wriuen by one of ge nuine competence. It should be no surprise that it was met with insta nt and sustained praise from an array of literary gentle men who reviewed it for newspapers and magazines. Alfred A. Kn opf, the original publishe r of No Man Knows, enthusiasticall y pro­ moted it, even descri bing it as the "definitive" biography of Joseph Smi th . Within month s of its publication , the legend o f 3 Fawn M. Brodie to Dale L. Mo rgan. 26 April 1944. Dale L. Morgan Papers microfilm of the Bancroft holdings, m;mu ~cri p t roll 10. frame 62. M;:mu­ script Division. University of Utah M3 rriott Li brary, Salt Lake City, Utah. Here­ after ci ted, by roll and fra me, as Morgan Papers . 1 wis h to th an k Gary F. Novak for drawing my attenti on to this and ot her related items in the Morgan Papers. 4 "A n Oral History Interview," 106. , Brodie to Morgan. 12 May t946. Morgan Papers. roll 10, fmme 117. 6 Hereafter No MOIl Xnows. BRODIE, NO MAN KNOWS MY H/:'TORY(MIDGLEY) 149 Brodie as biographer had been set in place. This myth has sub­ sequently been kept ali ve on the fringes of the Mormon academic community, where it remains a key element of the unfaith of cultural Mormons and both secular and sectarian anti-Mormons. It is also alive and well with a genti le audience who seem to be un ­ informed, uncritical, and anxious for a plausible naturalistic expla­ nation of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith's prophetic charisms. Brodie's book was effectively marketed. When its respected nati onal publisher sent prepublication copies to newspapers and news and literary magazines, it ensured that favorable reviews wou ld begin appearing the day after its official release. By the end of 1945 at least eighteen reviews heaped praise on No Man Knows. These favorable reviews appeared in newspapers and magazines before the somewhat less enthu siastic comment s of professional historians began appearing in academic journals. Latter-day Saints had virtuall y no way of reaching either the gentile or the academic audiences with thei r criticisms of Brodie's book. Early in January 1946, an interview with John Hutchens, a re­ porter for the New York Times. indicated that Brodie wa.. annoyed that in the six weeks after its official release no newspaper in Salt Lake City had re viewed her book (however, no copies of No Mall Know.,· were sent by its publisher to newspapers in Sa lt Lake City). At the same lime she seemed pleased to report that No Mat! Knows had been described by RLDS President Israel Smith as " Th e Brodie Atrocity."7 Brodie seems to have been anxious for si milar reactions from leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Such cri ticism would have fu eled con troversy and thereby drawn additional lurid attention to her book, helping its sales among gentiles curiolls about Mormon things, and perhaps also among the Saints. Brodie enjoyed the prai se lavished on her even when it came from those who were clearly confused and uninformed. Those who lauded No Mall Knows were eager to promote a nicely crafted 7 John K. Hutchens, ·'People Who Re3d rmd Write." New York Times /Jook Rel'iel<', 6 Jonunry 1946, section 7. p. 24, for the report of the in terview with Brodie, ilnd the S(lillls HI:mltl (8 December 1945): 4. Hutchens reported that Brodie '·is modestly proud that her book offers the most nearly complete ex plilmltion yet presented of the origin of th e 'Book of Mormon,'·' 150 FARMS REV IEW OF BOOKS sn ( 1996) book that seemingly put Joseph Smith in his place. But it look months fo r the Saints to fas hion their own substantive assessments of her work. Why? The Sainl S act ua ll y had to read and ponder the contents of her book and they also had to consu lt at least some of her sources. The host of celebratory reviews by gentile literati and cultural Mormons may have contributed to the commercial success of Brodie's book. The first prin ting of No Mall K"ows consisted of 5,000 copies and was exhausted six weeks after publication. A second printing, contain ing corrections, as all subsequent printings did, was publ ished in March 1945.8 The book has remained in print for over fi fty years. The first edition sold over I ,200 copies a yearY and was reprinted six times. It was eventually published in the United Kingdom.IO But a growing body of competent schol­ arship on the issues she raised, as well as fo rceful criticisms of her book, eventuall y obliged Brodie to issue a somewhat rev ised edi­ li on in 197 1. The 1995 paperback version of No Mall KIlOws re­ prints the 197 1 revised edition without additional updating, and without mentioning the dated, problematic, or controversial claims it contains. T he quickly ensconced Brodie legend easi ly surv ived both the eventual appearance of a few reviews in academic joumals that 8 Brodie received a $1250 advance on her book, and earned an additional $100 on the sales from the first printing.
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