Travel writer discovers Vermont Mormon roots and asks why (Attitude, not itineraries)

In a review of Helen Husher's new book, "Off the Leash: Subversive Journeys Around Vermont," Elan praises Husher for the way that her book raises questions, leaving his head spinning. Hushner sees her travel writing as a way of raising questions and sees travel as a way of running into and exploring questions. Elan puts it this way, "I like the fact that Helen Husher doesn't limit herself to answerable questions. In philosophy, that's the rule. In travel writing, it's unprecedented."

In particular, Elan mentions a question about Mormonism that he finds in Husher's book: "What was it about Vermont that produced the two most important early leaders of the Mormon church?" In her travels, Husher discovered that both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were born in Vermont, and visits the Joseph Smith memorial in Sharon, Vermont.