Like a Fiery Meteor: The Life of Joseph F. Smith

by Stephen C Taysom

Joseph F. Smith was born in 1838 to Hyrum Smith and Mary Fielding Smith. Six years later both his father and his uncle, Joseph Smith Jr., the founding prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were murdered in Carthage, Illinois. The trauma of that event remained with Joseph F. for the rest of his life, affecting his personal behavior and public tenure in the highest tiers of the LDS Church, including the post of president from 1901 until his death in 1918. Joseph F. Smith laid the theological groundwork for modern Mormonism, especially the emphasis on temple work. This contribution was capped off by his “revelation on the redemption of the dead,” a prophetic glimpse into the afterlife. Taysom’s book traces the roots of this vision, which reach far more deeply into Joseph F. Smith’s life than other scholars have previously identified.

In this first cradle-to-grave biography of Joseph F. Smith, Stephen C. Taysom uses previously unavailable primary source materials to craft a deeply detailed, insightful story of a prominent member of a governing and influential Mormon family. Importantly, Taysom situates Smith within the historical currents of American westward expansion, rapid industrialization, settler colonialism, regional and national politics, changing ideas about family and masculinity, and more. Though some writers tend to view the LDS Church and its leaders through a lens of political and religious separatism, Taysom does the opposite, pushing Joseph F. Smith and the LDS Church closer to the centers of power in Washington, DC, and elsewhere.

528 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2023

Reviews

[Christopher Angulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

JFS, like most humans, is very complex. This book handled his history and life well. There's a lot of information in here you don't typically hear about from his earlier life.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been holding off on reviewing this book because being the first Goodreads review felt like a lot of pressure, but it's been four months now since I finished it and it's really stuck with me. I think a non-hagiographical full-length biography of Joseph F. Smith was long overdue, and I was very excited to read this, but I did not expect to find it as emotionally compelling and thought-provoking as I did.

Taysom does a fantastic job of telling the story not just of Joseph F., who comes off by turns as both deeply sympathetic and deeply unlikable, but of his expansive polygamist family and their environment. I think this was a very compassionate, nuanced portrait of someone who had deep and profound unaddressed trauma that affected his whole life, and who was capable of both overwhelming love and cruel, controlling and even violent behavior towards his loved ones. I think the book is very aware of that dichotomy and the factors that shaped Joseph F.'s life and choices and is full of really fantastic analysis. I thought the discussion of gender roles and how they related to Joseph F.'s struggles with both anger and anxiety and his interpretation of those feelings was particularly well-done.

Joseph F.'s long life covers a huge swathe of Mormon history, from his early childhood in Nauvoo through major cultural and ideological changes in the first two decades of the 20th century. My one critique of the book would be that I wish a bit more time was spent analyzing the Reed Smoot hearings and the Second Manifesto. I think this was a huge turning point for the church as a whole and also represented a major ideological compromise for Joseph F. and I wish Taysom had dug a bit more into that.

Overall, this is a fantastic biography that was emotionally gripping, intellectually fascinating, well-researched, and well-analyzed. I have thought about it a lot over the last few months, and I imagine it will continue to stay with me in the future.