Greg Book Review - Bruce R. McConkie - Highlights From His Life and Teachings

This was the second biography I had read about Bruce R. McConkie, the first being written by his son entitled The Bruce R. McConkie Story: Reflections of a Son. They are different books as the book by Horne does a decent job of chronicling the life of Elder McConkie from public and semi-private sources for the first half while the second half is devoted to some of the unpublished manuscripts and teachings of Elder McConkie that you won't find in many other places. The Joseph McConkie biography is much better with regards to his life, and that is well expected as he has access and experiences with Elder McConkie that nobody else could possibly have had. There is an extensive section on Elder McConkie and the revelation on the priesthood, which he was present for, that is fairly detailed.
I liked this book but it became a bit monotonous after a while. The teaching/doctrine section of the book was grouped by subject and it was a habit of Elder McConkie to repeat many of the main points of his talk so by the time you finished reading several different talks in each section you had probably heard the same point several times over. I think the whole book could have been reduced in the amount of material it offered and not suffered. If you are looking for a good Elder McConkie biography then I would recommend his son's book. If you are looking for a smattering of Elder McConkie's teachings on various subjects that come from unpublished or difficult to find sources then this book would be the one to choose.

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