Exceptionally Queer

K. Mohrman upends normative, contemporary understandings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in relationship to race, queerness, and American nationalism. Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, Exceptionally Queer traces how Mormon peculiarity is critical to understanding U.S. nationalism. Whether framed as marginal and a threat to all that America holds dear or being represented as hyper-American nationalists, Mohrman demonstrates that Mormonism is a critical part of the national imaginary and the political discourse that, due to its peculiarity, has not been fully explored until now. -Hokulani K. Aikau, author of A Chosen People, a Promised Land: Mormonism and Race in Hawai'i K. Mohrman's Exceptionally Queer brings much-needed theorizing to the question of Mormon peculiarity. Often discussed as both strange and hypernormal, Latter-day Saints occupy a puzzling place in the American consciousness. The brilliant analysis in this book links Mormonism's peculiarity and its Americanness to larger issues of American nationalism, imperialism, and racial formation. Scholars of U.S. history, race, sexuality, queer studies, and, of course, Mormonism have much to gain from the powerful lens this book casts on the project of American exceptionalism. -Taylor Petrey, author of Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism