Lamb by Christopher Moore

Amy  

fiction

The official title of this novel by Christopher Moore is Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. It tells the story of the first thirty years of Jesus Christ’s life as told by Biff, Joshua’s (as Christ was known then) best friend.  It’s written as a comedy.  The angel, Raziel, raises Biff from the dead 2000 years after his death so that he can write about the missing segment of Christ’s life.  While he holds Biff hostage in a hotel room, Raziel watches television and orders room service.  The novel is mostly the telling of Joshua and Biff’s experiences and adventures, interrupted often by the happenings in the modern-day hotel room. 

I never, ever would have chosen to read this novel if it weren’t for book club. I normally do not enjoy novels in the “comedy” genre.  I prefer watching my comedy on TV and movies. I usually find comedy novels to be more annoying and forced than funny.  I will say that the comedy was annoying, as expected, although it did make me laugh a few times. What bothered me most, honestly, was the length of this novel.  But I persevered for book club.

We get details about Joshua’s childhood and then he and Biff set off in search of the three wise men to see if they can teach Josh how to be the Messiah.  These three journeys were a slog for me except for Biff’s antics in bed!  Joshua learns about several religions and belief systems throughout the East (and also fights a demon, befriends the Yeti, acquires amazing martial arts skillz, and learns how to multiply food portions) and finally returns home just after his father dies.  Then, they decide it’s time to acquire some disciples so they set out to do that in anticipation of Joshua becoming a public figure. Eventually, it wraps up with, roughly, the story everyone knows leading up to Christ’s crucifixion.

The audiobook was narrated by Fisher Stevens and he was pretty perfect for this novel.  He was the best part about the novel, in my opinion!  He has great comedic delivery and wonderful accents.  I give him an A.