Review
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Title: Joseph: An Epic
Author: Zachary McLeod Hutchins
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Genre: Epic Poem
Year Published: 2025
Number of Pages: 192
ISBN:978-0-252-04690-2
Reviewed by Henrik Sorensen (reposted from his Substack)
Alright, disclaimer: I started reading this book at about the same time the New York Times’ new Scrabble analogue came out and I have spent so much time playing it in the last few weeks that it cut deeply into my reading time. I’m not proud of it, but on the other hand I have a 40-9 record, so, well, there you have it.
Second disclaimer: as an idiot, I’m probably the wrong person to review this book. I’m not a literary expert, even less so an expert in poetry. Paradise Lost and the Odyssey have been sitting on my shelf unread for some time. In that sense, I was coming into this an epic poetry neophyte and I have little basis for comparison between Joseph: An Epic and its forebears and influences. I think this is a book whose depth and nuances merits study and probably a better review from a better-educated person. But, this is what you get, I guess.
Disclaimers over.
Joseph: An Epic is, in my opinion, an absolutely delightful, sumptuous work of literary art that, if it gets the attention and readership it deserves, will be seen as a gem in the crown of Mormon literature. As a writer, I get annoyed by books like this because they make me feel a bit small. I don’t even know how I would approach this kind of project. At 156 pages (softcover), it’s not that it’s particularly epic in scale, and it’s not that it’s particularly difficult to write some prose and put it into meter and call it an epic poem. Any hack could lay down some overegged lines about Joseph Smith’s life and break it into stanzas. And I will admit, I approached it with that fear in mind. But this is something else.
First, when I describe the book as “sumptuous,” that’s exactly what I mean. It’s a genuine delight to read and every word feels carefully and deliberately chosen for a combination of syntactic verve and meaning. It is rich and beautiful and fun to read, which is maybe something you wouldn’t expect out of this kind of work. It is chock full of clever references and homages to everything from The Screwtape Letters to Moby Dick to Paradise Lost and more but never in a way that feels forced or fourth-wall breaking.
It is a deeply human work that breathes life into the characters in Joseph Smith’s story and gives them a third-dimension so often lost in the (understandable) historical and spiritual focus through which they are usually viewed. With a loving touch and empathy for the long-dead, it reminds us that prophets now and prophets then and prophets from the beginning of time are and always have been people, they are real human beings who love, who sin, who strive, who disappoint God and the people around them, and who nonetheless accomplish incredible things.
Two parts of the book, probably the two most ambitious portions, particularly stood out for me as capturing lightning in a bottle in a way that I think few authors ever manage to do. The first is a sort of “Night on Bald Mountain” gathering of demons and devils who, in the tradition of The Screwtape Letters (and this is clearly deliberate) convene a council to discuss how to defeat the boy prophet, this greatest threat to their ambitions since the Son of God Himself was born. Hutchins uses the gathered devils to give voice to Joseph’s flaws, to the temptations and vices with which he might be brought down, temptations and vices which he arguably gave into at various points in his life. And yet, he won. Each demonic monologue and the interactions between them are genuinely brilliant and a little bit disconcertingly convincing.
The second part that I particularly enjoyed was Hutchins’ unique spin on the story of Lehi’s family and their departure from Jerusalem. It’s dangerous ground and I’ve seen plenty of attempts to riff on scripture fall utterly flat, winding up far more boring and preachy than the source material. But Hutchins’ strength throughout the entire book shines here as well, fleshing out the humanity of familiar characters, giving them new depth and demonstrating a remarkable insight into what might drive some of these ancients whose actual thoughts and feelings we can only guess at.
For faithful LDS readers, it feels like a story about Joseph Smith written with a love for the man as he was, the brash treasure hunter, the hopeful and sincere seeker of truth, a man who suffered tragedy early in his life and would experience more throughout, who would be forced to confront his own flaws with various degrees of success while the world simultaneously closed in around him in violence and fury. The book ends early in the story, which I think is for the best because it leaves the reader pleasantly sated rather than overstuffed, on a hopeful note, but also with one eye toward the difficult road that lay ahead for Joseph and his family.
Finally, a note on the artwork: the book is illustrated by the mononymous Godwin, and the illustrations match the bittersweet and sweeping tone of the writing. The artwork successfully gilds the lily and makes for a piece that you are grateful to own.
For anyone interested in Mormonism and America’s most successful prophet, there is no preaching or proselytizing, just a beautifully written poem that is worthy of the Man himself, a poem that is equal to the depth, complexity, contradiction, vision, triumph, and sadness of its subject. I simply cannot recommend it enough. Praise to the Man, indeed.
You can buy the book on Amazon or University of Illinois Press.