Lamb by Christopher Moore

Those without irreverence should not enter

Remember when Amy said they're moving?  Yeah, so am I.  My darling husband has already left and in approximately 14 days there will be people here to pack up our house.  And do you know what I've been doing? Crying.  Crying because my daughter is done with pre-school.  And while I'm all for feeling our emotions when they happen and understanding that the small things in life are usually the big things in life, etc ad nauseum, I don't have time for that.  I should be preparing for (hopefully) the World's Greatest Garage Sale, taking things off the wall, packing the personal items we will need while our household goods are in transit, and all sorts of other random things one must do to leave a place properly.  Which also means I don't have time to write a proper review of this good book.  So just know: this is a good book; you should read it if you're not offended by alternate interpretations of Christ's life; you should forgive short-timed bloggers because that's what Jesus would do.  Hmmm....that last part would make a good t-shirt/bracelet/bumper sticker.

Lamb:  The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, is funny.  It's also touching, sad, and endearing.  You may notice that this is the second novel by Mr. Moore that I have read and reviewed in about a month.  That's because he's got a wicked sense of humor and an easy writing style.  What he doesn't have is the ability to take things too seriously.  I, personally, like that.  However, I know there are some people who will not appreciate that when put together with the subject at hand; Christ's formative years.  Levi, who is called Biff, is Jesus Christ's, Joshua, best friend.  He has been resurrected to write his gospel for the world, and so we come to know all manners of things the more popular gospel writers omitted.  Like the fact that Mary was a bit of a knockout, at least that's how Biff saw her.  Or that Jesus started to realize he might be The One when he and his brother played a game involving resurrecting lizards.  Maybe you didn't know that Jesus was often frustrated with the lack of communication on his Father's part.  These are all things Biff was privy to as he was with Joshua all the time.

When Joshua felt he needed to explore what being the Son of God really meant and how he was to go about doing whatever it was that it meant, Biff followed him to the mountains of Afghanistan and the shores of India (where Joshua became quite the yogi and befriended the last yeti).  Which is good, because Joshua is the world's nicest guy, can't tell a lie, and is therefore a walking target for people of lesser morals.  Biff has the street smarts while Joshua has the ability to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, cast out demons, and resurrect the dead.  What could go wrong?  There is no surprise ending.  Ultimately, Joshua is crucified.  Biff loses it and goes after Judas.  Well........and then some other stuff happens but I don't want to give that away because I felt it was one of the better parts of the story.  I really, really liked this book.  It made me appreciate the challenges Joshua had to face, whether accurately depicted here or not - there had to be more than a few issues in asserting oneself as The Savior, here on Earth.  I was not offended by the story or the language used.  I might not recommend it to my mother-in-law and I'm not sure it would be my mother's favorite either.  BUT, if you want a different take on a life that has been well-discussed, then this is your book.