The Lost Book of Mormon
A Journey Through the Mythic Lands of Nephi, Zarahemla, and Kansas City, Missouri
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Narrated by:
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P.J. Ochlan
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By:
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Avi Steinberg
About this listen
Is the Book of Mormon the Great American Novel?
Decades before Melville and Twain composed their great works, a farmhand and child seer named Joseph Smith unearthed a long-buried book from a haunted hill in western New York State that told of an epic history of ancient America, a story about a family that fled biblical Jerusalem and took a boat to the New World. Using his prophetic gift, Joseph translated the mysterious book into English and published it under the title The Book of Mormon. The book caused an immediate sensation, sparking anger and violence, boycotts and jealousy, curiosity and wonder, and launched Joseph on a wild, decades-long adventure across the American West. Today The Book of Mormon, one of the most widely circulating works of American literature, continues to cause controversy—which is why most of us know very little about the story it tells. Avi Steinberg wants to change that.
A fascinated nonbeliever, Steinberg spent a year and a half on a personal quest, traveling the path laid out by Joseph’s epic. Starting in Jerusalem, where The Book of Mormon opens with a bloody murder, Steinberg continued to the ruined Maya cities of Central America—the setting for most of the The Book of Mormon’s ancient story—where he gallivanted with a boisterous bus tour of believers exploring Maya archaeological sites for evidence. From there the journey took him to upstate New York, where he participated in the true Book of Mormon musical, the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant. And finally Steinberg arrived at the center of the American continent, Jackson County, Missouri, the spot Smith identified as none other than the site of the Garden of Eden.
Threaded through this quirky travelogue is an argument for taking The Book of Mormon seriously as a work of American imagination. Literate and funny, personal and provocative, the genre-bending The Lost Book of Mormon boldly explores our deeply human impulse to write bibles and discovers the abiding power of story.
©2014 Avi Steinberg (P)2014 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"[A] truly weird and beautiful memoir about an insane-sounding guy who retraces the geographical territory of the Book of Mormon in order to prove that it, the Book of Mormon, is the Great American Novel. If you need America to be reënchanted for you this year—and, let’s face it, who doesn’t?—pick this one up; you won’t regret it." —Elif Batuman, The New Yorker
"A multilayered narrative that grapples with some of the most fundamental questions of literature and of life ... [A] book about books, a story about stories, that sets out to explore why we tell them, how we craft them, and what makes some stand the test of time while others are forgotten." —Chicago Tribune
"It is as if [Steinberg] has managed to find a way of telling a Faulkneresque family saga through the form of a perfect sitcom ... [W]ith its vivid, honest and often hilarious prose The Lost Book of Mormon does justice to an electric text." —The Believer
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- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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On the outskirts of a town 30 miles from Istanbul, a master well digger and his young apprentice are hired to find water on a barren plain. As they struggle in the summer heat, excavating without luck meter by meter, the two will develop a filial bond neither has known before - not the poor middle-aged bachelor nor the middle-class boy whose father disappeared after being arrested for politically subversive activities. The pair will come to depend on each other and exchange stories reflecting disparate views of the world.
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Drags On
- By T. Conrad on 10-25-17
By: Orhan Pamuk
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Maphead
- Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
- By: Ken Jennings
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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It comes as no surprise that, as a kid, Jeopardy! legend Ken Jennings slept with a bulky Hammond world atlas by his pillow every night. Maphead recounts his lifelong love affair with geography and explores why maps have always been so fascinating to him and to fellow enthusiasts everywhere.
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A Romp through Maps
- By Lynn on 01-27-12
By: Ken Jennings
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Known and Strange Things
- Essays
- By: Teju Cole
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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With this collection of more than 50 pieces on politics, photography, travel, history, and literature, Teju Cole solidifies his place as one of today's most powerful and original voices. Minute after minute, deploying prose dense with beauty and ideas, he finds fresh and potent ways to interpret art, people, and historical moments, taking in subjects from Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare, and W. G. Sebald to Instagram, Barack Obama, and Boko Haram.
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A Book that Teaches and Shares
- By Carolyn J. on 10-08-17
By: Teju Cole
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So We Read On
- How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures
- By: Maureen Corrigan
- Narrated by: Maureen Corrigan
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Conceived nearly a century ago by a man who died believing himself a failure, it's now a revered classic and a rite of passage in the reading lives of millions. But how well do we really know The Great Gatsby? As Maureen Corrigan, Gatsby lover extraordinaire, points out, while Fitzgerald's masterpiece may be one of the most popular novels in America, many of us first read it when we were too young to fully comprehend its power.
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Reading Gatsby as an adult reveals its greatness!
- By Mark on 10-06-14
By: Maureen Corrigan
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Jungleland
- A Mysterious Lost City, a WWII Spy, and a True Story of Deadly Adventure
- By: Christopher S. Stewart
- Narrated by: Jef Brick
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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On April 6, 1940, explorer and future World War II spy Theodore Morde (who would one day attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler), anxious about the perilous journey that lay ahead of him, struggled to fall asleep at the Paris Hotel in La Ceiba, Honduras. Nearly seventy years later, in the same hotel, acclaimed journalist Christopher S. Stewart wonders what he's gotten himself into.
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If only REI sold ruby hiking boots...
- By Mel on 01-25-13
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The Eight
- A Novel
- By: Katherine Neville
- Narrated by: Susan Denaker
- Length: 25 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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New York City, 1972: A dabbler in mathematics and chess, Catherine Velis is also a computer expert for a Big Eight accounting firm. Before heading off to a new assignment in Algeria, Cat has her palm read by a fortune-teller. The woman warns Cat of danger. Then an antiques dealer approaches Cat with a mysterious offer: He has an anonymous client who is trying to collect the pieces of an ancient chess service, purported to be in Algeria. If Cat can bring the pieces back, there will be a generous reward.
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Best Plot-Driven Novel I've Ever Read
- By Tango on 09-08-13
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The Great Wall of China and the Salton Sea
- Monuments, Missteps, and the Audacity of Ambition
- By: Russell Rathbun
- Narrated by: Larry Herron
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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We've been building and making things ever since we stumbled out of paradise. Some of those things are incredible continuations of God's creation, while others are nothing but ambitious catastrophes. We continue making, says Russell Rathbun, but we've lost ourselves in the process.
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Excellent narrator
- By Tammy on 03-17-18
By: Russell Rathbun
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The Lost Book of the Grail
- A Novel
- By: Charlie Lovett
- Narrated by: Charles Armstrong
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Arthur Prescott is happiest when surrounded by the ancient manuscripts of the Barchester Cathedral library, nurturing his obsession with the Holy Grail and researching his perennially unfinished guidebook to the medieval cathedral. But when Bethany Davis arrives in Barchester to digitize the library's manuscripts, Arthur's tranquility is broken. Appalled by the threat of modern technology, he sets out to thwart Bethany, only to find in her a kindred spirit - and a fellow Grail fanatic.
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A Lot of Fun...But
- By Thursday Next on 04-20-17
By: Charlie Lovett
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Thunder and Lightning
- Cracking Open the Writer's Craft
- By: Natalie Goldberg
- Narrated by: Natalie Goldberg
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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The challenge we face as writers, Natalie Goldberg says, begins with the process of turning inward and then trying to communicate what we find. From the secret of letting characters and stories "write themselves" to finding mentor sources and responding to criticism to writing's one essential ingredient, which is the mind - here are all-new Zen-based lessons and reflections, refined and proven at Natalie's acclaimed national writers' workshops.
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Inspiring
- By StoryDtechtive on 02-11-17
By: Natalie Goldberg
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Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher
- The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis
- By: Timothy Egan
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, Egan's book tells the remarkable untold story behind Edward Curtis's iconic photographs, following him throughout Indian country from desert to rainforest as he struggled to document the stories and rituals of more than eighty tribes. Even with the backing of Theodore Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan, it took tremendous perseverance. The undertaking changed him profoundly, from detached observer to outraged advocate.
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STUPENDOUS!
- By Curious Artist Librarian on 10-29-12
By: Timothy Egan
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In an Antique Land
- History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tale
- By: Amitav Ghosh
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Once upon a time an Indian writer name Amitav Ghosh set out to find an Indian slave, name unknown, who some 700 years before had traveled to the Middle East. The journey took him to a small village in Egypt, where medieval customs coexist with 20th-century desires and discontents. But even as Ghosh sought to re-create the life of his Indian predecessor, he found himself immersed in those of his modern Egyptian neighbors.
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Mixed Worlds
- By Roger on 10-26-10
By: Amitav Ghosh
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The Fire This Time
- A New Generation Speaks About Race
- By: Jesmyn Ward
- Narrated by: Cherise Boothe, Michael Early, Kevin R. Free, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward takes James Baldwin's 1963 examination of race in America, The Fire Next Time, as a jumping-off point for this groundbreaking collection of essays and poems about race from the most important voices of her generation and our time.
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Delusion shattering
- By Matthew A. Burnett on 06-12-20
By: Jesmyn Ward
What listeners say about The Lost Book of Mormon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Crawfish
- 08-25-15
Too much gonzo speculation
Avi needed to check his facts better. Some silly speculations throughout. There is too much bad information both pro and con about Mormonism and this book does not help. It was still fun to listen to, but had occasional face palm moments. I would recommend for it's entertainment value, but not its history.
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2 people found this helpful
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- NRP
- 06-09-24
In a bizarre turn of events…
Something about the content + the narrator has made this the book we listen to many nights to sleep. We just call it The Book and have probably listened to it 15 times. Didn’t see me, did ya?
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-27-22
A Unique Take on Authorship, Seeking, and Joseph Smith
This book is part travel log, part memoir, part musings. I enjoyed Steinberg’s observations about Judaism, Mormonism, and what it means to have faith in general.
Despite being seemingly non-theistic, Steinberg ultimately and subtly confessed that he does have faith- all writers must have faith. At times meandering, at times poignant, this book gives a fresh, personal perspective on historical figures. The author is perhaps too kindly to Joseph Smith (in my opinion), but fairly represents all the people he encounters as quirky, sometimes misguided, but ultimately lovable people looking for meaning.
If you are looking for a spiritual account, or a historical biography, this is not the book for you. If you are interested in LDS, writing, or feeling lost, this is a great book for you.
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- Stevie R
- 10-18-15
Worst narration I've ever heard.
What did you like best about The Lost Book of Mormon? What did you like least?
Not much, which is a pity because the idea behind it is interesting. The problem is Steinberg's ego overshadows almost every paragraph.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of P.J. Ochlan?
Almost anyone. P. J. Ochlan's narration is so bad as to make this audio book almost impossible to listen to. This is not the first time I've come accross bad narration on Audible but by far this is the worst.
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3 people found this helpful