Like a Fiery Meteor

The Life of Joseph F. Smith

By: Stephen C Taysom

Narrated by: Anthony Proctor

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.

©2023 The University of Utah Press (P)2024 The University of Utah Press

An Important, informative, Fascinating review

"Like a Fiery Meteor" the first academic biography of Joseph F Smith is an absolutely amazing book. Steve Taysom has written a book that is both very informative and very interesting. JFS is a complicated individual and Taysom does an amazing job of illustrating Smith's full range of emotions from loving father and prophet who wept openly when friends and family died to angry and abusive young man who mistreated his first wife and nearly beat a neighbor to death. Taysom does an excellent job of analyzing the many traumas JFS experienced from a young age and shows how all of his experiences played an important role in shaping his life and character.

I only have one complaint about the Audible version. overall, the reader does a good job, BUT he should have been coached on the various unusual Mormon and Utah names.

Excellent biography of Joseph F. Smith

I’ve been waiting for a scholarly biography of Joseph F. Smith for a long time, and this biography has been worth the wait. The contrast between this and past biographies is quite stark, showing aspects of Joseph F. Smith’s personality as well as major episodes that are completely absent in other works. What emerges is a much more complicated and human view of Joseph F. Smith as a person, but I’m also struck by how truly great he was.

The depth of scholarship of Stephen Taysom in this book is impressive, but it is also a very well-told and well-written story.