At the Religion in American History blog, historian John G. Turner praised In Heaven as “a rich and persuasive reinterpretation of Joseph Smith’s most significant theological and ritual innovations.”

In Heaven tried not only to think through the big problem of explaining death but also to make sense of early Mormonism for outsiders. In this post on the Oxford UP blog, I contextualize two of the beliefs currently circulating in the media.

Sunday, January 15, around 9:05 am, tune in to KSL’s live feed to hear a discussion with Doug Wright about In Heaven.

The show has archived our interview. The interview starts around 04:07 in the MP3 file.

City Weekly has a very gracious review and designated the book a “CW Pick”:

In Heaven is “compelling new book” and “a detailed piece of social history.”

The Benchmark crew have graciously provided video footage from the book talk I gave on January 10.

Video from Youtube

Brad Kramer’s highly complimentary review at BCC:

With apologies to all the relevant parties, this is quite simply the best work on early Mormonism yet published.

[From 2008]
The Gospel can provide succor in the face of tragic bereavement, both in the doctrinal truths it presents to us and in the communities that it creates and sustains—the living to “mourn with those who mourn,” and the dead to be bound to us in a perfect chain of priesthood. There are times, though, when these supports tend to fail. Not just the normal imperfections that prevent any belief system or community from entirely eliminating the sting of death and loss, but substantial failures that threaten our ability to cope with the death of a loved one at all. (more…)

Featured in the Wall Street Journal weekend books section, my column on the Five Best Books on Mormonism.