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| When Men Become Gods: Mormon Polygamist Warren Jeffs, His Cult of Fear, and the Women Who Fought Back | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephen Singular
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $11.99
You Save: $12.96 (52%)
New (43) Used (19) from $10.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 108131
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0312372485
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.8423092
EAN: 9780312372484
ASIN: 0312372485
Publication Date: April 21, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Good history of FLDS and the Jeffs prosecution... August 1, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book was done before the April, 2008 raid on the FLDS property near San Angelo, Texas, which put the cult back in the news again following the events depicted here. It is essential background in understanding how the Texas stronghold of this religious sect might play out. Why this group appeals to women at all is a mystery to me, but it seems like a good deal for a man, as long as he does NOT cross the self-annointed prophet, who functions as God on earth to the thousands of members. The man can have many women, including teens. The women, or "wives" in a non-legal, spiritual sense, can't contradict or refuse to service their husbands or especially decline to let the husband accept another "wife" into the family. You've heard the name Warren Jeffs, the now disgraced prophet, but this book tells you about his damaged personality, his crimes against his followers, and his short time as the supreme leader. One surprise is that many of the people still living in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona, the original home of the FLDS, are no longer following the Jeffs' prophet-producing line, or taking underage girls to bed. That's good news. The bad news is that many living members apparently practiced pedophilia, incest, and (in effect) pimping their daughters to curry favor, while abandoning and rejecting their teen sons in order to make more girls available for older men. It is unlikely many of them will ever be prosecuted in this life. If you have even a casual interest in the doings of the FLDS cult, this book will be useful to you. We have not yet figured out why so many people are susceptible to the divine claims of the David Koresh/Jim Jones/Warren Jeffs brand of psychopathology, and this volume does not address that question except to note that if you are born into that belief system, and isolated enough so that contrary views are never presented to you, it is pretty damn hard to break out. The HBO series "Big Love", about a man with three families in an urban setting, is well-written and well-acted by beautiful men and women. Some of the secondary characters represent the darker side of fundamentalist LDS life. This book presents more about the less pleasant folks, and less prominent are the articulate, educated plural wives and hard-working husbands seen in the television show.
 Finally - a great book about the monstrous Warren Jeffs June 23, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I've read quite a few books on Mormon fundamentalists but very little about Jeffs himself. This book is the first to explain his terrible effect on people just trying to do the right thing. Fascinating page-turner, very well written. AVOID the book by Carole Western called Inside the World of Warren Jeffs - there's about 3 pages about Jeffs and rest is somewhat dull stories of LDEF members - a really terrible read.
Portrait of Oppression July 30, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"When Men Becomes Gods" is a portrait of oppression. Wrapped in religion, perhaps, but it's about controlling others. The book, thoughtfully researched and carefully laid out, is a chilling tale. How could so many look the other way? Why did it take so many hard-working private citizens to bring the evidence forward? It made me think: what other issues is government generally avoiding because it's just plain inconvenient? It's obvious courage was needed to break up this sect of the Mormon church, to protect young women, and it's obvious that courage came from individuals working independently--and relentlessly--to bring Warren Jeffs to justice. Sure, the formal wheels of justice finally move in but the key word is "finally." This is a book about heroism but it's played straight, built on solid reporting and research. Singular doesn't play for high drama or sensationalism. His steady reporter's eye writes the facts and facts are in abundance here. "When Men Are Gods" assembles a rich cast of real people on all sides of the equation and yet there is no problem keeping track of all the major and minor players. That's a real feat. He does it with colorful, highly detailed and colorful brush strokes that render the scene and characters in vivid relief. In the end, read "When Men Become Gods" and wonder about overly righteous men who cloak themselves with false power and exert control over the helpless. This is an intriguing, three-dimensional struggle about the power of the individual, the whims of government, and the false pretenses of gods on earth. The detail about the interior of the SUV Jeffs was riding in when he was captured? Well, that just about says it all.
 Jeffs is not Mormon - get the title right August 6, 2008
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
Warren Jeffs is indeed a twisted man. But the author is either ignorant or has an unexpressed agenda. I've done some reading on the Mormon's enough to know that they excommunicate polygamists like Jeffs, or in his case, his father who started this sect.
So, to include in the title of the book the phrase "mormon polygamist Warren Jeffs" is misleading. In fact, I understand it to be an oxymoron -- once a mormon becomes a polygamist, he is excommunicated, so can no longer call himself a mormon (since "mormon" refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints -- the one with HQ in salt lake). But then again, the author may have done so purposely in order to sell more books which, after all, is the objective, true?
I would look elsewhere for info on these Fundamentalist LDS groups and for info on the Mormons themselves.
Excellent, easy to read, very informative June 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is a very good book, gives a good overall insite to the entire FLDS religion,if you are unfamilar with the Mormanism, I would reccomend reading "Under the Banner of Heaven" first to give you a good understanding of the roots of the FLDS.
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