Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at
11:15 am
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir Review
Elna Baker’s first book, //The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance//, is the comical story of Baker’s struggle between staying true to her religion and succumbing to her desires.
All her life, Elna struggled with her weight, until deciding to finally loose the extra pounds when she went to college. Being a Mormon in New York isn’t easy. Elna was challenged by the strict rules that come with being a Mormon, testing them at times and making decisions that went against her original beliefs. Every year, Elna attends the New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance to search for the “perfect Mormon man,” but finds no luck. Her dating life isn’t the greatest either, with her longest relationship lasting only six weeks (two of which, the guy was out of town). Elna soon strikes some luck when she falls in love with who she thinks is the man of her dreams. The only problem is… he’s an atheist.
Baker takes the cliché “true beauty is on the inside” to a whole new level in this humorous account of her life – eventually admitting that it would be nice to be pretty on the outside as well. A wonderfully funny read, giving some insights into the Mormon religion and some of its misconceptions.
Reviewed by Jordan Thaw
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir Feature
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir Overview
Writer, actress, and gorgeous stand up comedian: Introducing the Mormon Tina Fey
It’s lonely being a Mormon in New York City. So once again, Elna Baker attends the New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance-a virgin in a room full of virgins doing the Macarena. Her Queen Bee costume, which involves a black funnel stuck to her butt for a stinger, isn’t attracting the attention she’d anticipated. So once again, Elna is alone at the punch bowl, stocking up on generic Oreos, exactly where you’d expect to find a single Mormon who’s also a Big Girl. But loneliness is nothing compared to what happens when she loses eighty pounds. . . . and falls in love with an atheist.
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance is the memoir of a girl who distresses her family when she chooses NYU over BYU. A girl who’s cultivating an oxymoronic identity as a bold, educated, modern, funny, proper, abstinent, religious stand-up comic, equal parts wholesome and hot. As Elna test-drives her identity, she finds herself in the strangest scenarios including selling creepy, overpriced dolls to petulant children at FAO Schwarz and dressing a head wound with a maxi pad while on a date.
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Customer Reviews
GIVE IT UP ALREADY – C. Ledger –
The book was okay. It held my interest for the most part. A bit slow moving and parochial at times. Who cares how much/how loud her mother farts or that she’s fair skinned but part Hispanic, who cares. I thought the book would be about her growing , questioning her faith and ultimately moving on from this faith that seems to hold her back on so many levels. She found a man that she really really cared for but put that No sex thing out there because ultimately she uses it as a crutch to avoid committing. Give it up honey. Take off that mental/spiritual chastity belt. She doesn’t date Morman men but insists on sabotaging every possible relationship outside of mormonism because she knows that sex is a big part of any adult, romantic relationship and she has to whip out the old “I’m a mormon (moron) no sex until I’m married.” And if you never marry? Here lies the world’s oldest virgin. Plus her list of what I used to believe/what I believe now, hardly changed at all thru-out the book. Did anyone else notice that. Like her religion, she is staid and rigid and possibly incapable of really changing.
A fun pick for any lending library – Midwest Book Review – Oregon, WI USA
Stand-up comedienne Elna Baker offers a lively, funny series of vignettes about her practicing Mormon living in the Big Apple in a literary memoir that is hilarious, revealing and honest all at once. From her Mormon faith and struggles with stereotypes to her coming of age and changes, this provides a powerful survey of her life, career, and identity and is a fun pick for any lending library.
A Little Too Morman for Me…… – E. G. Gillespie –
I thought I was in for a girl coming of age in the big city sort of book ( and oh yeah…she happens to be Morman). It’s bit more of a MORMAN GIRL coming of age tale than I anticipated …..and that just isn’t what I was looking for. It’s fun, she’s a cute girl with a redeeming story about her own spiritual quest…..but I didn’t really sense how much of this book was REALLY about her Morman spiritual quest for fulfillment and truth and identity. This same story could have been told by a Catholic, an Amish, a Baptist…..Mormans are just a bit mor mysterious….intrigue! The author is a bit of tease, a bit melodramatic, and a tad “stalkerish.” At times, I stopped laughing and thought she was just plain nuts. If you’re thinking about buying the book, just know there is a whole lot more serious spiritual contemplation/reflection than the title suggests.
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