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The Backslider
Recognized as a Mormon classic twenty years after its release,The Backslider features longstanding Christian conflicts played out in a scenic, sparsely populated area of southern Utah. A young ranch-hand, Frank Windham, conceives of God as an implacable enemy of human appetite. He is a dedicated sinner until family tragedy catapults him into an arcane form of penitence preached among frontier Mormons. He is saved by an epiphany that has proved controversial among readers, either interpreting it as an extreme impiety or celebrating it as a moving and entirely plausible rendering of a biblical theme in a Western setting. Frank comes into contact with a host of rural and urban characters. Of central importance is his Lutheran girlfriend, Marianne, whom Frank seduces, begrudgingly marries, and eventually loves. Frank’s extended family is just a generation removed from polygamy and still energized by old-time grudges and deprivations. Along the way Frank encounters a closeted secular humanist, a polygamist prophet, a psychiatrist, a Mason, government employees, college professors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs—all drawn with heightened realism reminiscent of Charles Dickens or the grotesque forms of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor. The story engages readers as it alternates almost imperceptibly between Frank’s naïve consciousness and the more informed awareness of its narrator. It can be read as a love story, a satiric comedy, or a dark and sobering study of self-mutilation. Shifting from one to another, it builds suspense and elicits complex emotions, among them a profound sense of compassion. More joyous than cynical, it sympathizes deeply with the plight of all of God’s backsliders.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
March 20, 2009
One of the most fiercely Mormon novels I have ever read. A brilliant invocation of an older, wilder Mormonism that I am not really conversant with. It examines the idea of guilt and grace and it has one of the most marvelous theophanies I have ever read (in fiction). However, it does not shrink from swearing or sexual content (relatively mild by modern standards, but shocking in the world of LDS literature). If you don't think that the sensitive materials will offend you, then I recommend it HIGHLY.
September 14, 2008
This is the only good 'Mormon' novel I've ever read. It is great literature, pure and simple Mormon or not. Probably the only important Mormon novel that you absolutely must read. Must. Don't forget his short stories as well.
January 9, 2011
This is one of my favorite books of al time. And I can't imagine who I'd recommend it to. It's crass, vulgar, sweet and faith promoting. I totally understand Frank Windham I've a lot of Frank in me. My favorite part is cowboy Jesus. He's the Jesus I think of. Marriane is "a hell of a girl"
January 5, 2009
This book was really unusual. I'm having a hard time figuring out what to say about it, or how to rank it.
The bad: There's some horrifying, stomach-turning stuff in there. I don't really handle blood, guts, or gore very well, and I now have some images in my mind that I kind of wish weren't there.
The perplexing: The characters are all LDS, so I kind of assumed they'd seem like comfortable old buddies, or extended family. It was a little jarring to realize how different their culture (rural Utah in the 1950's) was from my experiences (suburban NY/Boston/Seattle over the last 30 years).
The good: The main character was complex, three-dimensional, and fascinating. I grew to really care about him, and wish for his happiness. I was really drawn into the story, and had to know how it ended. And I appreciated reading a realistic book about the themes of love, lust, God, guilt, repentance, forgiveness, relationships, & responsibility.
The best: I was really moved by the ending. The main character finally gets a clue about grace, and learns that God is good and kind and merciful and loving. After such a wrenching book, that message seemed even more beautiful and powerful.
My three-star ranking is me grasping for a way to convey this mixture of "the good, the bad, and the ugly". I might give it anywhere from a 1 to a 5, depending on the moment you asked me. I wouldn't recommend this book to squeamish people, but if you have a hardy constitution, you might really enjoy it.
The bad: There's some horrifying, stomach-turning stuff in there. I don't really handle blood, guts, or gore very well, and I now have some images in my mind that I kind of wish weren't there.
The perplexing: The characters are all LDS, so I kind of assumed they'd seem like comfortable old buddies, or extended family. It was a little jarring to realize how different their culture (rural Utah in the 1950's) was from my experiences (suburban NY/Boston/Seattle over the last 30 years).
The good: The main character was complex, three-dimensional, and fascinating. I grew to really care about him, and wish for his happiness. I was really drawn into the story, and had to know how it ended. And I appreciated reading a realistic book about the themes of love, lust, God, guilt, repentance, forgiveness, relationships, & responsibility.
The best: I was really moved by the ending. The main character finally gets a clue about grace, and learns that God is good and kind and merciful and loving. After such a wrenching book, that message seemed even more beautiful and powerful.
My three-star ranking is me grasping for a way to convey this mixture of "the good, the bad, and the ugly". I might give it anywhere from a 1 to a 5, depending on the moment you asked me. I wouldn't recommend this book to squeamish people, but if you have a hardy constitution, you might really enjoy it.
April 27, 2012
Holy crap, I liked this book. It's good to know there is at least one piece of Mormon fiction out there that isn't puerile and two-dimensional.
My experience with Mormonism wasn't one of asceticism. But, I did live through my own self-imposed privation. So, I identified with Frank quite a bit.
My favorite part of the book:
I love the world, too.
You spend all this time twisting the parts of yourself you think you must sacrifice... forming them into an unrecognizable mass, hoping it will one day be enough for God. In the meantime your life springs up around you in ways you didn't intend. Then one day you wake up and see that life. And the parts of you that you twisted and crumpled and tried to kill spring back open... and you realize it's a good thing.... and while it's a life you didn't intentionally create, it's a good life. And you can see a future within it. And the next thing you know, you're actually happy.
My experience with Mormonism wasn't one of asceticism. But, I did live through my own self-imposed privation. So, I identified with Frank quite a bit.
My favorite part of the book:
"I hate to say this. The worst thing is, I hate God."
The rider raised his eyebrows but he didn't speak.
"I love the world," Frank said. "I love my wife and my little kid that hasn't been born yet and I love a big truck under me and I love sunrise out over the Escalante breaks and I love the sound of the diesel running the pumps in the middle of the night. That's what I love. I hate God."
I love the world, too.
You spend all this time twisting the parts of yourself you think you must sacrifice... forming them into an unrecognizable mass, hoping it will one day be enough for God. In the meantime your life springs up around you in ways you didn't intend. Then one day you wake up and see that life. And the parts of you that you twisted and crumpled and tried to kill spring back open... and you realize it's a good thing.... and while it's a life you didn't intentionally create, it's a good life. And you can see a future within it. And the next thing you know, you're actually happy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2010
It took me a while to understand where this book was going. I came into it with zero background on the book, reading it for an online book-club. The book lays out male sexuality without any softening of the edges. It hits on the crazy LDS asceticism concepts and does so in a way that pisses you off to the point of wanting to scream. I could find identification in many of the characters and their quirks, either in my own self or in people I know from my family or circle of friends.
Really, God wants us to castigate ourselves for our own human tendencies and wants and desires? He wants us to suffer for the sake of showing that we can take it? He wants us to NOT enjoy the little things in this life that are pure joy and happiness and that are fulfilling and edifying? Levi Peterson shows us the insanity in that kind of thinking.
Lastly, the cowboy Jesus aspect of the book hinted at something less than respectful of Christ, but once it unfolded in the last chapter I was touched. I felt that Christ truly was a friend, a brother, an sympathetic and loving soul that was patient in his observance of Frank's struggles, but also critical yet again patient with those who interpreted their faith to be an exercise in self deprecation.
I really, really recommend the book.
Really, God wants us to castigate ourselves for our own human tendencies and wants and desires? He wants us to suffer for the sake of showing that we can take it? He wants us to NOT enjoy the little things in this life that are pure joy and happiness and that are fulfilling and edifying? Levi Peterson shows us the insanity in that kind of thinking.
Lastly, the cowboy Jesus aspect of the book hinted at something less than respectful of Christ, but once it unfolded in the last chapter I was touched. I felt that Christ truly was a friend, a brother, an sympathetic and loving soul that was patient in his observance of Frank's struggles, but also critical yet again patient with those who interpreted their faith to be an exercise in self deprecation.
I really, really recommend the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 22, 2009
If you look at the reviews on here, a lot of people loved it, but are nervous about reccomending it. I loved it and reccoment it to everyone (except, maybe, my inlaws). This is a classic.
Right from the start I was addicted to Frank and the landscapes that shaped him: both the religious one and the scenes of rural Utah. There is something off - just a little unfamiliar - about the Mormonism of Frank's world. But it is familiar enough that Mormons will be able to identify with him.
The same could be said of the imagery of Utah. In one of the first scenes, Frank chases an animal around the U of U's campus. This is the closest Frank gets to the city. The rest is set in the somewhat unfamiliar landscape of rural Utah. I found the dichotomy between rural and urban fascinating. I could hear echoes of my mother's stories about growing up in Virgin, Utah throughout the novel.
And, of course, I will never forget the final scene.
Right from the start I was addicted to Frank and the landscapes that shaped him: both the religious one and the scenes of rural Utah. There is something off - just a little unfamiliar - about the Mormonism of Frank's world. But it is familiar enough that Mormons will be able to identify with him.
The same could be said of the imagery of Utah. In one of the first scenes, Frank chases an animal around the U of U's campus. This is the closest Frank gets to the city. The rest is set in the somewhat unfamiliar landscape of rural Utah. I found the dichotomy between rural and urban fascinating. I could hear echoes of my mother's stories about growing up in Virgin, Utah throughout the novel.
And, of course, I will never forget the final scene.
April 28, 2010
This book really deserves a much broader audience beyond the confines of Mormonism--it's a profound, complex, messy, and ultimately triumphant study of faith, guilt, sex, power, and grace. Peterson's depiction of the American West, his wrenching plotlines, and his astonishingly vivid characters, really put this book in the top tier of contemporary American novels.
Cowboy Jesus Saves!
Cowboy Jesus Saves!
November 26, 2016
The ending is what makes this book so great. Leading up to the end it's mostly a wandering through the different facets of the life of a Mormon Cowboy, but the ending brings it all together. One of my favorite Mormon novels.
February 21, 2012
Surprisingly poignant, and a great ending. Consider me a big fan of Cowboy Jesus.
September 10, 2020
The gem of Mormon fiction. Hilarious, profound, irreverent, holy, all at the same time.
June 5, 2016
In some ways this book was a gem, and yet I want to throw it in the garbage because I don't want an innocent bystander in my house to accidentally pick it up! Three stars is my way of averaging the various scales I have running through my head.
I met Levi Peterson in the first English class of my college career. It was spring of 1990; I was a freshman, and the class was not English 101 but 350: Literature of the American West. I enjoyed the class tremendously. Dr. Peterson was one of my favorite professors over the course of my college years because of his passion for his subject, his laid-back and gently self-deprecating manner, and the way he could have a good laugh at the Mormon culture in a way that was laughing with and not at us.
Classes were laced with stories about his adventures as a jack Mormon, like attending his Sunday meetings but making sure to sleep through them. As an 18-year-old, I don't think I appreciated the nuances of conversion and what it takes, over a lifetime, to simultaneously embrace both worlds of faith and doubt--and yet to maintain the courage to continue on in faith despite the seeds of fear that doubt plants.
The Backslider was published in 1986. During my college career, I believe Dr. Peterson felt like it was his crown jewel. When I came across it recently at a library sale, I remembered Dr. Peterson's classes and thought it was high time I read his novel.
I don't think I could have handled this book as a young adult. Even as an adult, I had a hard time sticking with it. The issue for me, essentially, is that I really hated being dragged through Frank's lusty journey. Although the sex is mostly mentioned, not described in salacious detail, there was a LOT of it. Like on almost every page. There are also some really horrifying images of self-mutilating on the path to holy self-denial.
Poor Frank has the best intentions. He wants to be good, but he just can't overcome the passions of the flesh. He believes that God is demanding, judging, critical--never quite satisfied with Frank's efforts. Frank just can't stick to his commitments. He knows he is a backslider--trying to do his best but messing up over and over again.
His family is messed up also. His widowed mother is just trying to raise her boys to be good people, but she hides behind a protective veneer of uncomfortable righteousness. Frank's brother Jeremy feels stretched between everyone's unachievable expectations for himself--to the point where he snaps and has to create a whole new identity for himself. As he becomes untethered from reality, his observations are often piercing and wise. Although Jeremy provides some comic relief in the novel, considered as a real person he is a terribly tragic figure.
Frank's girlfriend has a lovely arc from sweet and gullible teenager to a young woman who has to grow up very quickly and confront her fears and hopes about being a wife and mother and a good person.
In the end, Frank finds Jesus on his own terms, a cowboy Jesus who offers love and acceptance and redemption in a way that Frank can truly believe in.
Peterson introduces many characters that did nothing to further the plot and that I couldn't keep straight. The writing style is a lot of telling instead of showing, and sometimes I skimmed because I just didn't care what was happening. Sometimes I skimmed because I was tired of all the sex. Sometimes I wondered why I was still reading. But I persevered because I heard that it all came together in the last chapter, and it did, beautifully. So I was--eventually--glad that I persevered.
The audience is a puzzler. Peterson seems to be writing to Mormons who will understand the terminology, the sometimes wacky culture, and the "in jokes," if you will. (He really plays the "wacky/bizarre small-town Mormon" card to the point of satire.) But the constant barrage of sex would be offensive to a mainstream LDS audience. Yet I don't know how well someone not raised in the LDS Church would get this. So is the book aimed at disaffected Mormons? That's a pretty narrow audience. I'm still puzzling over that one. All I can come up with is that Peterson was probably just writing from the heart without worrying about who his eventual audience would be.
Although being stuck in lusty Frank's head for a whole book bothered me, on reflection I've thought about how his journey is actually a parable.
For truly, aren't we all backsliders? Doing the best we can with whatever unfair circumstances life has handed us, making commitments we can't keep, loving and hurting those closest to us despite our best intentions? We are all so tragically flawed. But when we are ready, salvation comes to each of in sometimes the most unexpected ways--not from an unknowable, faraway God, but from a most intimate and personal God who meets us right where we are.
I met Levi Peterson in the first English class of my college career. It was spring of 1990; I was a freshman, and the class was not English 101 but 350: Literature of the American West. I enjoyed the class tremendously. Dr. Peterson was one of my favorite professors over the course of my college years because of his passion for his subject, his laid-back and gently self-deprecating manner, and the way he could have a good laugh at the Mormon culture in a way that was laughing with and not at us.
Classes were laced with stories about his adventures as a jack Mormon, like attending his Sunday meetings but making sure to sleep through them. As an 18-year-old, I don't think I appreciated the nuances of conversion and what it takes, over a lifetime, to simultaneously embrace both worlds of faith and doubt--and yet to maintain the courage to continue on in faith despite the seeds of fear that doubt plants.
The Backslider was published in 1986. During my college career, I believe Dr. Peterson felt like it was his crown jewel. When I came across it recently at a library sale, I remembered Dr. Peterson's classes and thought it was high time I read his novel.
I don't think I could have handled this book as a young adult. Even as an adult, I had a hard time sticking with it. The issue for me, essentially, is that I really hated being dragged through Frank's lusty journey. Although the sex is mostly mentioned, not described in salacious detail, there was a LOT of it. Like on almost every page. There are also some really horrifying images of self-mutilating on the path to holy self-denial.
Poor Frank has the best intentions. He wants to be good, but he just can't overcome the passions of the flesh. He believes that God is demanding, judging, critical--never quite satisfied with Frank's efforts. Frank just can't stick to his commitments. He knows he is a backslider--trying to do his best but messing up over and over again.
His family is messed up also. His widowed mother is just trying to raise her boys to be good people, but she hides behind a protective veneer of uncomfortable righteousness. Frank's brother Jeremy feels stretched between everyone's unachievable expectations for himself--to the point where he snaps and has to create a whole new identity for himself. As he becomes untethered from reality, his observations are often piercing and wise. Although Jeremy provides some comic relief in the novel, considered as a real person he is a terribly tragic figure.
Frank's girlfriend has a lovely arc from sweet and gullible teenager to a young woman who has to grow up very quickly and confront her fears and hopes about being a wife and mother and a good person.
In the end, Frank finds Jesus on his own terms, a cowboy Jesus who offers love and acceptance and redemption in a way that Frank can truly believe in.
Peterson introduces many characters that did nothing to further the plot and that I couldn't keep straight. The writing style is a lot of telling instead of showing, and sometimes I skimmed because I just didn't care what was happening. Sometimes I skimmed because I was tired of all the sex. Sometimes I wondered why I was still reading. But I persevered because I heard that it all came together in the last chapter, and it did, beautifully. So I was--eventually--glad that I persevered.
The audience is a puzzler. Peterson seems to be writing to Mormons who will understand the terminology, the sometimes wacky culture, and the "in jokes," if you will. (He really plays the "wacky/bizarre small-town Mormon" card to the point of satire.) But the constant barrage of sex would be offensive to a mainstream LDS audience. Yet I don't know how well someone not raised in the LDS Church would get this. So is the book aimed at disaffected Mormons? That's a pretty narrow audience. I'm still puzzling over that one. All I can come up with is that Peterson was probably just writing from the heart without worrying about who his eventual audience would be.
Although being stuck in lusty Frank's head for a whole book bothered me, on reflection I've thought about how his journey is actually a parable.
For truly, aren't we all backsliders? Doing the best we can with whatever unfair circumstances life has handed us, making commitments we can't keep, loving and hurting those closest to us despite our best intentions? We are all so tragically flawed. But when we are ready, salvation comes to each of in sometimes the most unexpected ways--not from an unknowable, faraway God, but from a most intimate and personal God who meets us right where we are.
January 14, 2011
A surprise.
I did not expect to enjoy this book. It would not appeal to those not familiar to Utah/Mormon culture, since it so very specific to that culture. It spoke to me though very strongly about the foundational principles of Christianity without beating me over the head with it. The story stands on its own. You have to like Frank. He exudes common sense and honesty, and his obvious flaws make him endearing.
Frank is a young man who decides he must straighten out his life. He has however, a truly flawed sense of who God is and how He sees his wayward children. He sees God with Frank in his rifle sights, just waiting to pull the trigger. Frank feels he must "balance the books" of behavior, so that his "good deeds" outweigh the bad. He tries and tries, but finds it just impossible to do more good than bad. Growing up, he never came to understand the role of the Savior, Jesus Christ, though his parents were themselves devout Mormons.
His new Lutheran wife is the surprising catalyst to help him understand the role that the atonement of Jesus Christ plays in our recovery and acceptance by God. They help each other toward balance -mainly by making plenty of painful mistakes, and then coming to the realization that the process of making mistakes and redemption is the narrative of a full and complete life.
As Deja continued to tell me, "...just wait until you meet the cowboy Jesus". That is when Frank finally gets it.
This book could not be recommended for young readers. There are adult themes here, even though handled with discretion.
I did not expect to enjoy this book. It would not appeal to those not familiar to Utah/Mormon culture, since it so very specific to that culture. It spoke to me though very strongly about the foundational principles of Christianity without beating me over the head with it. The story stands on its own. You have to like Frank. He exudes common sense and honesty, and his obvious flaws make him endearing.
Frank is a young man who decides he must straighten out his life. He has however, a truly flawed sense of who God is and how He sees his wayward children. He sees God with Frank in his rifle sights, just waiting to pull the trigger. Frank feels he must "balance the books" of behavior, so that his "good deeds" outweigh the bad. He tries and tries, but finds it just impossible to do more good than bad. Growing up, he never came to understand the role of the Savior, Jesus Christ, though his parents were themselves devout Mormons.
His new Lutheran wife is the surprising catalyst to help him understand the role that the atonement of Jesus Christ plays in our recovery and acceptance by God. They help each other toward balance -mainly by making plenty of painful mistakes, and then coming to the realization that the process of making mistakes and redemption is the narrative of a full and complete life.
As Deja continued to tell me, "...just wait until you meet the cowboy Jesus". That is when Frank finally gets it.
This book could not be recommended for young readers. There are adult themes here, even though handled with discretion.
July 28, 2008
I loved this book. The book is about sin, guilt, redemption, relationships... The back of the book says that it is at times reverent, at times raunchy - that it is! This probably isn't the best book for a sensitive reader. I found myself laughing out loud (especially when they were looking for consecrating oil outside the hospital - I found that scene so funny!), and at times almost crying (when Frank and his brother are hunting). I also loved that Frank's wife understood the atonement better than he did (and she was Lutheran!!) Such a good read - definitely not "typical" LDS fiction - but handles the topics of sin, guilt, atonement so well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2010
1. I laughed out loud
2. I cried at the end
3. It's about the place I grew up, southern utah
4. The main character is familiar, believable. (Reminds me of one of my brothers)
5. Takes on themes--sexuality, guilt that anyone who was brought up in an extremely religious home can relate to...
6. Crazy and unforeseen plot twist--
So glad this book exists and that I found it! Like the back cover says, it's very funny, and yet painful, and the kind of book you don't want to end, you just want to go on living with the characters
2. I cried at the end
3. It's about the place I grew up, southern utah
4. The main character is familiar, believable. (Reminds me of one of my brothers)
5. Takes on themes--sexuality, guilt that anyone who was brought up in an extremely religious home can relate to...
6. Crazy and unforeseen plot twist--
So glad this book exists and that I found it! Like the back cover says, it's very funny, and yet painful, and the kind of book you don't want to end, you just want to go on living with the characters
March 2, 2008
A wonderful, and painful, story to read. I've given it five stars because I find myself thinking about it on a regular basis even though I read it a few years ago. While some might find the visual image of Jesus problematic, I thought it was a great depiction of Christ being someone we can individually relate to. I think this is a very well written and thought provoking book. It isn't light reading and you have to approach it with an open mind, but if you are willing, this is a great novel.
March 5, 2008
I love The Backslider. It is one of my all-time favorite books. Frank, the main character, is a Mormon ranch hand from southern Utah who views himself as perpetually in a sinful and damned state by a vengeful God. Through several trials and the patience of his Lutheran wife, he transcends this comdemnation and finds grace in a loving, forgiving approachable Jesus.
For me it was incredibly powerful.
For me it was incredibly powerful.
May 23, 2008
LDS fiction. A delightfully irreverent tale about sin and salvation, religious guilt and sexual frustration. The protagonist is a young man convinced he is going to hell because of his continual feelings of lust, and indeed, he feels he merits no better reward. I loved this book because it seemed so real...so many people carry around those same feelings. Good stuff.
Why can't you believe my blood was enough? Why do you have to shed yours too?
Why can't you believe my blood was enough? Why do you have to shed yours too?
March 14, 2012
I read this book a month ago, and I had to come back and change my rating from 4 stars to 5. This is one of those books I've grown to love - the more I think about it the more I appreciate it. I found much of the content very difficult to read, maybe because Frank's guilt hits close to home for me. But I am very glad that I stuck with it, because the ending is more than worth the painful journey. I think Peterson is one of my heroes now. I can't wait to read more from him.
October 1, 2010
I really enjoyed this book. I love that the characters were well developed and dynamic. It's interesting what ones belief in God and the nature of what deity wants can do to a person... The ending wasn't tied with a bow (which I hate, because it simply isn't the way the world works.) but it is uplifting.
I would very much recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with their beliefs and living up to what they think God expects of them.
I would very much recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with their beliefs and living up to what they think God expects of them.
July 18, 2008
This was a really cool book. Not everyone will like it, but I really did. It kind of reminded me a lot of Catcher in the Rye, but with a Mormon in Southern Utah. It didn't have a terribly satisfying ending, but the abruptness kind of matched the style of the book, so it worked OK. I recommend it to any Mormon who doesn't mind a bit of un-sugarcoated reality.
March 25, 2013
I had a hard time warming up to the main character, especially in the beginning, but that was okay, because the author rewards the reader for making it through all the set-up with some really powerful moments later in the book. While a lot of the characters were really extreme, they still rang true. Marianne, however, is the character that really makes this a great work.
April 13, 2010
Some people call this "the Great Mormon Novel." I couldn't really say if that is true because I haven't read enough Mormon novels. However, it is certainly, by a wide margin, the best Mormon novel I have ever read.
April 1, 2009
Definitely not for everyone. But I read it years ago when I needed a new perspective on the mormon church and guilt. It helped immensely at that time. Could be upsetting for many.
October 26, 2013
“He would’ve gone to hell for Rhoda so it didn’t matter that all this righteousness made his life more or less hellish. That’s what righteousness was all about.”(7)
And so we meet Frank. A somewhat Jack Mormon with the fear of God still residing in his soul. I alternated between hysterical laughter and gut-wrenching pain. I suppose, it's because I can relate to Frank. He's real to me. Growing up a Mormon, I know exactly what Frank is feeling. While I think anyone could relate to Frank's spiritual journey, I think it will be especially poignant to Mormons struggling to find their own faith and knowledge of God and Jesus.
Frank works for the Earles. They are Lutherans and Mr. Earle distinctly tells Frank to stay away from his daughter Marianne, but Frank and Marianne eventually find themselves in a sexual relationship which would definitely count as "sin" in the Mormon handbook. Frank is torn. He loves being with Marianne but is racked with guilt and then tragedy strikes.
After tragedy strike Frank's family, Frank gets really scared. He imagines God staring at him down the barrel of rifle, ready to knock him dead. He begins to abstain from everything. He gives up his worldly goods, stops fornicating (that's how the book always describes it.) with Marianne and turns his life to being a perfect Mormon.
I love all the characters in this book. I love Frank. He's simple, hard-working and honest. He speaks his mind and sticks by his (crazy) family. Throughout the book he's always going on about what a sinful, awful person he is, but his actions speak differently. Marianne is wonderful. She's just as real and loving as Frank. She's the kind of girl I would want to be friends with.
People reading this who aren't Mormons, should realize that this is not a true depiction of all things Mormon. Frank's Mom is crazy. Yet, there is something painfully true in the satire. It honestly hurt my heart at times, because I related so easily.
It's hard to always feel like you need to be better. It gets exhausting. Then one day, you just wake up and decide you've had enough. You're going to get down to the business of being happy.
And thank goodness for Cowboy Jesus.
I recommend this to anyone, especially people struggling with their own faith in God and Jesus. It's not dogmatic, but it will give you a humorous outlet to explore your own beliefs.
And so we meet Frank. A somewhat Jack Mormon with the fear of God still residing in his soul. I alternated between hysterical laughter and gut-wrenching pain. I suppose, it's because I can relate to Frank. He's real to me. Growing up a Mormon, I know exactly what Frank is feeling. While I think anyone could relate to Frank's spiritual journey, I think it will be especially poignant to Mormons struggling to find their own faith and knowledge of God and Jesus.
Frank works for the Earles. They are Lutherans and Mr. Earle distinctly tells Frank to stay away from his daughter Marianne, but Frank and Marianne eventually find themselves in a sexual relationship which would definitely count as "sin" in the Mormon handbook. Frank is torn. He loves being with Marianne but is racked with guilt and then tragedy strikes.
After tragedy strike Frank's family, Frank gets really scared. He imagines God staring at him down the barrel of rifle, ready to knock him dead. He begins to abstain from everything. He gives up his worldly goods, stops fornicating (that's how the book always describes it.) with Marianne and turns his life to being a perfect Mormon.
I love all the characters in this book. I love Frank. He's simple, hard-working and honest. He speaks his mind and sticks by his (crazy) family. Throughout the book he's always going on about what a sinful, awful person he is, but his actions speak differently. Marianne is wonderful. She's just as real and loving as Frank. She's the kind of girl I would want to be friends with.
People reading this who aren't Mormons, should realize that this is not a true depiction of all things Mormon. Frank's Mom is crazy. Yet, there is something painfully true in the satire. It honestly hurt my heart at times, because I related so easily.
It's hard to always feel like you need to be better. It gets exhausting. Then one day, you just wake up and decide you've had enough. You're going to get down to the business of being happy.
And thank goodness for Cowboy Jesus.
I recommend this to anyone, especially people struggling with their own faith in God and Jesus. It's not dogmatic, but it will give you a humorous outlet to explore your own beliefs.
May 25, 2014
"You wear guilt
Like shackles on your feet
Like a halo in reverse
I can feel
The discomfort in your seat
And in your head it's worse
There's a pain
A famine in your heart
An aching to be free
Can't you see
All love's luxuries
Are here for you and me"
These lines from Depeche Mode’s song “Halo” frequently played in my mind as I witnessed Frank Windham wrestle with the fallacy of righteousness as self-perfection. He flunks, as did I, the Mormon cultural calculus which often equates self-denial with spirituality and asceticism with authenticity.
Peterson’s work deserves a solid A (Terryl Givens was right when he called it the “standard for the contemporary Mormon novel”). Peterson illustrates the supreme importance of being able to get out of the way of our own happiness; that eyes cast downward will never lead us to anywhere productive or meaningful in this life - or the next.
Frank’s Cowboy Jesus epiphany juxtaposes beauty with blasphemy so skillfully that I found myself reading the scene repeatedly with Depeche Mode once again reverberating in the back of my head:
"Reach out and touch faith
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who's there"
Like shackles on your feet
Like a halo in reverse
I can feel
The discomfort in your seat
And in your head it's worse
There's a pain
A famine in your heart
An aching to be free
Can't you see
All love's luxuries
Are here for you and me"
These lines from Depeche Mode’s song “Halo” frequently played in my mind as I witnessed Frank Windham wrestle with the fallacy of righteousness as self-perfection. He flunks, as did I, the Mormon cultural calculus which often equates self-denial with spirituality and asceticism with authenticity.
Peterson’s work deserves a solid A (Terryl Givens was right when he called it the “standard for the contemporary Mormon novel”). Peterson illustrates the supreme importance of being able to get out of the way of our own happiness; that eyes cast downward will never lead us to anywhere productive or meaningful in this life - or the next.
Frank’s Cowboy Jesus epiphany juxtaposes beauty with blasphemy so skillfully that I found myself reading the scene repeatedly with Depeche Mode once again reverberating in the back of my head:
"Reach out and touch faith
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who's there"
February 27, 2008
Probably a racy story for the average Mormon reader. I copied this description below from another reader's comment elsewhere because it was so eloquently written.
"The Backslider is not a light temptation story with a hero who gives in at first and then repents with complete success. Rather, like many great works, it presents a hero who succumbs, first denies his actions to himsef and others, and then repents, only to succumb again. The Blackslider tells the story of a simple, well-meaning Mormon cowboy who can barely keep his pants on and head together. Neither very attracted nor committed to his Lutheran girlfriend, he finds himself well on the way to marriage and all sorts of other obligations to her. Meanwhile, his family encounters much hardship with a brother and his mental illness.
The novel's themes of temptation, redemption, religious hypocrisy and cultural pressures are convincing. Neither preachy nor prim in description, the Backslider has an earthy quality that draws the reader in."
"The Backslider is not a light temptation story with a hero who gives in at first and then repents with complete success. Rather, like many great works, it presents a hero who succumbs, first denies his actions to himsef and others, and then repents, only to succumb again. The Blackslider tells the story of a simple, well-meaning Mormon cowboy who can barely keep his pants on and head together. Neither very attracted nor committed to his Lutheran girlfriend, he finds himself well on the way to marriage and all sorts of other obligations to her. Meanwhile, his family encounters much hardship with a brother and his mental illness.
The novel's themes of temptation, redemption, religious hypocrisy and cultural pressures are convincing. Neither preachy nor prim in description, the Backslider has an earthy quality that draws the reader in."
September 3, 2014
Levi Peterson's "The Backslider" is still commonly hailed as the best Mormon fiction has to offer to date. The protagonist is Frank, a young Mormon struggling with religious guilt and sexual tension. He spends the book trying to appease a God whom he hates. After helling around a bit Frank decides it's time to change his ways and live right. He comes to believe that life on earth has one overriding purpose: misery. Frank intends to overcome his sins through the misery caused by his self-imposed asceticism but he can't seem to keep it up for long enough. No matter where he goes in the remote deserts of Southern Utah God is there, fixed on him with a giant gun site in the sky, just waiting for him to backslide. His Lutheran girlfriend Marianne finds Frank's God too unlike her own imagined "cowboy Jesus," a loving savior in a Stetson who seeks the lost and brings them to salvation. If he could only find Frank.
May 26, 2014
This is a strange read, but definitely worth it. Through the story of Frank, the author paints a picture of young man living in a conservative religious community (rural Utah in the 1950s) but not feeling the conviction to follow the rules or commandments. Frank knows he is supposed to control his sexuality but seems unable to despite his best efforts. He feels punished and damned for his lusts and that god has cursed him with such desires. He messes up again and again (hence the book title) but eventually learns who "the cowboy Jesus" is and is able to cultivate his faith not in a place of perfection, but in a place of getting back up each time.
This book might make some uncomfortable with the violence and sexuality, but life is uncomfortable. The main characters in this story are real, struggling and deep, which to me is comforting.
I had to purchase it used online since it is out of print. If you are interested in reading it, I can send it to you.
This book might make some uncomfortable with the violence and sexuality, but life is uncomfortable. The main characters in this story are real, struggling and deep, which to me is comforting.
I had to purchase it used online since it is out of print. If you are interested in reading it, I can send it to you.
June 9, 2008
One of the comments on the cover of my book described this book as raunchy and righteous. It is an interesting combination but a pretty accurate description. This is the story of a cowboy living in central Utah and his struggles to try and be a good mormon. The thing I enjoyed about it was I think it gave a good feeling for what life was like in a small central Utah town in the late 50's early 60's. Because it is kind of raunchy I am afraid to generally recommend it. It made me think of some of my old missionary companions and if I were married to a cowboy from a small Arizona or Mexican town the book might give some insights into what it was like living in their world. I liked the ending and found it quite uplifiting (others have criticized the book for its ending)
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