Where I Laughed But Also Felt Something?

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a success, IMO. I'm not surprised how much I liked it, because I've liked everything by Christopher Moore so far, but I was surprised at how well the risky premise worked. I feel like he really pulled it off when it would have been easy to screw it up. It's a very complete, well plotted novel that is not only funny but emotionally satisfying.

Telling the story of Jesus (Joshua here, for good reason) from the perspective of his best friend Biff (otherwise lost to history) allows Moore to do what he does best: tell irreverent, improbable stories with wit and something approaching scholarly cleverness. He does his research, and then uses it to subvert whatever play or legend or--in this case--Bible he is sourcing his ideas from. Subverting religious ideas can upset some folks, and for all I know some people were angry about this, but I found the version of Jesus here to be relatable, respectable, and genuinely believable.

Biff, meanwhile, is hilarious. His vibe is very turn-of-the century slacker, and he supplies most of the fun. But he's not stupid, and his loyalty to Jesus/Joshua, especially at the end, is emotional and touching, actually.

In the years of Jesus's life that the gospels are pretty silent about, from the age of 12 to 30, Moore has Jesus/Joshua traveling and studying in the East--in Afghanistan, in China, in India--and learning many lessons that inform his later teaching. It's not an absurd idea; there are many who think the historical Jesus could have traveled to India, where he might have acquired some of the ideas that set him so firmly against the powerful men and institutions of his time. In any case, he had 18 years where we don't know what he did, so it's kinda fun to speculate. Or straight make it up, like here. Some of the action in the story happens just to be funny, but the plot is pretty tight. The call-backs and tie-ins connect up events across the whole novel in a way you might not expect in a novel about Biff, Christ's childhood pal.

I enjoyed this all the way through. A younger version of myself might not have read it, being deeply observant of my religion until my 30s, but present me found it to be very entertaining while still being strangely respectful of the life and teachings of Jesus. I liked this Jesus/Joshua. Others might try the novel and be offended; I dunno. I wasn't.

So--recommended. Not quite for everybody, but for lots.

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