The Daily Show Books Mormon Girl
Jon Stewart will interview SDSU professor Joanna Brooks this Thursday.
Joanna Brooks, author and chair of SDSU's Department of English and Comparative Literature
A new expanded edition of “The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith” hits the shelves today nationwide, and its author, SDSU professor Joanna Brooks, will appear on The Daily Show Thursday to talk about it.
Brooks, who chairs SDSU’s English and comparative literature department and writes for Religion Dispatches, gushed about the chance to meet the Comedy Central show host Jon Stewart.
"It's a thrill to sit down with him," she said. "He is such an important voice of humor, perspective and sensibility in our public conversation."
In January, Brooks self-published the original memoir, a vivid depiction of her Mormon journey from an idyllic childhood to her feminist activism in college to adulthood, where she frequently finds herself opposed to the political views supported by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Free Press/Simon & Schuster published the new edition, which includes new chapters about her experiences as a student at Brigham Young University.
"It also includes a new chapter about my family — including my husband, David Kamper, who is also an SDSU professor, and the ins-and-outs of what the media is calling 'the Mormon moment,'" she said.
"Writing in more depth about how it feels to be a Mormon watching and participating in talk about the faith during this presidential campaign has been a challenge and a joy."
Brooks said it's gratifying to see the book find a wider audience.
"When I was a young girl, there were so few stories about regular Mormons like me," she said. "Still, on the shelves at most bookstores, books about Mormons are often not written by Mormons, and they tend to focus on extremist elements of our faith.
"Mine is a story about the beauty, challenges, and humor of everyday Mormon life — and it's a very human story about coming of age, sorting out how the beliefs of our childhood translate into the complexities of our adulthood — a story that readers of all faiths and no faith background at all have understood and connected with."
The Daily Show broadcast information
Brooks will appear on The Daily Show on Thursday, Aug. 9, on Comedy Central. Check listings for exact times.
More about Brooks
SDSU NewsCenter featured Brooks in February.
As did CNN and the Washington Post.
Brooks' blog is called "Ask Mormon Girl."
Update: Brooks blogged about her experience on The Daily Show.
