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Someday, the Human Genome Project will isolate the gene that predisposes certain people (men) to look around for something to read whenever they feel the urge to take care of some business, use the facilities, or see a man about a horse. Until science can address the problem, however, there will be a need for people like former CIA analyst Paul Skousen.
Skousen, who lives in South Jordan, is the author of "Brother Paul's Mormon Bathroom Reader" (Cedar Fort, $19.99). Published in November, "Mormon Bathroom Reader" is the sort of volume that seems destined to wind up under many a Christmas tree in Utah Valley and anywhere else with a high concentration of gift givers affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"Mormon Bathroom Reader" is Skousen's second published book, following "The Skousen Book of Mormon World Records," with both volumes arriving in stores in the past 18 months. There's a reason for the quick turnaround.
Cedar Fort, Skousen's Springville-based publisher, has sold more than 20,000 copies of "Mormon World Records" to date. "Mormon Bathroom Reader" moved nearly 3,000 copies just in its first three weeks.
"A book that we're pleased with sells, over the course of its entire publication, like 10,000 copies," said Cedar Fort publicist Lindsey Shumway.
That doesn't mean that Skousen's books are flying off the shelves everywhere that you can find them. Linda Brummett, book department manager at BYU Bookstore on the campus of Brigham Young University, said that BYU Bookstore has sold more than 100 copies of "Mormon World Records." The Read Leaf in Springville, on the other hand, has sold just one.
Of course, Skousen didn't exactly have to beg Cedar Fort to take "Mormon Bathroom Reader." As Shumway put it, "We were completely behind Paul."
LDS doctrine, chocolate and volcanoes
Much of the information in "Mormon Bathroom Reader" came to light, Skousen said, while he was researching the record-setting exploits and various other trivia crammed between the covers of his first book.
"I came across hundreds, if not thousands, of stories that weren't world records," Skousen said, "but they were wonderful gems of information that were just lost."
Skousen, 51 and a father of 10, knew the material would make a great book. He just didn't know what kind of book it would be. "How do you gather a lot of arbitrary information under one cover? What do you call such a book?"
The solution presented itself during a visit to a bookstore where Skousen caught sight of a stack of copies of the popular mainstream trivia compilation "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader."
With that problem solved, it was just a question of what material to include, and what overall tone to strike. After all, nobody wants to read deep doctrine on the throne. But it was also important, Skousen said, to "not hurt, damage or mock some very sacred things."
Then again, a bathroom reader is at least a little bit lighthearted just by its nature. And Skousen said he thinks it's OK to have a little fun at the expense of LDS culture. "I think the culture can do some damage" if it doesn't take itself too seriously, he said.
The finished product is a blend of short articles that sometimes touch on points of LDS doctrine -- one item considers the actual caffeine content of chocolate, which bears on the LDS health doctrines expressed in the scriptural volume Doctrine and Covenants -- and are sometimes just great stories.
For example, Skousen said, some Latter-day Saints might wonder what caused the family of LDS Church founder Joseph Smith to move from Vermont to New York, settling within easy walking distance of the site where Smith later reported discovering gold plates that led to the publication of the Book of Mormon.
The answer: the Indonesian volcano Mount Tambora. Mount Tambora erupted violently in April of 1815 and disrupted the planetary climate for much of the next two years, causing widespread agricultural damage. The Smith family's crops failed in 1816 for the third straight season, prompting the move to New York.
All in the family
Skousen's day job is as managing editor of a new magazine, The Free Capitalist, that's expected to begin publication in January. But he wouldn't mind continuing to write, and he's busily accumulating material for future editions of both "Mormon World Records" and "Mormon Bathroom Reader."
Two different women have already contacted him to claim the shortest interval for an LDS mother between giving birth to full-term infants. "It's down to 9 months and 26 days," he said.
And Skousen's authorial ambitions aren't limited to record books and bathroom readers. For one thing, he'd like to honor the family name by producing at least one work of serious LDS scholarship -- Skousen is one of the eight children of 92-year-old W. Cleon Skousen, a noted LDS thinker and writer.
"I owe it to that name and my dad to do a scholarly book," Skousen said.
His mother, Jewel Skousen, served as editor and proofreader for both "Mormon Bathroom Reader" and "Mormon World Records" and said she fully expects that her son has a few more books in him. "I think it kind of runs in the family," Jewel Skousen said.
There's even a political thriller kicking around, based on Skousen's time in the CIA (six years, including two at the White House) as a military analyst processing satellite photos and intelligence intercepts. The plot's still being worked out, but Skousen knows what he wants people to think of. "Tom Clancy," he said, "with a brother on the front."
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