Product 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 this 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 Saviour'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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15818 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

About the Author
Christopher Moore began writing at the age six and became the oldest known child prodigy when, in his early thirties, he published his first novel. Chris enjoys cheese crackers, acid jazz, and otter scrubbing and lives in an inaccessible island fortress in the Pacific.

Customer Reviews

A laugh and pause for thought
I am a committed Christian and I thought this book was just great! It made me laugh out loud and I felt that, on the whole, Moore really respected Jesus. He added to my faith rather than took away from it with his portrayal, particulary the intense humanity of Jesus as well as his otherness. Whether this was intentional or not, it doesn't really matter - I felt my mind and heart engaged with the story. My mind was broadened, and my heart warmed. In his epilogue he suggests that anyone of faith who is offended by the book could perhaps do with praying a bit harder, and I can only agree.

The New Testament gets an update
Christopher Moore is very very brave. His works so far have been for the most part extremely funny, setting a benchmark for himself which is hard to consistently write at. Lamb, is not as overtly funny since it is heavily grounded in history. That said, Lamb is still the funniest take on religion out there and of equal importance (and this is where skill with creativity comes in) it is not overtly blasphemous. Sure, it'll have some readers frowning as Jesus gets high on caffeine and gets heal-happy, some will believe that it mocks their chosen religion (for it's not just Christianity that is central to this book - oddly enough) and some will suggest that Jesus could never fit in to a wine amphora and it's just plain ridiculous. Moore doesn't really aim this at people who know The Bible, but is aiming at a larger audience, the General Public, who know all the miracles and stuff, and have a faint idea about the history. So with this in mind Lamb creates a marvelous, although lengthy, wry story, based on a story everyone can relate to. Most of the story details what the existing Gospels ignore, Jesus' adolescence. Kids will be kids right? It's brave and it's very well done. Guaranteed to provide smirks as a minimum.

A Satirical, Fictional Look at the Savior's Childhood
Very little is known about the childhood of Christ, and I love Moore's imagination of what happened during those "lost" years between his birth and age 30. In Moore's epilogue, he explains the narrative choices that he made, and they are all plausible, some are even laudable. He has researched his subject, and the poetic license he takes with the story is done with full understanding of his choices.

Although I consider myself a Christian, my knowledge of the Bible is rudimentary. I have not made a lifetime of studying the scriptures, but I did recognize a lot of things that were part of my childhood Sunday school teachings. I appreciate and admire that Moore has given Christ a sense of humor and foibles and doubts. He was, when all is said and done, a human, and growing into the role that he was born to play had to be painful, and even funny, at times. Humor, too, is one of God's creations, and I would love to think that He who died for my sins smiled and joked and was amusingly confused by his situation on occasion.

The story is told through the voice of Biff, Jesus' best childhood friend. Biff is not the unquestioning follower that we might expect to see - he wants to save Jesus from his destiny and protect him from all who would hurt him. He is also tempted by sins of the flesh and swears early and often (but then, many of the characters do, including Jesus). For lack of a better word, he's a goofball, and he's the perfect foil for the serious aspects of the Savior's journey.

Jesus is frustrated at times by the stupidity of people around him. He is amused by the irony of healing the Untouchables by actually touching them. He accepts his chaste life but is curious to hear about what he's missing. He is occasionally angry with God for not answering when he sorely needs answers to his many questions. In short, he's unsure what he's supposed to do, and this book is a humorous slant on what might have taken place on that journey to Golgotha.

I give Lamb four stars instead of five because some sequences went on a bit longer than they needed to. Moore makes his points brilliantly, but then adds more to them, and it doesn't serve the story as well as some judicious editing might have done.