David J. Larkin Jr.
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David J. Larkin, Jr. (1948- ) was born in Spokane, Washington, but grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada. He served as a Mormon missionary in Brazil (1969-1971), where, in the waning hours of his time there, he had a revelation. That revelation--an answer to the question, "What is truth?"--is the subject of his novel, THE BOOK OF THOMPSON: A Mormon Tragedy, available through Amazon. When Larkin was an undergraduate student at Eastern Washington State College (now "University"), his Anthropology teacher drew a kinship diagram of a "typical" African tribal family on the blackboard. To illustrate how different that would be from the more simplistic diagram typical of an American family, the teacher chose a student at random--Larkin--to diagram his family alongside. As he was drawing, the class began to titter, and the teacher asked, "Are you making fun of me?" Larkin's diagram showed that he was, in chronological order, the ninth of fourteen children, born of his father's marriage to his first wife, his mother's marriage to her first husband, his parent's marriage, and his father's marriage to his third wife. The Larkin diagram made the African tribe look simple. That's the truth. Larkin currently resides in New York City where his laugh, which, as a child, earned him the nickname "Woody" (after a certain woodpecker), is well known. He writes to inflict giggles on others and to make them think. |
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Robert Wayne (“Bobby”) Thompson is lucky. His parents are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the only true church on earth, which everyone calls the Mormon Church. And he was born in America, the greatest country on earth, which God let Columbus discover so the Mormon Church could be born here, just like him. And he’s a boy. Once Mormon boys turn twelve, they get to hold the Priesthood, which Bobby can’t wait for, even though it’s still a full six years off. There’s only one problem. He’s confused. He’s confused because of what started one night in 1954. His parents had a fight, and the fighting continued. How could that be? The Thompsons have been sealed in the Mormon temple to live together for time and all eternity. As members of God’s only true church, they have something nobody else has—the truth! Shouldn’t that make them happy? Go with Bobby as he tries to figure out what’s going on between his parents, not realizing that “truth” is precisely what is driving them apart. Follow him through the hole in the hedge that separates his back yard from the yard of his neighbor, Mrs. Kurtz, a Catholic, and stay with him as she and others lead him down the path toward his family’s previously unknown history. What he finds at his journey’s end is a way out of the hole. 
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Recently discovered gold sheets yield a new, captivating translation of “The First Book of Nephi,” which begins The Book of Mormon, originally translated by Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church). Follow Lehi and his crew as they flee Jerusalem in order to escape its destruction, take their instructions from a magic ball, sail to the Americas, and finally end up slaughtering each other. Where did the term “Mormon” come from? Read The Book of Mor[m]on and find out. Only it tells the true story.
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