American Trinity: And Other Stories from the Mormon Corridor

by David G. Pace

Twelve stories that span the Mormon Corridor—a geographical as well as, now, globally psychic space inhabited by America's most "successful" indigenous religion.At times rendered through life's daily grind (politics, marriage, acquiring an STD... and too many parking tickets), other times through the supernatural and fabulist (angels and personified names of the dead ripped from the real-life Utah mountain vault filled with genealogical records), these are Latter-day Saints who see things “Mormonly” (with apologies to “New Englandly” Emily Dickinson) both driven and riven by their frenetic and sacralized sense of community, their orthodoxy, their doubts and their awkward (often futile) rebellions to comical, poignant, sometimes harrowing ends.**David Pace’s exhilarating new collection, American Trinity, fashions a new set of mythologies from the material of Mormon America—tales of doubters and believers, angels and heretics, the sacred and the profane. With wisdom and humor, these ambitious stories use the particularities of LDS culture and history as a lens to examine the most profound, universal elements of human life—producing a collection that speaks powerfully to Mormons and non-Mormons alike.–Shawn Vestal, author of Daredevils and Godforsaken IdahoPace's short fiction is affecting and illuminating. He writes unflinchingly, depicting those at the margins – the doubters, the diffident, and the disconsolate, with sensitivity, compassion, and humour.–Carys Bray, author of A Song for Issy BradleyThere is deep pleasure to be found in the pages of David Pace’s gorgeous collection of short fiction, American Trinity. These are moving narratives, steeped in wise and evocative contemplation, luminous with Mormon Americana. Pace deftly plumbs the sometimes dark, often difficult depths of faith and loss with an insider’s knowledge and an angel’s compassion. He is, without doubt, one of the finest storytellers to come out of the Mormon experience.–Robert Hodgson Van Wagoner, author of The Contortionists and Dancing Naked

A former Mormon, David Pace with his deep concern for humanity and marvelous insights, brings members’ struggles to light, showing how the LDS religion both feeds and strains the heart. These stories are brilliantly rendered, wildly funny and touching, as Pace reveals his characters’ conflicts with their beliefs in Mormonism’s rigid rules. We learn about the quirks of baptism of the dead, how sexual relationships are affected, as well as members' unique turmoils about leaving the religion, or going back to it, and much more. A lapsed Catholic, I feel that any Mormon or other person raised with strict faith, will love these stories as well as non-religious readers curious about the secret lives of the Mormon faithful, and unfaithful. I could not put this book down. Well researched and intelligent, this is some of the finest fiction I have read about a religious culture, and some of the finest fiction I have ever read.–Nancy Takacs, author of Dearest Water

Genres: Nonfiction, Mormonism

214 pages, Paperback

Published February 20, 2024

About the author

David Pace is an author and editor who lives in Utah.

He has received awards for his novel, short fiction and narrative nonfiction and has been published in Quarterly West, ellipsis...literature and art, Alligator Juniper, Huffington Post, The Quarter(ly), and Bangalore Revie,. Sunstone and Dialogue, among other journals and magazines.

His most recent book is "American Trinity and Other Stories from the Mormon Corridor" published by BCC Press (2024).

His debut novel "Dream House on Golan Drive" was published in 2015 (Signature Press). He also appears in the anthologies "The Path & The Gate," in 2023 (Signature Books), "Blossom as the Cliffrose: Mormon Legacies and the Beckoning Wild" in 2021 (Torrey House Press), "Moth & Rust: Mormon Encounters with Death" in 2017 and a biography in "Worth Their Salt: Notable But often Unnoted Women of Utah" (USU Press).

Reviews

[David Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good short-story collection can take you to varied times and places, and this one is no exception. Present-day Salt Lake City, New York City, Tibet and the Provo of my youth are venues that come to mind as I sit here reviewing the stories in the table of contents in anticipation of what I will include here.

Some of the stories touch on politics, others describe cross-cultural encounters of an ecumenical nature and at least one, Robo-Maid, describes a clash with the authorities, all in the context of morality and/or Mormonism.

I’ll talk about some of these stories (and in no particular) order below:

My favorite story is the title tale, which is a first-person account by Zed, one of the three Nephites, of his experiences throughout the centuries following his calling to remain on Earth until the second coming of Christ.

Stairway to Heaven recounts a friendship of sorts with the fictionalized version of a boy I, too, knew from my school days years ago. I was struck by how similar the author’s experiences with this character, as portrayed in this fictionalized account, were to my own.

During those days, I didn’t really understand the dynamics of how money and other aspects of familial connections can influence a young kid’s status among his or her peers. For that reason, I was always a bit mystified at how confident and insouciant this fellow was. He seemed to navigate all segments of the student population with ease. And girls liked him. Was it really just the fact that his parents had money? I don’t know, but I suppose that played a role in it.

Mormon Moment is a fun one-sided phone conversation, where we eavesdrop on a fervent Utahn expounding on reasons why Mormons should support Mitt Romney. (This, of course, before Donald Trump infected the state with his mindless brand of irrational thought. If it can be called ‘thought’. Nowadays, many Utahns see Romney as the enemy.)

City of Saints is the account of a seventy (a general authority called to minister in a church-wide leadership position) who is being pressured to remarry after the recent death of his first wife. And two additional characters, whom I won’t mention here, add complexity to his role, making this a very compelling story.

Sagarmatha is the story of a climber who is focused on ascending a high Tibetan peak but who becomes distracted by an irksome dog who keeps him awake at night in his tent. His moral compass won’t allow him to shoot the dog, so it becomes an albatross around his neck as he tries to focus on his mountaineering goal.

Angels in Utah (acknowledged in the text to be a take-off on Angels in America) and Dreamcatcher are two quirky (perhaps I could say cerebral) stories which probably merit repeated readings. I plan to do that.

There are a couple of other stories I didn't mention here, but I enjoyed those, as well. It's amazing to me how much territory can be covered in fewer than 200 pages.

[Syd The Witch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just gonna start with LDS is not in any way shape or form "indigenous" and spare everyone the rest of my thoughts