I found this one through a list of free/cheap Kindle books. It was (and still currently is) free. That and the content makes it worth downloading..

It's a fun novel about a guy and his imaginary Jesus(es), who he discovers - with the help of a swarthy Peter and a talking donkey and some other friends - may not be the Real Jesus, but only the ones that make him feel comfortable. The story is a fun and surprisingly deep tour through all the different images of Jesus that are around today - hippie Jesus, anarchist Jesus, Mormon Jesus, New Age Jesus, emerging church Jesus, ... pick your favorite alternate Jesus and Matt runs into him.

The book is set in and around Portland, Oregon and uses some cultural landmarks. If you've been to Powell's Books or the Red and Black or Voodoo Donuts, you'll enjoy the visits.

I really enjoyed this one. It's a quick read, very fast, very fun and entertaining. The end is quite a bit more touching than I expected.

There are a few awkward spots - some characters are written way more over the top than they need to be (Men's Retreat Jesus could have been SO much better, but as it was he was pretty funny).

It's a good companion to something like Blue Like Jazz, although not nearly as profound. It would be great for questioning Christians, youth groups, open minded atheists, bored Christians. Anybody with a sense of humor about thier own belief system would get a kick out of this one.

And you can't beat the Kindle version price. ( )

Matt has an interesting take on the versions of Jesus that people have relationships with and idolise. The first half of the book sets the scene and then Matt begins the second half promising to present the real Jesus. I appreciate the interesting idea presented and it was a fairly well told story, but I felt like I was left waiting a long time during that second half of the book only to be thoroughly disappointed with the weird, mystical, seemingly intangible version of the 'right Jesus' presented near the end. ( )

Oh goodness, what a book! As this hilarious "not-quite-true" story opens, Matt Mikalatos is in his favorite trendy little café with his hip personal Jesus when someone walks in and socks Matt's Jesus on the nose. Jesus takes off, robes flapping in the wind, with Matt and the stranger Pete (aka the Apostle Peter) in hot pursuit. And so begins a wild journey to discover the real Jesus amidst all the fakes.

Because there are plenty of fakes. Along the way we meet a plethora of false Jesuses, each based on a particular trait or ideal Mikalatos has dreamed up. There's Perpetually Angry Jesus and Harley Jesus and Testerone Jesus. There's Political Power Jesus and Peacenik Jesus (those two end up brawling) and Free Will Jesus and Meticulous Jesus (those two also clash). There are more Jesuses than I can enumerate here, and each one has a grain of truth that has been magnified to swallow up his whole character. What did Voltaire say — God created man in His own image, and we've been returning the favor ever since? So true!

This book is a crazy mixture of genres. There's some autobiographical stuff mixed in with all the bizarre situations and characters. We have a talking donkey and a Frog of Hate. There is much loving parody of Christian culture (like when Mikalatos is transported to first-century Palestine and starts looking around for the modern-day kids from Christian animated movies who are time-warped to Bible times to be part of the adventure, haha). There are some laugh-out-loud lines, like this:

The first century smelled like what Christians call a "men's retreat." This is when men leave their wives and children for several days, go to the mountains, and yell at each other, "Stop neglecting your wife and children!"

Haha!

And yet underneath all the highly entertaining humor and puns and ridiculous scenarios, Mikalatos really is saying something important. He raises questions of loss and pain, and what we do when Jesus doesn't stop that terrible thing from happening to us. When He fails to meet our expectations. I was challenged to ask myself: what Jesus have I created? And how can I get rid of him for the real thing?

It's a cliché to say a book made me laugh and cry, but this one actually did. I chuckled out loud at several points, and teared up at others that hit close to home. Mikalatos finally gets to the heart of his journey when he broaches the accusation he'd been silently holding against Jesus all those years. I wonder how many of us carry those accusing questions around with us that we never quite ask Him...

On the back cover blurb, author Gary Thomas compares Mikalatos's writing with the "imaginative whimsy of C. S. Lewis," and the comparison is apt. Witty, inventive, and unpredictable, this Sunday-School-lesson-gone-rogue is a fresh take on the tired, safe way we usually approach the Son of God. I look forward to reading more of Mikalatos's particular brand of reverent hilarity and unexpected depth. Recommended! ( )

There comes a point in the journey with Jesus that we are asked to go beyond the how's the weather conversation. This book explores one persons journey into getting rid of the easy-answer, imaginary Jesus' of his life for the soul penetrating, real Jesus. Along the way, he confronts the many names of these imaginary Jesus'. My favorites were the eight-ball Jesus and the testosterone Jesus. ( )

This is a crazy jumbled ride to discover the real Jesus. I liked the way the author exposed our false ideas of who Jesus Christ is, how we think of him in terms of our own likes, dislikes, and fears. I didn't quite get the point of the Mormon missionaries and being a Mormon myself could see that the ideas of these missionaries were not Mormon ideas but maybe someone's ideas of what they think Mormon's believe. I did find the portrayals of the real Jesus wonderful and inviting. ( )