Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
by Christopher Moore
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Description
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, show more 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. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
jscape2000 These authors revel in taking the things you think you know, turning them sideways and shaking them.
Also recommended by yokai
101
andomck Religion, realism, fantasy, humor, low brow, etc. Makes sense to me.
30
ptittle same weird off-beat funny with underlying serious
by Phantasma
Dr.Science The English author Tom Holt is relatively unknown in America, but very popular in England. If you enjoy Jasper Fforde or Christopher Moore you will most certainly enjoy Tom Holt's wry sense of English humor and the absurd. He has written a number of excellent books including Expecting Someone Taller, and Flying Dutch, but they may be difficult to find at your library or bookstore.
the_awesome_opossum Only Begotten Daughter is darker and less whimsical than Lamb, but the protagonist - the daughter of God - also struggles with her divinity and purpose on Earth. It is funny in spots, but in a more wry and satirical way. So if you liked the more serious parts of Lamb, try this book
01
Member Reviews
Di Gesù siamo convinti di sapere più o meno tutto, in fin dei conti è da oltre 2.000 anni una delle persone più autorevoli del pianeta.
In realtà sappiamo solo quello che i 4 evangelisti ufficiali hanno voluto raccontarci, e che è principalmente riferito ai tre anni di pubblica predicazione del Messia.
E così Levi detto Biff viene incaricato di redigere un nuovo Vangelo, che descriva quelli che si possono chiamare anni di formazione, dove si trova la chiave dell'universalità del suo messaggio.
La prima parte del libro è semplicemente esilarante, con battute al fulmicotone e una fresca libertà di pensiero, l'ultima parte però perde un po' di tono, perché purtroppo non è possibile uscire col racconto dai limiti dell'ortodossia.
In realtà sappiamo solo quello che i 4 evangelisti ufficiali hanno voluto raccontarci, e che è principalmente riferito ai tre anni di pubblica predicazione del Messia.
E così Levi detto Biff viene incaricato di redigere un nuovo Vangelo, che descriva quelli che si possono chiamare anni di formazione, dove si trova la chiave dell'universalità del suo messaggio.
La prima parte del libro è semplicemente esilarante, con battute al fulmicotone e una fresca libertà di pensiero, l'ultima parte però perde un po' di tono, perché purtroppo non è possibile uscire col racconto dai limiti dell'ortodossia.
I read this for the first time as an impressionable youth. I went to the Barnes & Noble down the street from my college and bought a paperback copy of this gem. I don't know what's happened to that copy, I frequently lend out books fully expecting to never see them again, but I also periodically sell most of the books I have so I can start fresh (and because I don't want to haul all those boxes to the next residence). If you enjoyed Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, you'll enjoy Lamb.
I waited weeks to get this ebook from the library -- I had Nno idea it had became so popular but I like to think I played a small part because I have recommended it to people for years. I had to read it within the two week show more period because there are 15 people with holds waiting for it! This book was published in 2001! I was amazed Greater Phoenix even had it in the collection.
This book became such a part of me that I was telling the story of Jesus and the lizard as if I got it straight from the Apocryphal texts. I literally used that story as an example of the Apocrypha to my husband seconds before opening this book and then had to confess...FFF******CCCKKK, that story is FROM THIS BOOK. LOL. That's how much it stuck with me. My belief that Mary Magdalene was a badass, also from this book (although I whole-heartedly believe if she was real, she was definitely a badass). I 1000% believe this book carries more truth than what is preached from most pulpits today. I remember it opened my eyes to looking at Jesus as a human and not just some mythical being, but as a man that walked amongst the people and shared parables that sometimes didn't make always make sense and learned from other cultures (hopefully). I do not call myself a Christian or an atheist. I do not like to label myself as anything, because I'm always learning and the definition of a label could change at any moment. But there is one label I'm content with -- I am a reader of books and this is such a great book to read.
I admit I did not remember the ending, Biff's gospel has a sad and abrupt ending, but there is also hope. There's always hope, even if the ending you really want doesn't come until 2000 years later. show less
I waited weeks to get this ebook from the library -- I had Nno idea it had became so popular but I like to think I played a small part because I have recommended it to people for years. I had to read it within the two week show more period because there are 15 people with holds waiting for it! This book was published in 2001! I was amazed Greater Phoenix even had it in the collection.
This book became such a part of me that I was telling the story of Jesus and the lizard as if I got it straight from the Apocryphal texts. I literally used that story as an example of the Apocrypha to my husband seconds before opening this book and then had to confess...FFF******CCCKKK, that story is FROM THIS BOOK. LOL. That's how much it stuck with me. My belief that Mary Magdalene was a badass, also from this book (although I whole-heartedly believe if she was real, she was definitely a badass). I 1000% believe this book carries more truth than what is preached from most pulpits today. I remember it opened my eyes to looking at Jesus as a human and not just some mythical being, but as a man that walked amongst the people and shared parables that sometimes didn't make always make sense and learned from other cultures (hopefully). I do not call myself a Christian or an atheist. I do not like to label myself as anything, because I'm always learning and the definition of a label could change at any moment. But there is one label I'm content with -- I am a reader of books and this is such a great book to read.
I admit I did not remember the ending, Biff's gospel has a sad and abrupt ending, but there is also hope. There's always hope, even if the ending you really want doesn't come until 2000 years later. show less
You can tell about the zany humor just from the title. What surprised me was how touching this novel was. I've never cried at the story of the crucifixion before. Even more surprising was the spin this novel had on the crucifixion—instead of a mindless act of violence or the act of an inhuman and bloodthirsty god, good old Josh of Nazareth made the ultimate personal sacrifice in order to make a point that made sense to me for once.
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 show more 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. show less
I had a number of issues with this book, most seriously the "bed trick" pulled on Mary. A "bed trick," in other words, is a rape. This event, and the conversation had before it, made it difficult for me to like either Biff or Joshua moving forward. I'll note that some of my friends who read this book didn't have the same reaction as I did, so your disgust may vary. Still, I can't recommend it, and anyone sensitive to this type of scene really should avoid the book. Jesus basically gives his friend the go-ahead to rape another friend, and later Moore washes it away, as if that makes it OK. It's not.
This book is one of those where you find yourself thinking that the author could have done so much better with what he had, with just a show more little more thought and effort.
This is a neat premise, and taking it on in with a thoroughly modern sensibility and tongue-in-cheek humor could have been a great way to go. But it turned out to be "almost" funny and "almost" heretical without fully committing to either.
I liked Biff's one-liners; his dialogue was often catty and on-point. I laughed a few times. But the narrative never got there. He often made gimme jokes that just didn't measure up to his dialogue. One example that stuck in my head was when Biff discussed never being able to live up to Jesus's example of forgiveness. He says something like, "It was the only thing I could never understand. Well, that and geometry!" It's the standard joke cliche -- "Math is hard, amirite?" It's a gimme. You could have really done something funny with that, but instead you went with a cliche. Not impressed.
There were things that really were hilarious -- Raziel's obsession with soap operas and inability to realize they aren't real -- but most of the book just wasn't quite there.
It's the same thing with the retelling of Jesus's early life. (Aside: Does it count as a retelling when the Bible doesn't talk about his early years at all?) Christopher Moore clearly wanted to take a heretical track in order to make it comedic, which you really have to do, given the subject matter. If you take on this area of history for your novel, you are going to get complaints no matter what you do. (The Red Tent gets banning proposals from evangelical Christians all the time, and its only heresy seems to be implying that women have thoughts and feelings independent of their husbands.) So, in my opinion, you really have to go for it. You have to pull a Mark Twain here. Give those people something to be offended about! Give us some rollicking good blasphemy!
But it doesn't quite get there. Moore humanizes Jesus -- he likes bacon! he's disappointed he can't have sex! -- but everything the Bible says still goes. There's little of the "how it really happened" that could have shed some light on Jesus (and been funny). There's really quite little resembling blasphemy in practice -- it's all in the premise. Clearly Moore comes down on the side of the Christian faith, which is totally fine with me, but if you claim to write something irreverent, there's so much more you can do. There's a huge amount of ground between taking the New Testament down and doing something original and irreverent.
I suppose if I were offering advice to someone trying to recreate this type of novel, I'd have three main suggestions: more irreverence, more complex comedy, and no rape. Seems like an easy recipe. show less
This book is one of those where you find yourself thinking that the author could have done so much better with what he had, with just a show more little more thought and effort.
This is a neat premise, and taking it on in with a thoroughly modern sensibility and tongue-in-cheek humor could have been a great way to go. But it turned out to be "almost" funny and "almost" heretical without fully committing to either.
I liked Biff's one-liners; his dialogue was often catty and on-point. I laughed a few times. But the narrative never got there. He often made gimme jokes that just didn't measure up to his dialogue. One example that stuck in my head was when Biff discussed never being able to live up to Jesus's example of forgiveness. He says something like, "It was the only thing I could never understand. Well, that and geometry!" It's the standard joke cliche -- "Math is hard, amirite?" It's a gimme. You could have really done something funny with that, but instead you went with a cliche. Not impressed.
There were things that really were hilarious -- Raziel's obsession with soap operas and inability to realize they aren't real -- but most of the book just wasn't quite there.
It's the same thing with the retelling of Jesus's early life. (Aside: Does it count as a retelling when the Bible doesn't talk about his early years at all?) Christopher Moore clearly wanted to take a heretical track in order to make it comedic, which you really have to do, given the subject matter. If you take on this area of history for your novel, you are going to get complaints no matter what you do. (The Red Tent gets banning proposals from evangelical Christians all the time, and its only heresy seems to be implying that women have thoughts and feelings independent of their husbands.) So, in my opinion, you really have to go for it. You have to pull a Mark Twain here. Give those people something to be offended about! Give us some rollicking good blasphemy!
But it doesn't quite get there. Moore humanizes Jesus -- he likes bacon! he's disappointed he can't have sex! -- but everything the Bible says still goes. There's little of the "how it really happened" that could have shed some light on Jesus (and been funny). There's really quite little resembling blasphemy in practice -- it's all in the premise. Clearly Moore comes down on the side of the Christian faith, which is totally fine with me, but if you claim to write something irreverent, there's so much more you can do. There's a huge amount of ground between taking the New Testament down and doing something original and irreverent.
I suppose if I were offering advice to someone trying to recreate this type of novel, I'd have three main suggestions: more irreverence, more complex comedy, and no rape. Seems like an easy recipe. show less
Disclaimer: Lamb is a piece of fiction. The author is not proposing or even theorizing about Christ’s youth. He is merely writing a story. If you don’t like fictional tales about Christ, if you want to smite Dan Brown, if you believe that He could not have cussed, procreated or gotten drunk, then skip this novel. It is not for you.
Okay, on with the review.
What was Christ like as a child, teenager or a young man? The Bible documents much about his birth, his ministry and his death, but there’s a sizeable gap about his younger years. It’s that gap that Christopher Moore decides to fill with a very humorous story about Jesus’s younger years, told by his fictional best pal, Biff.
Biff befriends Jesus (who goes by his Jewish show more nickname, Josh, in this story) when they were six years old. At the age of 13, Josh decides to journey out to learn more about his place as the Messiah. Biff joins him, and together, they travel to meet the three wise men who came to the manger when Josh was born.
First, they meet Balthasar, who instructs the boys about the teachings of Tao and Confucius. After spending several years with him, they journey to China to meet Gaspar, who lives in a Buddhist monastery where the young men learn martial arts and meditation. Finally, they go to India to meet with Melchior, who teaches them the intricacies of Hinduism and yoga. With all of this knowledge, Josh returns to Israel to take his place as the Messiah. The story continues with Josh’s ministry, his adoption of disciples and apostles, and finally his crucifixion.
Biff is fiercely loyal, incredibly funny and very human in this story. As my disclaimer above states, this book will not be for everyone. If you can separate your religious beliefs from the fiction of this story, I think you will find Lamb to be a very enjoyable book. show less
Okay, on with the review.
What was Christ like as a child, teenager or a young man? The Bible documents much about his birth, his ministry and his death, but there’s a sizeable gap about his younger years. It’s that gap that Christopher Moore decides to fill with a very humorous story about Jesus’s younger years, told by his fictional best pal, Biff.
Biff befriends Jesus (who goes by his Jewish show more nickname, Josh, in this story) when they were six years old. At the age of 13, Josh decides to journey out to learn more about his place as the Messiah. Biff joins him, and together, they travel to meet the three wise men who came to the manger when Josh was born.
First, they meet Balthasar, who instructs the boys about the teachings of Tao and Confucius. After spending several years with him, they journey to China to meet Gaspar, who lives in a Buddhist monastery where the young men learn martial arts and meditation. Finally, they go to India to meet with Melchior, who teaches them the intricacies of Hinduism and yoga. With all of this knowledge, Josh returns to Israel to take his place as the Messiah. The story continues with Josh’s ministry, his adoption of disciples and apostles, and finally his crucifixion.
Biff is fiercely loyal, incredibly funny and very human in this story. As my disclaimer above states, this book will not be for everyone. If you can separate your religious beliefs from the fiction of this story, I think you will find Lamb to be a very enjoyable book. show less
As the narrator of the story, Biff, says, the gospels leave out all the years of Christ’s life between birth and adulthood. Biff’s job, charged by the angel messenger Raziel, is to fill in the gap. Biff (or “Levi who is called Biff”) is Joshua bar Joseph's (aka Jesus Christ's) best friend from childhood, so he can not only fill in the time gap, he can also show a side of “Josh” that we don’t get from the official canon.
This could go really wrong. Not in the sense of irreverence so much as just plain goofiness. Moore goes right to the edge, but I don’t think he crosses over, at least not too often. Like any official, public figure, Jesus would have had an unofficial, casual side, and giving him a sense of humor and a show more healthy, humble, irreverence about himself works for me.
The story takes off from Josh’s realizing that, if he’s going to be the Messiah, he needs to learn how. He doesn’t think he’s ready. So he sets out, with Biff’s companionship, to visit the three wise men from his birth, to learn from them. He visits each in turn, on long journeys to the east, even visiting the Great Wall of China. He learns Buddhism. He learns about the "Spark of Life” which is in each of us, and which becomes the basis for the “Holy Ghost”. Biff learns Kung Fu.
Much of what Josh learns goes against the grain of God’s word in the Torah, and against the codes and principles of the Pharisees. There are more important things than not eating bacon — loving your neighbor, for example. And the kingdom that the Son of God brings is open to all, not just to God’s chosen people. Josh is a thinker and a learner, and, of course, that’s part of what gets him into trouble.
This is a funny book — I laughed out loud several times, like when Josh goads Peter into trying to walk on water, saying that anyone can do it, that it’s not like the miracles that only the Son of God can do. Peter steps out onto the water and, after a moment, sinks like a rock. “I can’t believe you fell for that”, says Josh.
One of the other big themes is the role of Mary Magdalene, or “Maggie”. She’s a constant of Josh's and Biff’s lives, loving both in her way and in their ways. She’s loyal, critical, and crucial to the story. And she brings out another side of Josh’s character — after all, these are Josh’s prime teenage and young adult years.
This is good. I actually had put off reading it for a while, thinking it was just likely to be too dumb. But it struck the right tone. It’s making me want to read more of Moore’s novels. show less
This could go really wrong. Not in the sense of irreverence so much as just plain goofiness. Moore goes right to the edge, but I don’t think he crosses over, at least not too often. Like any official, public figure, Jesus would have had an unofficial, casual side, and giving him a sense of humor and a show more healthy, humble, irreverence about himself works for me.
The story takes off from Josh’s realizing that, if he’s going to be the Messiah, he needs to learn how. He doesn’t think he’s ready. So he sets out, with Biff’s companionship, to visit the three wise men from his birth, to learn from them. He visits each in turn, on long journeys to the east, even visiting the Great Wall of China. He learns Buddhism. He learns about the "Spark of Life” which is in each of us, and which becomes the basis for the “Holy Ghost”. Biff learns Kung Fu.
Much of what Josh learns goes against the grain of God’s word in the Torah, and against the codes and principles of the Pharisees. There are more important things than not eating bacon — loving your neighbor, for example. And the kingdom that the Son of God brings is open to all, not just to God’s chosen people. Josh is a thinker and a learner, and, of course, that’s part of what gets him into trouble.
This is a funny book — I laughed out loud several times, like when Josh goads Peter into trying to walk on water, saying that anyone can do it, that it’s not like the miracles that only the Son of God can do. Peter steps out onto the water and, after a moment, sinks like a rock. “I can’t believe you fell for that”, says Josh.
One of the other big themes is the role of Mary Magdalene, or “Maggie”. She’s a constant of Josh's and Biff’s lives, loving both in her way and in their ways. She’s loyal, critical, and crucial to the story. And she brings out another side of Josh’s character — after all, these are Josh’s prime teenage and young adult years.
This is good. I actually had put off reading it for a while, thinking it was just likely to be too dumb. But it struck the right tone. It’s making me want to read more of Moore’s novels. show less
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Published Reviews
"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.
added by mysterymax
Interesting, original, not for every taste.
added by mysterymax
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Author Information
27 Works 65,225 Members
Christopher Moore was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1957. He studied at Ohio State University and Brooks Institute of Photography. Before becoming a full-time author, he worked as a roofer, a grocery clerk, a hotel night auditor, an insurance broker, a waiter, a photographer, and a DJ. His first book, Practical Demonkeeping, was published in 1992. His show more other works include Bloodsucking Fiends, Island of the Sequined Nun, Lamb, A Dirty Job, You Suck, Fool, Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art, and Secondhand Souls. In 2014 his title, The Serpent of Venice, made The New York Times Best Seller List. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Work Relationships
Was inspired by
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Die Bibel nach Biff
- Original title
- Lamb
- Original publication date
- 2002
- People/Characters
- Jesus; Biff (Levi bar Alphaeus); Mary; Mary Magdalene; Raziel; Lazarus
- Important places
- Nazareth, Israel; China; India
- Important events
- Jesus calls his disciples; Baptism of Jesus of Nazareth; Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth; Jesus’ death; Jesus’ burial; Jesus’ resurrection
- Epigraph
- God is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh. - Voltaire
Author's blessing
If you have come to these pages for laughter, may you find it.
If you are here to be offended, may your ire rise and your blood boil.
If you seek adventure, may this story sing you away to bliss... (show all)ful escape.
If you need to test or confirm your beliefs, may you reach comfortable conclusions.
All books reveal perfection, by what they are or what they are not.
May you find that which you seek, in these pages or outside them.
May you find perfection, and know it by name. - First words
- The angel was cleaning out his closets when the call came.
- Quotations
- You think you know how this story is going to end, but you don't.
I learned how to boil down goat urine to make explosives today.
Hi, I'm the Messiah, God wanted you to have this bacon.
I know that even now, having watched enough television, you probably won't even refer to them as lepers so as to spare their feelings. You probably call them 'parts-dropping-off challenged' or something. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Damn. I would have guessed Harvey, Biff said.
- Publisher's editor
- Dupree, Tom
- Blurbers
- Maguire, Gregory; Hiaasen, Carl; Sparks, Nicholas; Beagle, Peter S.; Fitzhugh, Bill
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PS3563 .O594 .L36 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1961-
- BISAC
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