BIOGRAPHERS AND THE MORMON “PROPHET PUZZLE”: 1974 TO 2004 It has been thirty-one years since Jan Shipps issued a challenge in her essay, “The Prophet Puzzle,” for writers to develop thorough portraits of Joseph Smith that show the “whole man.” This presentation examines the strengths and weaknesses of nine post-1974 biographies of the founding Mormon prophet and, in so doing, illuminates different methodological approaches and key issues in Joseph Smith scholarship.

D. Michael Quinn