Don't Shoot the Gentile

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Denominations, Mormonism, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Don't Shoot the Gentile by James C. Work, University of Oklahoma Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: James C. Work ISBN: 9780806182896
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press Publication: November 3, 2011
Imprint: University of Oklahoma Press Language: English
Author: James C. Work
ISBN: 9780806182896
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Publication: November 3, 2011
Imprint: University of Oklahoma Press
Language: English

When James Work took a teaching job at the College of Southern Utah in the mid-1960s, he knew little about teaching and even less about the customs of his Mormon neighbors. For starters, he did not know he was a “Gentile,” the Mormon term for anyone not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But just as he learned to be a religious diplomat and a black-market bourbon runner, he also discovered that his master’s degree in literature apparently qualified him to teach journalism,  photography, creative writing, advanced essay and feature article writing, freshman composition, and “vocabulary building.”

With deadpan humor, Work pokes fun at his own naïveté in Don’t Shoot the Gentile, a memoir of his rookie years teaching at a small college in a small, mostly Mormon town. From the first pages, Work tells how he navigated the sometimes tricky process of being an outsider, pulling readers—no matter their religious affiliation—into his universal fish-out-of-water tale. The title is drawn from a hunting trip Work made with fellow faculty members, all Mormons. When a load of buckshot whizzed over his head, one of the party hollered, “Don’t shoot the Gentile! We’ll have to hire another one!”

Today the College of Southern Utah is a university, and Cedar City, like most small towns in the West, is no longer so culturally isolated. James Work left in 1967 to pursue a doctorate, but his remembrances of the place and its people will do more than make readers—Mormon and non-Mormon alike—laugh out loud. Work’s memoir will resonate with anyone who remembers the challenges and small triumphs of a first job in a new, strange place.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

When James Work took a teaching job at the College of Southern Utah in the mid-1960s, he knew little about teaching and even less about the customs of his Mormon neighbors. For starters, he did not know he was a “Gentile,” the Mormon term for anyone not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But just as he learned to be a religious diplomat and a black-market bourbon runner, he also discovered that his master’s degree in literature apparently qualified him to teach journalism,  photography, creative writing, advanced essay and feature article writing, freshman composition, and “vocabulary building.”

With deadpan humor, Work pokes fun at his own naïveté in Don’t Shoot the Gentile, a memoir of his rookie years teaching at a small college in a small, mostly Mormon town. From the first pages, Work tells how he navigated the sometimes tricky process of being an outsider, pulling readers—no matter their religious affiliation—into his universal fish-out-of-water tale. The title is drawn from a hunting trip Work made with fellow faculty members, all Mormons. When a load of buckshot whizzed over his head, one of the party hollered, “Don’t shoot the Gentile! We’ll have to hire another one!”

Today the College of Southern Utah is a university, and Cedar City, like most small towns in the West, is no longer so culturally isolated. James Work left in 1967 to pursue a doctorate, but his remembrances of the place and its people will do more than make readers—Mormon and non-Mormon alike—laugh out loud. Work’s memoir will resonate with anyone who remembers the challenges and small triumphs of a first job in a new, strange place.

More books from University of Oklahoma Press

Cover of the book Soldiers in the Southwest Borderlands, 1848–1886 by James C. Work
Cover of the book This American Autopsy by James C. Work
Cover of the book The Wister Trace by James C. Work
Cover of the book Rhapsody in Black by James C. Work
Cover of the book Indeh by James C. Work
Cover of the book Colonial Intimacies by James C. Work
Cover of the book The Indian Reform Letters of Helen Hunt Jackson, 1879–1885 by James C. Work
Cover of the book Blücher by James C. Work
Cover of the book A Generous and Merciful Enemy by James C. Work
Cover of the book Gold-Mining Boomtown by James C. Work
Cover of the book Special Operations in World War II by James C. Work
Cover of the book A Letter to America by James C. Work
Cover of the book Bruce Goff by James C. Work
Cover of the book Fort Bowie, Arizona by James C. Work
Cover of the book Wavell in the Middle East, 1939–1941 by James C. Work
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy