Russell M. Nelson: Father, Surgeon, Apostle Book

I struggled in rating this book. I admire President Russell M. Nelson, the Seventeenth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His accomplishments as a pioneering heart surgeon, as a father of ten children, and as a leader of the Church are astounding. I am amazed by his accomplishments and by his exemplary life. I also admire the author of the book, an emeritus general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ.

However, I am rating a book, not the subject of the book or its author, and, unfortunately, this book was just not well written. First, the overly devotional tone and, at times, clumsy language made it hard to read. For instance, the use of phrases like "ebullient buoyancy" and "sonorous sounds of song" served as linguistic static that made me wonder about the author rather than the subject of the book. While there may be people who regularly use these words, the structure of the sentences in which these phrases were found manifested the author's great effort to exercise his literary muscles. He clearly needs more practice.

Second, the structure of the books was puzzling. It was almost never chronological and almost always organized in a way that made it impossible to follow. For instance, in the chapter in which the author discussed President Nelson's immediate ancestors, the author numbered each person and then discussed each person by number. Thus, the individual comprising a married couple were discussed pages apart as if they did not even know each other. Additionally, the discussion of President Nelson's ministry was ripped apart by regional travel without any context. It was perplexing---particularly when the portions of the book that were chronological were engaging and quite well done. In fact, the parts written in a chronological fashion did not suffer with the pedantic linguistic overreach described in my first objection.

I wanted to like this book because I so admire the subject and, quite frankly, the author. However, it was not enjoyable to read and I would not recommend it as a good biography.