Title: The J. Golden Kimball Stories
Author: Eric A. Eliason
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Genre: Genre
Year Published: 2007
Number of Pages: 186
Binding: Trade paperback or hardcover
ISBN: Paperback: 978-0-252-07438-7 Hardcover: 0-252-03196-2
Price: Paperback, $20.00 Hardcover, $50.00

Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle

A few months ago I was shopping at our local Deseret Industries store and spied a book I really wanted. For reasons known only to my aging brain, I set it back on the shelf instead of in my shopping cart. When I got to the register, I realized what I had done, and said, rather loudly, “Damn!” The cashier, an old friend, who herself is not averse to uttering a cuss word when appropriate, offered the old Mormon barb, “Jeff, don’t you know that anyone who says darn is going to heck?” Yeah, old joke. Who cares? I laughed out loud.

I’ve never known anyone who didn’t utter a cuss word now and then. Sometimes a good “damn” or a well-placed “hell” works better than any attempt to circumnavigate the universe of Mormon ‘no-no” words. One man who knew this better than most was J. Golden Kimball. “Uncle Golden” stories have been circulating for years. Some are apocryphal, of course. But, then again, who cares? If the story describes the man, then the story should be told.

Eric A. Eliason, associate professor of English at Brigham Young University, has written a slim, but comprehensive and fascinating, look at the J. Golden Kimball legacy. Despite the rather spartan title, Eliason devotes more than 50 pages to studying Kimball’s legacy, and the larger issue of legend and folklore in the context of religious experience. He describes the Kimball stories as Mormon “folklore artifacts,” classing them with similar experiences in other religious traditions.

His intent is made clear in the following paragraph:

“This book...focuses on the orally circulated jokes and anecdotes that Mormons tell in homage to the man but not necessarily as accurate quotes from his sermons. It is about folklore and how folklore relates to the Mormon people. It is also not a biography designed to reveal the ‘true man.’ Instead, this collection reveals more about the J. Golden Kimball of the Mormon imagination — the created Uncle Golden who is the way that Mormons *need* him to be.” (p. 8-9)

Do Mormons *need* an Uncle Golden? You bet they do! Eliason is careful to place Kimball correctly in his place in history — a time when the Church was emerging from the persecutions and the polygamy problems, blossoming into an American church obedient to the laws of the land and seeking widespread acceptance and respectability. Amid all the confusion, and all the attempts to pious-ize the Church, here emerges a renegade who, despite his weaknesses, nonetheless remains faithful and true to the Church’s teaching. He was, indeed, an enigmatic figure, but one whose presence was much needed in his time.

I spoke to a Mormon friend today, and he agrees with my own thought — we need another Uncle Golden in Mormonism today. Is there a man, or a woman, who is faithful to the Church and yet a bit of a scamp? Can we find a “swearing elder” who can emerge as the new nearly-mythic hero for our times? I really don’t see one on the horizon, but what a refreshing change it would make.

This collection of stories is grouped roughly by subject. And although there is an entire chapter devoted to cussing, this particular trait is found in every section. Golden spoke his mind, and people knew it. So many of the stories are familiar, but some will be new to readers. Each is told briefly, and an abundance of footnotes traces the stories to their origins, when known.

J. Golden Kimball remains a giant in the Mormon spectrum of superstars. And although some might have disapproved of his coffee drinking and cussing, they nonetheless want him to remain in the tradition of LDS heroes. Perhaps Eliason says it best:

“Individually, each J. Golden Kimball story might seem trivial, a small, bright, shining star of worth at best. The complete cycle of his stories, however, constitutes a remarkable, interconnected, community-produced cultural artifact. It is a constellation, a starry sky. Taken as a living whole, the J. Golden Kimball cycle constitutes the most significant trove of Mormon humor and one of the great works of Mormon and western American literature. Like a multiauthored oral novel or epic poem, the cycle is a multifaceted exploration and amelioration of the human condition that elucidates life, death, God, marriage, children, irony, loss, love, pain, and happiness.” (p. 53)

This book is a must-have for any admirer of J. Golden Kimball. And, after all, who isn’t?