Daily Wire's Andrew Klavan says he was "Not Impressed" with the Book of Mormon

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Conservative news and media company The Daily Wire has several popular political commentators, many very religious. Daily Wire Co-founder Ben Shapiro is an Orthodox Jew while Michael Knowles is a self-described "mackerel-snapping papist."

Novelist-turned-political-commentator Andrew Klavan is no different. Ethnically the 69-year-old is an Ashkenazi Jew, though he grew up in a mostly secular household. He was an atheist until finally, he converted to Christianity when he was 49. Klavan often weaves religious ideas into his weekly show, "The Andrew Klavan Show." Consequently, he is often asked and is happy to answer questions about religion during online Q&A sessions with Daily Wire members.

On Wednesday, June 12, a Daily Wire member submitted a question asking Klavan if he had read the Book of Mormon and what he thought about it if he had read it. "I did read it, I was not impressed with it," he replied. He added, "I always hate to say this because I like Mormon people and whatever they're doing it seems to work." He expanded on what did not impress him about the Book of Mormon, "I never understood why the Book of Mormon, which was written in the 19th century, is written in fake Elizabethan English. It just ruined the whole thing for me... and the story doesn't sound read to me."

This is not the first time an American novelist has been unimpressed with the writing style of the Book of Mormon. Klavan's critique is more gentle than Mark Twain, who wrote in Chapter 16 of his book "Roughing It," "it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so "slow," so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print... If he had left ['it came to pass'] out, his Bible would have been only a pamphlet."

Klaven followed up his critique by quickly restating his love of the Mormon people and "the way they handle things" before finishing his answer by saying "I don't mean to offend anybody, but you asked the question and that is my reaction."

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