Quicksand and Cactus

by Juanita Brooks

Book Overview

Juanita Brooks became one of the best-known historians of Mormon and Utah history. Her autobiography is a valuable source of information on early southern Utah and Mormon history. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874211638
• ISBN13: 9780874211634
• Release Date: December 1992
• Publisher: Utah State University Press
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable history, engaging style

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.

A Must Read

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.

A wonderfully honest and human account of pioneer life

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.