Toward Happier Choices by Michael Oborn is not a typical memoir but a great one nonetheless. It’s about Michael leaving behind his life as a Mormon and seeking other paths in his life’s journey. The book is divided into three sections, which are ‘Short Stories’, ‘Potpourri’ and ‘Exceptional People’
The first section, as the title states, is a collection of short stories that explains the author’s decision to leave behind the Church and the teaching that he was born into and seek a different way of life. The second section is about Michael’s opinions, beliefs and reflection. Finally the third section contains five essays about persons and animal(s) that have greatly influenced and improved Michael’s life in some way or the other.
I must say I really enjoyed reading this book, especially the first and second sections. The second section was like a learning lesson for me. Being the novice that I am with respect to the Mormon religion, the second section was rather enlightening for me. I learned quite a few facts about the Mormon religion such as Mormons don’t drink coffee or tea. The women are taught to obey their husbands or forfeit going to heaven. I also learnt that a Bishop, who is said to be God’s representative on earth, speaks with each adolescent in his congregation one on one about sex.
Michael Oborn was born into the Mormon religion and His father was a devoted Mormon. Micheal had to choose between his major of Theather Arts or to attend The First Presidency at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in Salt Lake City Utah. I love the way Michael stands up for women and fights for equal rights of women. He believes that the world can be a better place if men were to actually treat women as equals. The first section of Toward Happier Choices by Michael Oborn has a total of ten short stories, all of which played an important roll into Michael’s decision to leave behind the Mormon religion.
Some of the stories are as short as one paragraph long. For example the ‘Abortion’ piece of writing. This paragraph has left me a bit confused, Michael states that he is not for abortion but goes on to say that there a people who believe that they can outlaw abortion and prevents the act of safe abortion. My question ‘Where exactly does he stand when it comes to abortion’.
Michael also seems to be a huge fan of quotes because this book has a lot of them, from persons such a Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Shakespeare to name a few. Many of the quotes are in reference to the Mormon religion and Religion on a hold. Most of his quotes are from James J Flannery who seems to be his favorite epigrammatist.
I cannot say that this book is without flaws, for I came across a few errors that were easily noticeable such as improper sentence structure, however the errors did not significantly deter from the reading of the book. I also came across, to me, a fun fact that I learnt while reading this book, it was that there is a book that lists over 20,000 gods. Such as a god for water, a god for fertility, etc. There is a god for just about everything. Who knew? Obviously not me.
In the third section of the book I love how Michael gave credit to the persons who inspired him to get to where he is. I loved the story about Gina Sue and Lady Moew, which turn out to be a curve ball for me.
I found this book to be entertaining and educational. I would gladly recommend this book to persons interested in memoirs, or learning about different religions and persons who love short stories. This is also a great book for those of the Mormon religion who might be looking for a fresh start in life. Also I would recommend this book to every women, for this book is empowering and encouraging for better and equal rights of women. Had it not been for the errors I would have rated this book perfectly, but I can’t so instead I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
