It's certainly interesting. Anderson's conclusion is that Smith had a narcisistic/antisocial personality. I thought the research was very good. It's worth getting. I own the book.
templenameaaron Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What are your thoughts on the book?
It should be read simultaneously with W. D. Morain's _The Sword of Laban: Joseph Smith, Jr., and the Dissociated Mind_ ... but neither book should be taken too seriously.
For some people, it will be very tempting, to try and get inside the head of Joseph Smith. I seriously doubt that we can successfully do that now -- not even if he had been the phenomenon of two decades ago instead of two centuries ago.
But, a few musings:
1. Yes, Joseph's trouble with his leg probably impacted his personality in later years -- but, no, we can't trust his mother's reporting of that incident.
2. Yes, Smith probably did have dissociative episodes, other than just his periodic drunkenness. His mind may have indeed traveled to strange places as he gazed into his peepstones; but he was a con-man all the same.
3. No, we will never know for sure how much Smith believed in himself, or his magic, or his destiny. Obviously there was something that made him charismatic and purpose-bound, but that drive and charm may have been rooted in childhood self-protection, rather than pure narcissism.
4. Perhaps Smith was abused as a child -- perhaps sexually. Perhaps he really did witness strange goings on with his two weird parents. Maybe they were to blame for his goal of trying to be a latter day prophet. But then again, maybe not.
> 1. Yes, Joseph's trouble with his leg probably > impacted his > personality in later years -- but, no, we can't > trust his > mother's reporting of that incident.
I agree. Anderson takes the story at face value and remarked on the generational reversal of Smith and his parents, where he was comforting them even though he was the one getting the surgery without anesthetic. I don't think that's a believable story, but Anderson drew a conclusion from it.
So did Morain from reviews I'm reading about that book. I didn't know about Morain's book. It looks very similar to Anderson's only maybe not as good. I have a hard time with the idea of the sword of Laban being a freudian symbol. I don't think Anderson ever made that claim, but I would have to look through the book again.
I believe that there is a heavy genetic load for the disorder. I see that with my NPD mother, whose father was a sociopath.
There is also the early sexual abuse aspect. But I don't think that it's the main cause. I was abused sexually, but don't have NPD.
Then there's choice. But When dealing with deeply seated defence mechanisms, in most instances, a full blown NPD will choose to do something that will harm the person/people they target, either physically or psychologically, often the latter.
I support the conclusion that Joey had NPD. I'm not sure about antisocial personality disorder, but given the high incidence of comorbidity among personality disorders, it wouldn't completely surprise me.
Thanks for pointing out the book, original poster. I'm definitely going to read it.
I thought this book was worth reading and very interesting, as was the other, Sword of Laban book. I agree that without meeting the person, with only being able to draw conclusions from the historical record and eyewitness accounts, that we really can't know for sure what was going on in Joseph Smith's head. But the author makes a very convincing case and probably is pretty close to on the mark. It explains a lot about Mormonism and the type of people it's early followers really were.