Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal | Christopher Moore

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal | Christopher Moore | Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

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Lamb: The Gospel A...

	Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal Christopher Moore Harper Paperbacks, 2003 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 493 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

loved it

Funniest book I ever read. Respectful, too. Moore's "schtick" dropped me out of my chair several times.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

This book had me laughing from the first sentence on. What a FUN read. I am a big fan of Christopher Moore. "Lamb" is one of my favorite books by Mr. Moore. It has LOTS of laughs, of course. Warning: this is the only book by Christopher Moore that actually made me cry. Yes, there are some sad, poignant moments in this book, but only a couple. In the end, "Lamb" will have you laughing again.

Really great satire

I just loved it - I loved his interpretation of Christ's life... He also attempts to explain some discrepancies I've always wondered about - Bacon, Easter bunnies, Judo-it's all explained! But if you take your religion seriously, you'll probably be offended.

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Brilliant and funny

I bought this book on a whim after seeing it on a table at Barnes and Noble. One of my favorite things of all time is intelligent, witty humor, and I most definitely found that in Lamb. Moore is obviously well read in the religions in the world, and he drops small, quiet one liners that explain some mysteries of the Christian religion (i.e what bunnies have to do with the crucifixion). It smart without mocking, heartfelt without being overly sappy. Definitely a good read.

The untold story of Jesus H. Christ

"Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" is the story of Jesus (a.k.a. Joshua) and Biff, his BFF. The story begins in the present, when an angel resurrects the long-dead Biff and instructs him to write a gospel to fill in the missing gap of information about Christ's life prior to age 30. (Biff was originally excluded from the gospels because everyone thought he was a total arse.) The result is an entertaining coming-of-age story that details Biff and Joshua's friendship and Josh's lifelong quest to figure out exactly what his duties as the Messiah entail.

The novel is written in typical Christopher Moore fashion: it's full of sarcastic, raunchy humor that die-hard Bible-bangers will most likely see as blasphemous. Biff and Josh both struggle with their love for the adorable Maggie (a.k.a. Mary Magdalene). Biff also has the hots for Josh's crazy mother, Mary. ("She will make an excellent concubine.") And although Josh was busy performing miracles from the age of six, Biff claims his friend wasn't always the saint that people made him out to be. ("Don't let anyone ever tell you that the Prince of Peace never struck anyone.")

When the boys get a bit older, the embark on a journey to find the three wise men in order to discover Josh's destiny. Plenty of comical moments ensue: I particularly enjoyed reading about how Josh asks Biff to employ a variety of prostitutes so that he can teach the Son of God about sex (as though Biff needed any convincing!). The angel Raziel's obsession with modern-day soap operas is also very entertaining. However, the book sort of loses momentum a third of the way through and doesn't get better until near the end, when Josh's crucifixion is imminent. There's a very interesting revelation involving Biff and Judas, the disciple that ultimately betrayed Jesus, but the Biff/Raziel portion of the story wraps up too quickly, and the "resurrection" at the end of the story is kind of a stupid way to end the book, at least in my opinion.

I think "Lamb" would be more entertaining if Moore devoted more time to the latter years of Josh's life rather than than everything that happened in between, which just isn't as interesting. I also would have enjoyed the book more if it was 100 pages shorter. Still, it's definitely worth reading, especially if you enjoy religious satire as much as I do.

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