Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. And while Josh's great deeds and mission of peace will ultimately change the world, Biff is no slouch himself, blessing humanity with enduring contributions of his own, like sarcasm and café latte. Luckily Biff is a whiz at lying and cheating - which helps get his divine pal and him out of more than one jam. (There are worse things than having a best friend who is chaste and a chick magnet!) And, of course, there is danger at every turn, since a young man struggling to understand his godhood, who is incapable of violence or telling anything less than the truth, is certain to piss some people off. 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 - whose considerable charms fall to Biff to sample, since Josh is forbidden the pleasures of the flesh. Meanwhile, Raziel will order pizza, watch the WWF on TV, and aspire to become Spider-Man. That's why the angel Raziel has resurrected Biff from the dust of Jerusalem and brought him to America to write a new gospel, one that tells the real, untold story. Ever since the day when he came upon six-year-old Joshua of Nazareth resurrecting lizards in the village square, Levi bar Alphaeus, called "Biff,"had the distinction of being the Messiah's best bud. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years - except Biff. Lamb is best taken at what it is – a light-hearted, but incredibly smart and funny, tale.The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. Moore’s story is filled with these hilarious nuances and it’s complete with an unpredictable ending. In the novel, Jesus is addicted to coffee, and he thinks that refraining from eating pork was unnecessary bacon is so good. In the book, the sacrifice includes "Biff" utilizing the services of a prostitute to assuage the confused and curious mind of the young Christ. "Biff" recalls the love triangle between his friend Jesus and the woman "Mary Magdala." "Biff" loves "Mary," "Mary" loves Jesus, and Jesus "cannot know a woman." This situation calls for further problems when "Biff" must sacrifice himself at Jesus’s prodding. The cynical and foul-mouthed "Biff" is forced to sit in a cramped hotel room and write, guarded by an easily annoyed angel who loves. After all, as the reader learns, "Biff" is the only one of the apostles that hung out with Jesus while they traveled to the Middle East into Asia looking for the Wise Men and gained the knowledge that comes with being the Messiah. His mission is to fill in the years from childhood and beyond, which Matthew, Mark, Luke and John left out of their gospels. The novel begins with "Biff’s" resurrection after 2,000 years so he can finally write his gospel. It is simply an incredibly creative tale encompassing danger, love, compassion, magic and demons. It is not a lesson meant to change beliefs or to fill gaps in the Bible. I bet you didn’t know Jesus had a best friend named "Biff." Well, after reading Lamb, you might realize that there is a lot about the Messiah you weren’t aware of.įor all of you who take your religion too seriously, Moore makes clear in his afterword that Lamb is a fiction story. Lamb is the story of Biff, Jesus’s best friend. Not only is it a unique idea and incredibly well written, Lamb will have you rolling on the floor, or laughing out loud at the very least. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal (William Morrow & Company), by Christopher Moore, is a novel that rivals the best of the National Lampoon movies.
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