Is The Book of Mormon a Great American Novel? Avi Steinberg thinks so. In this quirky travelogue—part fan nonfiction, part personal quest—he follows the trail laid out in Joseph Smith’s book. From Jerusalem to the ruined Mayan cities of Central America to upstate New York and, finally, to Jackson County, Missouri—the spot Smith identified as the site of the Garden of Eden—Steinberg traces The Book’s unexpected path and grapples with Joseph Smith’s demons—and his own. Literate and funny, personal and provocative, the genre-bending The Lost Book of Mormon boldly explores our deeply human impulse to write books, and affirms the abiding power of story.

From ample archeological evidence, it appears the lands of western and central New York were once populated by ancient civilizations. The question that must be asked is-- did they belong to the Nephites and Jaredites? Since the Book of Mormon clearly details the demise of two mighty nations in the territory of Cumorah, we can only surmise that the artifacts found in that region were left by those whose history is contained within the Book of Mormon. However, in order to successfully locate the individual territories described within the scriptures, which verify that these lands were indeed populated by the Book of Mormon people, we must first go back in time to an era when primeval forests and great inland seas filled the land from one end to the other. Only by reconstructing that ancient setting can we hope to locate the lost lands of the Nephites and Jaredites. Even though much of the water that once filled the territory has long since receded from the land, much water still remains-- including the beautiful Finger Lakes which are the last remnants of that era.

On a summer day in 1828, Book of Mormon scribe and witness Martin Harris was emptying drawers, upending furniture, and ripping apart mattresses as he desperately looked for a stack of papers he had sworn to God to protect. Those pages containing the only copy of the first three months of the Joseph Smith's translation of the golden plates were forever lost, and the detailed stories they held forgotten over the ensuing years--until now. In this highly anticipated work, author Don Bradley presents over a decade of historical and scriptural research to not only tell the story of the lost pages but to reconstruct many of the detailed stories written on them. Questions explored and answered include: Was the lost manuscript actually 116 pages? How did Mormon's abridgment of this period differ from the accounts in Nephi's small plates? Where did the brass plates and Laban's sword come from? How did Lehi's family and their descendants live the Law of Moses without the temple and Aaronic priesthood? How did the Liahona operate? Why is Joseph of Egypt emphasized so much in the Book of Mormon? How were the first Nephites similar to the very last? What message did God write on the temple wall for Aminadi to translate? How did the Jaredite interpreters come into the hands of the Nephite kings? Why was King Benjamin so beloved by his people? Despite the likely demise of those pages to the sands of time, the answers to these questions and many more are now available for the first time in nearly two centuries in The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon's Missing Stories.

Be amazed as the author shows that the location where Book of Mormon History occurred can be found from the descriptions of the region where Mormon lived. You will see that he purposely included his descriptions in the Book of Mormon so that his location could be found. His descriptions are compared with modern day archeological and historical documents showing that Book of Mormon History occurred in Western New York. Statements made by modern day prophets confirming this are also provided for reference. Also statements made by Book of Mormon prophets indicate that they could only have been upon one continent, the United States of America. This is an easy reading book meant to be informative without being technical. The book also shows that historical and archaeological documentation of the Nephite/Lamanite culture have been sitting on library shelves for years. Learn the location of Ripliancum, the narrow-neck of land, the river Sidon, the place where Hagoth launched his ships and many other Book of Mormon land and landmarks.

Avi Steinberg is stumped. After defecting from yeshiva to attend Harvard, he has nothing but a senior thesis on Bugs Bunny to show for himself. While his friends and classmates advance in the world, Steinberg remains stuck at a crossroads, his “romantic” existence as a freelance obituary writer no longer cutting it. Seeking direction (and dental insurance) Steinberg takes a job running the library counter at a Boston prison. He is quickly drawn into the community of outcasts that forms among his bookshelves—an assortment of quirky regulars, including con men, pimps, minor prophets, even ghosts—all searching for the perfect book and a connection to the outside world. Steinberg recounts their daily dramas with heartbreak and humor in this one-of-a-kind memoir—a piercing exploration of prison culture and an entertaining tale of one young man’s earnest attempt to find his place in the world.

In the preceding pages, I have tried to show how a historical-critical view of the Book of Mormon illuminates some of its more interesting problems. Many questions remain, and many problems have yet to be discovered and analyzed. I myself have questions about the Book of Mormon's origins that I cannot yet answer. However, that fact does not diminish the certainty of my conclusion that the Book of Mormon is a modern text.

Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assume that the Book of Mormon lands are found in the Yucatan of Mexico, but this notion doesn’t agree with newly discovered evidence. The author, a veteran FBI agent, has breached the steep wall of misunderstanding about the location of the Book of Mormon lands and has uncovered stunning evidence discrediting the Central American model. The results of this investigation have produced 51 exclusive insights and discoveries placing the Book of Mormon lands in Western New York State. The evidence is in – you can decide for yourself.