

Loading... Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal (2002)by Christopher Moore
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Best Fantasy Novels (238) » 32 more Favourite Books (601) Books Read in 2014 (412) Books Read in 2008 (222) Historical Fiction (848) KayStJ's to-read list (463) Overdue Podcast (310) Animals in the Title (240) Used books to buy next (229) Books Read in 2021 (2,162) Best Historical Fiction (566) Unread books (870) No current Talk conversations about this book. I know that fans of Christopher Moore (and I am one of them) think this is wonderful, but I can't agree. It's ok and has it's moments, but I like Moore's other books better. You *will* find out what Jesus' middle name is. I haven’t been a practising Christian in well over 20 years (and was I ever, tbh), but Christopher Moore’s irreverent (but thought provoking) novel about the missing 30-odd years of Jesus’ life between birth and rise to fame is nothing less than a stellar read. The characters (except for our narrator Biff) are familiar if you’ve grown up in Western culture, but Moore takes a confident leap at weaving a relatively believable (but expectedly ridiculous) story that follows Biff and Joshua on a quest for knowledge and enlightenment. On their adventures the pair encounter the three Magi who were present at Jesus’ birth, each of whom plays a role in educating the young Christ on his way to being the Messiah. What makes the story believable is that Moore plays artfully with the tenants of the Jewish faith, and brings the teachings of other contemporaneous belief systems into play in a way that logically shows their influence on what will become Christianity. Whether a man of this era would have actually been able to travel to India, China, or elsewhere in the timeframes posited by Moore is questionable, but not entirely unbelievable, and makes for an exciting tale that is part morality story and part adventure quest. I quit about a third of the way through because I was bored stupid. Comedies that are self-aware frequently bug the hell out of me. Of course, I'm also the only person I know who hates Terry Pratchett novels... 258
"Lamb" is an incredibly compelling work even for readers who don't agree with Moore's conclusions. The book is also laugh out loud funny at times, which really helps during some of more irreverent parts of the story. Interesting, original, not for every taste. Was inspired by
The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years-except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work "reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams" (Philadelphia Inquirer). Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But there's no one who loves Josh more-except maybe "Maggie," Mary of Magdala-and Biff isn't about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight. No library descriptions found.
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54 — Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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I read this book picturing this like a Simpson show. Bart Simpson and Milhouse starring as Biff and Joshua (aka Jesus). Lisa I guess would be Maggie/Mary magdalene They would visit the three wisemen, Carl, Lenny, and Apu? And Nelson Mudd will ironically be Bartholomew. Perfect!
Biff is a great best friend to Joshua. He's crass, has a dirty mouth and dirtier sense of humor. I really enjoyed his present day thoughts rooming with the angel Raphael. I really missed those parts because the last parts of the book unraveled for me. (