Saintspeak

1981 book by Orson Scott Card

0-941214-00-1OCLC8667702

Dewey Decimal

289.3/3 19LC ClassBX8637 .C37 1981

Saintspeak (1981) is a satirical look at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by LDS author Orson Scott Card. It is modeled after The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. The pamphlet consists of a short glossary of common terms used by members of the LDS with humorous, satirical definitions.^[1]

Originally published in 1981, Saintspeak is currently out of print. It contains numerous references to the Equal Rights Amendment and the way missionaries gave lessons to LDS "Investigators".

The book is written in a light-hearted and pokes fun at the shortcomings and idiosyncrasies of Mormons. Frequent targets include hypocritical behavior by church members, the church's repression and denial of its history, and fanatics who take church doctrines a bit too far.

In the introduction, Card makes comments to placate anyone who takes offense too deeply by claiming that Ambrose Bierce appeared to him in a vision and presented the text of this book to him, paralleling the Angel Moroni appearing to Joseph Smith and telling him about the Golden plates that composed the Book of Mormon. Therefore, he isn't responsible for anyone being offended by it because it's all Bierce's fault.

References

^ "Saintspeak – a-f |". Retrieved 2019-03-04.

External links

The entire text of Saintspeak on the publisher's web site
The official Orson Scott Card website

Works by Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game series

Books

Ender Series	Ender's Game (1985) Speaker for the Dead (1986) Xenocide (1991) Children of the Mind (1996) Ender in Exile (2008)
Shadow Saga	Ender's Shadow (1999) Shadow of the Hegemon (2001) Shadow Puppets (2002) Shadow of the Giant (2005) Shadows in Flight (2012) The Last Shadow (2021)
Formic Wars	Earth Unaware (2012) Earth Afire (2013) Earth Awakens (2014) The Swarm (2016) The Hive (2019) The Queens (TBA)
First Meetings (2002) A War of Gifts: An Ender Story (2007) Children of the Fleet (2017)

Short stories

Other media

Comics
Film

Characters

The Tales of Alvin Maker
Books	Seventh Son (1987) Red Prophet (1988) Prentice Alvin (1989) Alvin Journeyman (1995) Heartfire (1998) The Crystal City (2003)
Other media	"Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow" (poem, 1989) Red Prophet: The Tales of Alvin Maker (comic book, 2006)

The Worthing series
Books	Capitol (1979) Hot Sleep (1979) The Worthing Chronicle (1983) The Worthing Saga (1990)

Other works
Homecoming Saga	The Memory of Earth (1992) The Call of Earth (1992) The Ships of Earth (1994) Earthfall (1995) Earthborn (1995)
Women of Genesis	Sarah (2000) Rebekah (2001) Rachel and Leah (2004) The Wives of Israel (TBA)
Mithermages series	Sandmagic (1979) Stonefather (2008) The Lost Gate (2011) The Gate Thief (2013) Gatefather (2015)
Mayflower series	Lovelock (1994) Rasputin (TBA)
The Empire duet	Empire (2006) Hidden Empire (2009)
The Pathfinder series	Pathfinder (2010) Ruins (2012) Visitors (2014)
Standalone novels	A Planet Called Treason (1979) Songmaster (1980) Hart's Hope (1983) Saints (1984) Wyrms (1987) Treason (1988) The Abyss (1989) Lost Boys (1992) Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996) Treasure Box (1996) Stone Tables (1997) Homebody (1998) Enchantment (1999) Magic Street (2005) Invasive Procedures (2007) Bully and the Beast (TBA)
Story collections	Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories (1980) Cardography (1987) The Folk of the Fringe (1989) Maps in a Mirror (1990) Keeper of Dreams (2008)
Other works	Listen, Mom and Dad (1977) Ainge (1981) Saintspeak (1981) Eye for Eye (1987) Loom (1990) The Secret of Monkey Island (1990) The Dig (1995) NeoHunter (1996) Magic Mirror (1999) Robota (2003) An Open Book (2004) Ultimate Iron Man (2005) Advent Rising (2005) InterGalactic Medicine Show (2005) Hamlet's Father (2011) Firefall (2014)