Brent W. Jeffs

I have always been fascinated with the FLDS church and polygamy. I have a lot of books on the subject but haven't made the time to read most of them yet. When I received Lost Boy to review from LibraryThing I was very excited.

Jeffs story is fascinating. I was pulled into it right from the start and read the entire book in two sittings. The detail he provides along with all the colorful, and unbelievable, people in his life, make Lost Boy unforgettable.

The story is told in almost a show more conversational tone, and while that worked great in some parts, in other parts in came of as unpolished. I was actually surprised that there was another author credited on Lost Boy with the informal feel of the book.

If you are interested in polygamy or the FLDS Church I highly recommend Lost Boy. show less

There were a lot of great things about this book. First, Jeffs’ story pulls you in from the beginning and the book is VERY hard to put down. His accounts of what life was like in the FLDS church were fascinating to read about, and even though I had already read these same types of stories from two other perspectives, both perspectives were female so it was very interesting to hear about his life as a child from a male’s point of view. It was interesting to me that Jeffs questioned his show more family’s lifestyle even as a child; since he had the benefit of a public school education for kindergarten he saw firsthand that his way of life was not exactly “normal” and so he started having independent thoughts about polygamy even as a little kid. I was also fascinated by the dynamics of his immediate family, which was his father, his mother, and his father’s other two wives (one of whom was also his aunt/mother’s sister). What was interesting was that since his parents had both been raised in the church, even Jeffs’ mother was excited when the second wife (her sister) married his dad. Everyone in the family truly believed in the principle, even when things got incredibly tough between the sisters conflict-wise, Brent’s mother always believed that they were doing the right thing in the eyes of God by practicing polygamy.

Brent Jeffs’ story is different from other polygamy memoirs because his family actually all left the church together. Technically, they were declared apostates and forced out, but when Jeffs left the church he took his parents, brothers, and sisters all with him, unlike most individuals who leave the church. This was interesting because even though his parents left the church, they still remained polygamous and their struggles living polygamy without the shelter of the FLDS were very interesting to read about. Another thing that was different about Jeffs’ memoir was that he really “outed” Warren Jeffs, his uncle and prophet of the FLDS church for several years before finally being arrested and given a very long sentence last year. Warren Jeffs, in addition to his many crimes against the women and children in the FLDS, raped Brent Jeffs and many other boys for years when the boys were between the ages of five and seven. In fact, Brent along with two of his brothers had repressed these memories for years because of how painful they were. Brent himself didn’t even recall the abuse until he was hypnotized in therapy as an adult. Brent and his brothers were the main force behind getting Warren Jeffs caught and captured. Because Jeffs’ memoir is so new, there was a lot of information in the book about Warren Jeffs not previously revealed in other polygamy memoirs.

One aspect of this book really fell short for me, I have to admit, and that is the quality of the writing. It seems that Jeffs had a co-writer, but even with her assistance, the book is not written all that well. Jeffs wrote in a very conversational style, which was nice when reading the book – the reader really feels like he is telling him/her his story. But, it’s almost TOO conversational – some sentences don’t make a lot of sense, there’s a lot of slang and swear words, and tons of sentence fragments, run-on sentences, etc. Personally, I don’t normally pay too much attention to writing style, but it was starting to get in the way of my enjoyment of the book in this case. I really feel bad for criticizing what was otherwise a pretty good book, but it stuck out so much to me that I feel compelled to mention it.

Generally, if you are interested in polygamy (as I know MANY of you are!) Lost Boy is well worth the read. Brent Jeffs provides a new and interesting perspective to the story of the FLDS church and his story really needs to be heard. I’m glad, for his sake and ours, that he had the opportunity to tell it. show less

More than anything else I have read about the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, this book gives you a real feeling of what it's like to grow up in the church - and later be kicked out of it. He had a lot of good times growing upad: his love for his brothers, the fishing trips with his father, big community events that brought out the best in their community. But there were also problems. How can there not be when one man is juggling three wives (two of whom are sisters who didn't show more get along when they lived at home, the third a teenager from a dysfunctional family), 20 kids and a demanding religion?

To an outsider, the religion's tenets make it a prime target for abuse. The primary tenet of the religion is complete obedience. The Prophet can change the rules at will, because he receives instructions directly from God. Members are taught from childhood that everyone outside their religion is bad - evil, corrupt and untrustworthy - so they have little contact with the outside world. When you believe that one man holds the fate of your immortal soul, how do you turn away from him?

The book is full of detail about their daily lives, something I often found missing in other books about the FLDS. What they wore, how they were educated, the logistics of such a large household and the crazy rules they lived by. They were taught, for example, that the Earth was made up of bits and pieces of previous worlds. Men who had married the at least 3 wives and were granted access to the celestial heaven would have their own planet, populated with their wives and children. Bits of these leftover worlds were used to make the Earth, so dinosaur bones were a relic of one of those other worlds, not something that walked on Earth, necessarily. No outsider would believe a story like that! But when it's all you've known, it probably seems more reasonable.

Through the years, Brent Jeffs and his brothers have suffered for their parents' obedience. They were sexually abused by Warren Jeffs, aided by two of his brothers. They had problems with alcohol and drugs after being throw out of the church (their family was excommunicated because their father invited his eldest son back home after the death of his infant daughter). They had very little education, no idea of how to survive in the modern world and they were ill-equipped to make their own way. Brent Jeff's lawsuit, along with the claims of other Lost Boys. were instrumental in bringing some sort of justice to Warren Jeffs. Still, the book highlights just how difficult it is to break up this cult. It was not so long ago that authorities took mroe than 400 children from their families, in a move that was highly criticized. There is little doubt that these children are at risk for abuse, but how do you protect them when that abuse is a central part of their religious belief?

The book is well-written and seems very clearly told in Brent's own words. He presents the whole story - black, white and chades of gray. The only thing I really missed was information about his sisters. He talks at length about his brothers and how they fared, but it made me wonder about the rest of his family. show less

I have read a few books about the brave people who have left the FLDS society, but Brent Jeffs' story is the first that I've heard from the male perspective. When I mentioned to a co-worker that I was reading this book, her reaction, as many have reacted was "Why would a man leave when he can have all those wives?" Jeffs paints the reader a picture as to why so many boys leave, either of their own choice or by the choice of others.

One thing that I really liked about this story is that Jeffs show more is blunt and unapologetic. He has made some mistakes along the way, most notably his drug abuse, but while he could blame that on his upbringing and general confusion, he is instead very matter of fact about it, which I appreciated.

He tells a fascinating tale, revealing even more about life in an FLDS compound. I will be passing my copy to a friend and recommending the book to many others, and recommend you do the same. show less