Review
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Title: Buried Treasures: Reading the Book of Mormon Again for the First Time
Author: Michael Austin
Publisher: By Common Consent Press
Genre: Non-Fiction
Year Published: 2020
Number of Pages: 250
Binding: Soft Cover
ISBN13: 978-1-948218-25-2
Price: 9.95
Reviewed by Denice Mouncé for the Association for Mormon Letters
Buried Treasures: Reading the Book of Mormon Again for the First Time is an insightful, and sometimes humorous, journey through the Book of Mormon. Wielding current events and historical context, Austin uses modern metaphors to engage readers and pull them into his analysis. Thought-provoking and poignant, Austin proves that the lessons learned from the Book of Mormon are timeless. The topics addressed in Buried Treasures span a wide breadth, and readers are sure to find topics that capture their curiosity.
Author Michael Austin pulls from his professional experience as an English professor and literary critic to introduce techniques to readers in bite-size pieces. Utilizing literary analysis, with a heavy partiality to typology – the study and interpretation of types and symbols in a text, the author approaches the Book of Mormon with a professional skepticism that allows him to impartially analyze and discuss difficult topics.
Originally written as a series of blogs over the course of a year, the book’s compilation reflects in the author’s words, “the immediacy of blogging…. [the sections] are humorous and occasionally irreverent…. And they are fairly short” (Austin, p. 4). Austin reaches out in the beginning of the book with a familiar confession about his Book of Mormon reading habits that appeals to readers who likewise feel they should be getting more out of their reading. Then, he invites his audience to join him as he goes on a journey to Read the Book of Mormon Again for the First Time.
Buried Treasures adds to the dialogue of scriptural analysis for the Book of Mormon by providing readers with a new lens for viewing familiar scriptures. The author does not purport to reveal new doctrine or provide answers of a spiritual nature; rather, Buried Treasures presents a Bible Study discussion feel as the author works his way through the text providing his insights along the way.
The secular approach of Austin in Buried Treasures is professionally unapologetic. When Austin is not able to completely answer the questions posed in his book with his literary criticism, he does not try to excuse or explain them. He provides his professional analysis and leaves it to the reader to look further in other sources for answers. Questions are left unanswered; difficult topics are brought up and then left there to sit; and the author introduces doubt, through the nature of the analysis, that he leaves unresolved. Some readers may find this approach off-putting as it complicates the scriptures in a way most readers would not be aware of without reading this book.
Some readers may not agree with the author’s approach to the analysis offered in Buried Treasures. Others may find in the reading a new way to conceive of a topic that they have previously struggled to understand. Both readers will find in Buried Treasures a fresh perspective to debate, challenge, and enjoy.