I'm reading Mark Twain's book Roughing It.  This is a book Twain wrote about his travels with his brother, in 1861, to the Far West of the United States out to the Nevada Territory.  They went by stage coach, the only means of transportation out west at the time.

Now, my husband read this book before I did and when he heard my guffaws and giggling from the living room, last night, he said, "I knew you would especially like the Mormon chapters."  When Twain got to Salt Lake City on that leg of his trip, the Mormons or Latter Day Saints had only been in existence for about 30 or so years.  So, it was a cult about the same age as DLM/EV is now.  I found Twain's perspective to be priceless, given that the Mormons now are often considered a mainstream religion.

Here's a website I found that has reproduced the chapters Twain wrote about the Mormons.  The first chapter on this website, Chapter 16, is a wry and (to me) hilarious look at the Book of Mormon, written in the inimitable style of one of my favorite great American authors.

Enjoy!

Cynthia