Review: Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

Author Christopher Moore asked himself a question one day. Why does the bible only cover the last three years of Christ's life? He's our savior isn't he? There's not way that the final three years on this Earth were the only important ones for Jesus. So Moore decides to fill us in on all that lost time with his novel Lamb.

Moore tells that story through the perspective of Biff who lives up to his sub titular role.  Biff first meets Jesus (here called Joshua, after the Hebrew "Yeshua") when they're both 6 years old, and Joshua is happily resurrecting a lizard which his younger brother keeps killing. Biff is a colorful smartass, always ready with a one-liner or a convincing lie; as he and Joshua grow up together, his streetwise ways and fast thinking repeatedly protect his naïve, excessively honest friend from the fallout over the odd miracle, or the conflicts between Jewish rebels and their Roman overlords. When Joshua decides to seek out the three wise men who attended His birth, hoping they can teach Him how to be a proper Messiah, Biff tags along to protect the hapless idealist. Together, they travel to China and India, where Joshua learns the secrets of Buddhist thought and Hindu asceticism, while Biff learns sexual technique, martial arts, sleight of hand, and how to make explosives.

On the one hand, Moore takes Jesus' personality and opinions on religion relatively seriously, and seems to suggest how His message might have been formed; on the other, he strings out a Douglas Adams-like road trip full of dry humor, casually humorous sacrilege, and ribald absurdity.

I'd probably have to say that the best parts of Moore's story are the original sections. Luckily there's a strong majority of the book devoted to some wonderful ideas and some hysterical jokes.

"Blessed are the dumbfucks" and "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for they shall receive a fruit basket"