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

Christopher Moore (Goodreads Author)

4.20 · Rating details · 167,128 ratings · 12,263 reviews

The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years—except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work "reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adam ...more

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Paperback, 444 pages

Published May 25th 2004 by William Morrow / HarperCollins / Harper Perennial (first published March 1st 2002)

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· 167,128 ratings · 12,263 reviews

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Start your review of Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

Jul 02, 2008 Kemper rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, sky-cake, favorites, humor

The last ten years have mutated my views on religion. I went from a vague agnostic live-and-let-live attitude to a full blown distrust and dislike of mass worshipping of mysterious deities. When it wasn’t being used as an excuse to murder people who believed different things, then it was being used to deny basic scientific concepts or prevent consenting adults from marriage based on gender. Overall, I’d become convinced that humanity was far too stupid to use religion as anything but yet another ...more

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Jan 31, 2008 Chris rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, top-shelf, humor

If you've been following my reviews over the last few years, I don't see any reason why I should have to put a caution into this, but here it is: if you're not interested in speculative fiction, open to the reinterpretation of the life of Jesus, speculation on the gaps in the gospels and the possibility of pan-religious values having been vital to the formation of Christianity, then you should probably not read this book. Nor should you really be using the internet - there's just too much nasty ...more

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Mar 07, 2018 Mario the lone bookwolf rated it it was amazing

Shelves: moore-christopher

A continuation of the easy bestselling, pythonesc blasphemous highway to hell that is often just driven to provoke, but masterfully executed in Moore´s by far best book.

No spoiler warning, but a sacrilege notification, because this book and the review might be nothing for faithful people.

I don´t know who of you knows the story, just let me spoiler it and tell you that it doesn´t end great, ok? It´s just for protection, I don´t want you to be sad if the sympathetic main character has to get throu A continuation of the easy bestselling, pythonesc blasphemous highway to hell that is often just driven to provoke, but masterfully executed in Moore´s by far best book.

No spoiler warning, but a sacrilege notification, because this book and the review might be nothing for faithful people.

I don´t know who of you knows the story, just let me spoiler it and tell you that it doesn´t end great, ok? It´s just for protection, I don´t want you to be sad if the sympathetic main character has to get through some terrible PTSD moments. But at least Moore gave him a good friend to record a Big History, biographical analysis of good, old JC.

Cause I´ve never read any holy texts, except you define trying to invoke succubi, yes, you´ve heard right, plural, I am greedy, I maybe don´t get all the innuendos and side blows Moore puts in this tour de force of sarcastic faith criticism. But I will just assume that I didn´t miss much.

It´s kind of strange that, in the 21st century, the old Christian, and especially Catholic church, are the only ones who can be made fun of, because taboos and false tolerance of world improvers or the danger of death in religious states is circulating when doing it with other faiths. Of course, backlashes and strengthening extremism is a thing with Christian religions too, but the scales, dangers, and dimension are completely different ones.

In both cases, such literature isn´t meant to hurt and insult religious people, it´s their fault if they read obviously satirical texts and can´t handle it, the real important purpose instead is to open the minds of still not brainwashed people, criticize the idea of monotheism, polytheism, any religion, and use the mightiest, the funny, sword pen to promote tolerance and reduce the self righteousness megalomania attitude that sadly often comes through the backdoor. Well meant attitudes and people trying to live good lives are instrumentalized by demagogic, power hungry master manipulators without having a chance.

That´s why the freedom of any kind of satire about each topic thinkable is one of the most profound signs of enlightened, Western democracies, I once find nothing to complain about, and why past, current, and coming attempts of conservative, right wing fanatics to reintroduce any kind of private church state faith indoctrination complex in Europe or North America have to be fought with the true and good enthusiasm of holy warriors.

I like Neal Stephenson, he lets his characters say things I´ll mix together to one hybrid quote:
“This Snow Crash thing--is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?”
„What's the difference, we are all susceptible to the pull of viral ideas. Like mass hysteria. Or a tune that gets into your head that you keep humming all day until you spread it to someone else. Jokes. Urban legends. Crackpot religions. No matter how smart we get, there is always this deep irrational part that makes us potential hosts for parasitic, self-replicating information.“

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... ...more

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Aug 29, 2009 Kim rated it it was amazing

Shelves: holy-shit, contemporary, need-to-buy

What I remember from CCD:

• It was Tuesday nights and that meant that I missed Who’s the Boss
• All the really obnoxious cheerleaders went to my church (Our Lady of Perpetual Help-OLPH!)
• I had to go to CCD so I could get confirmed or I couldn’t get married in a church (so I was told every time I tried to feign an illness or a menstrual cramp)
• We would be ushered into the school/rectory thing where we had to choose 3 colored rings which represented 3 different ‘classes’ we would attend… things l ...more

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Nov 01, 2008 Will Byrnes rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, comedy-satire

Christopher Moore - image from SFGate

Jesus, the missing years, as told by his best buddy, Biff. This a very entertaining, laugh-out-loud funny book, at times. It is clear that there is real content under the yucks. Where did JC go between the time he dazzled the intellectuals at the temple at twelve and when he returned at thirty to do his messiah thing. Asia figures prominently, Buddhism, an Asian aesthetic. You might want to dust off your Lao Tzu, Kama Sutra, Bhagavad Gita, and sundry others ...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Lyn rated it really liked it

This book is funny as HELL!

Though funny and most definitely irreverent, Lamb is a story about the Son of God and his times here on Earth amongst people, told from the perspective of Biff, Joshua’s (Jesus) childhood pal and Moore fills up the lost thirty some odd years from the gospels. Biff is the Jewish lothario Forrest Gump of Biblical stories and Moore uses Biff’s narrative as a vehicle to explore the ancient world, often with laugh out loud results.

Religion.

There are plenty of people who w This book is funny as HELL!

Though funny and most definitely irreverent, Lamb is a story about the Son of God and his times here on Earth amongst people, told from the perspective of Biff, Joshua’s (Jesus) childhood pal and Moore fills up the lost thirty some odd years from the gospels. Biff is the Jewish lothario Forrest Gump of Biblical stories and Moore uses Biff’s narrative as a vehicle to explore the ancient world, often with laugh out loud results.

Religion.

There are plenty of people who will never read this book but will nonetheless be very offended by it. However, though it is an absurd comedy, it is like The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity and The Lost Years of Jesus: Documentary Evidence of Jesus' 17-Year Journey to the East in that it treats Jesus as a miraculous and gentle though powerful superhuman, and somewhat ironically, like the Kevin Smith film Dogma, affirmatively casts him as the Son of God.

Though Moore makes up the earlier parts, he tells the last months of Jesus’ life fairly straight from the gospels, though from Biff’s perspective. Moore states at the end of the book in a well crafted and sincere sounding address to his readers that although he did thoroughly research his book, especially as to historical accuracies of the time and place of Christ’s time, it is a work of fiction, maybe not even rising to the level of the “historical fiction” genre. Simply stated, he made up the story, and he was never attempting to influence or change anyone’s faith.

He also makes the astute comment that “if one’s faith can be shaken by stories in a humorous novel, then one may have a bit more praying to do”.

Certainly, there will be many who would not read this, and still some others that may get started and cannot finish for reasons of reverence and guilty ideas about blasphemy.

I remember years ago when The Last Temptation of Christ came out and everyone made such a big deal about it. Truth be said, it was the publicity that drew me to go see it and I was a little thrilled to walk through a picket line. A Presbyterian minister and two younger people with him stopped me and asked me some questions about why I wanted to go see the film. They were not fire and brimstoners, but seemed like nice folks who were sincerely offended by what they understood as an attack on their faith. I asked them one question: “Have you seen the film?” Of course, they had not. I also remember that during the film, there seemed a slow but somewhat steady exodus of people from the theater, until about halfway through, when only the stolid and curious were left. In that film and this book, I guess I can see why some would be offended, but I am not, my faith is not at all shaken by a liberal, interpretive, and in this sense, irreverent and humorous artistic license.

In the end, this is an entertaining, well written book, funny and yes, irreverent, but also without any overt attacks on faith. Told with warmth, Moore also focuses on parts of the faith and teachings that could draw a believer closer.

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Feb 04, 2008 Dan Schwent rated it it was amazing

Shelves: moore

Lamb is the story of the missing years of Jesus, as told by his best pal Biff. That's all you need in the way of summary.

I was subjected to 12 years of Catholic school and mass every sunday for even longer than that so when I heard of the existence of a humorous book about Jesus' missing years, I jumped for it with all the lapsed-Catholic enthusiasm I could muster. Was I disappointed?

Most definitely not. In fact, I was the opposite of disappointed. Appointed? Anyway, this was my first Christophe Lamb is the story of the missing years of Jesus, as told by his best pal Biff. That's all you need in the way of summary.

I was subjected to 12 years of Catholic school and mass every sunday for even longer than that so when I heard of the existence of a humorous book about Jesus' missing years, I jumped for it with all the lapsed-Catholic enthusiasm I could muster. Was I disappointed?

Most definitely not. In fact, I was the opposite of disappointed. Appointed? Anyway, this was my first Christopher Moore book and the measuring stick against which his others are... measured. Biff's a great character, the regular guy accompanying Joshua (aka Jesus) on his adventures. Jesus, of course, plays the ultimate straightman to Biff's jokes. From when Biff told Jesus he was going to marry his mother when they were little tykes all the way to the end, Biff makes what could be a fairly boring religious story into an odyssey of the hilarious.

While Moore tells the story in a humorous way, it's not as absurd as, say, a Douglas Adams book. Jesus visiting the Three Wise Men and actually learning from them was a good way to fill those missing years. In fact, Jesus traveling to the Far East makes a lot more sense than a lot of stuff in the bible. Just sayin'.

The characters other than Jesus and Biff were pretty memorable. Mary Magdalene played a huge part in the story and the three wise men were all given a lot more to do than the Gospel writers originally gave them. Catch, the demon from Practical Demonkeeping, makes an appearance. Raziel, the title character from The Stupidest Angel, makes his first appearance here and is the catalyst of the plot, resurrecting Biff and Mary M to help him fill in the gaps.

I've owned four copies of this book, each destroyed or lost under suspicious circumstances. People I've loaned the book over the years still quote parts of it to me when we run into each other. It's just that damn good.

I can't put the hilarity of Lamb into words. It's easier if you just read it yourself. Five of the easiest star I've ever awarded, with the caveate that if you are humorless about religion, you might be extremely offended. ...more

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Nov 19, 2008 Jonathan rated it did not like it

[I'm considering taking down this review, as I'm not happy that my most "liked" review is a negative one. It's too easy to earn praise by casting stones.]

A book recommendation that I suffered through... not for charges of blasphemy, but for style. I can't stand this type of comedic writing with its obvious set-ups and zingers and formulaic irreverence. Douglas Adams wanna-be. This type of humor gets enough time between news items on NPR's "All Things Considered." Bah!
Witness the last lines (para ...more

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Aug 30, 2007 Aaron rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: anyone who doesn't mind a bit of blasphemy

Christopher Moore is a sick, sick fuck. And I mean that in a good way.

I found a copy of this wonderfully hilarious novel at the Champaign Public Library Book Sale and decided that I ought to own a copy. It holds up well on a second read and served to fill a nostalgia for Kurt Vonnegut, whose death I may not ever get over. This book is very reminiscent of Vonnegut in its plotting and style and wisecracks and it certainly filled a hole. I've read everything Vonnegut ever wrote and I was more than Christopher Moore is a sick, sick fuck. And I mean that in a good way.

I found a copy of this wonderfully hilarious novel at the Champaign Public Library Book Sale and decided that I ought to own a copy. It holds up well on a second read and served to fill a nostalgia for Kurt Vonnegut, whose death I may not ever get over. This book is very reminiscent of Vonnegut in its plotting and style and wisecracks and it certainly filled a hole. I've read everything Vonnegut ever wrote and I was more than a little depressed that my days of reading new works by one of my favorite authors had come to a close. This book alone marks Christopher Moore as the leading contender for that particular throne. If not Vonnegut, then Douglas Adams.

Lamb tells the story of Jesus Christ, chronicling the missing years from 12 through 30 that the Bible itself fails to enlighten us on. It's very funny and more than a little blasphemous, but it's also firmly grounded in theology. Moore doesn't make any shit up here. He merely expounds on the details the Bible has left out.

Basically, Levi who is called Biff is resurrected by an angel of the Lord centuries after his death so that he can write a new gospel (we later come to find out that Mary Magdalene has been resurrected to write one, too). Holed up in a seedy motel with the angel Raziel, himself addicted to professional wrestling and soap operas, Biff writes his side of the story on hotel stationery. Biff was Christ's only companion during the missing eighteen years, so he's pretty much the authority on this subject. Through Biff's writings, we learn that he and Jesus (here named Joshua, due to Hebrew translation) spent many years traveling the world in search of the three wisemen, hoping that they can help Joshua understand exactly what it is Joshua is supposed to be doing. They battle a vicious demon with Balthazar. They encounter a Yeti with Gaspar. They study Buddhism with Melchior. And through all of this, Joshua creates a new ministry that seems to totally contradict the one started by his father.

Along the way, we learn how all of the apostles came to stand at Jesus's side. We learn what bunnies and chocolates have to do with Easter. We discover how to tell the difference between a legitimate vision of The Virgin Mary and just a face in a pile of cow dung. We meet some ninjas. We stand face-to-face with the blood-thirsty goddess Kali. And we also get treated to a rough draft of The Sermon on the Mount (apparently Jesus really wanted to bless all the dumbshits, but got vetoed).

This book is highly recommended.
...more

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Jun 26, 2014 Jason Koivu rated it liked it

Mel Brooks and Monty Python have been there, done that.

description

Christopher Moore retraces the steps of those comedy greats of the past in his Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, a lighthearted take on what Christians call "the greatest story ever told."

Sure, it's a good story, but it's also rife with parody potential and humorists have been squeezing it for laughs probably since it was first told. That being the case, Moore's book travels a well-trodden path and so the laughs ju ...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Gabrielle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, funny, recommended-for-jason, read-in-2021, favorites, own-a-copy

My father is the one I must thank for introducing me to Christopher Moore’s irreverent and unhinged humour. I didn’t start with “Lamb”, but it is in my top Moore books (along with “A Dirty Job”, “Fool” and “Fluke”), the ones I reach for when I need a good laugh. The thing about Moore is that while he can be dry and borderline dark, he can also be very tender and bittersweet, and that makes him more than just a comical author to me. It makes him the writer of very funny books that have many layer My father is the one I must thank for introducing me to Christopher Moore’s irreverent and unhinged humour. I didn’t start with “Lamb”, but it is in my top Moore books (along with “A Dirty Job”, “Fool” and “Fluke”), the ones I reach for when I need a good laugh. The thing about Moore is that while he can be dry and borderline dark, he can also be very tender and bittersweet, and that makes him more than just a comical author to me. It makes him the writer of very funny books that have many layers of meaning and that speak to me on different levels every time I read his work.

Let’s get specific with “Lamb”. Jesus’ childhood buddy Biff is brought back to life by a remarkably stupid angel to write his version of the gospel, to fill is the blank space other apostles left in the story of the Messiah’s life between the age of 12 and 30. Biff explains that his best friend was in dire need of someone who could help him deal with the day-to-day practical things of life so that he could focus on being the Son of God, and that he happily took on that role as they traveled the world, looking for the Three Wise Men and their teachings.

I was brought up Catholic and as such, I am very familiar with the gospels. “Jesus of Nazareth” was religiously (pun intended) viewed every Easter, my grandfather lovingly arranged a Nativity scene under the Christmas trees (we are diluted Italians) and I went to Sunday school until I was 7, right before my First Communion – when I enquired with my grandfather if all priests were dumb or if it was just ours… You see, my grandfather was himself a defrocked Franciscan monk, who had left the orders because the politics, blind obedience to incompetent leaders and narrow-mindedness of the organization (which led to a very selective definition of Christianity) infuriated him and made him feel like this was not was his faith was about. Also, my grandmother was a fox, but let’s stay on topic. He couldn’t blame me for questioning the Church: he drastically changed his life because he also questioned it. My First Communion was cancelled, and we never talked about it again. But I remained intrigued by how the teachings of a man (Jesus) with such good ideas could be turned into this ornate, bizarre organization that is the Church – and into every other Christian sub-sect out there. A few years later, I came to see all organized religions as systems used to control people and feel self-righteous about telling people who aren’t like you that 1) they are wrong, 2) they are going to Hell – or in extreme cases, 3) simply kill them and get it over with.

I understand the thirst for spiritual fulfilment; I spent many years trying to figure out how to quench mine. But I couldn’t abide people telling me how to think and how they thought I should live my life. After many years of spiritual experiments, I now find myself, at 36, an agnostic Buddhist with zero patience for preachers of any ideologies, especially not those who would take someone who was as kind and forgiving as Jesus and use him to justify their belligerence and hypocrisies. I still have a hard time with that and religious stories have always disappointed me because they are often trying to convince you that the author’s point of view is “the truth” (whatever that is) and are, ultimately, thinly veiled attempts at converting the reader.

Moore’s story is not trying to convert anyone. He interprets the life of Jesus (or Joshua) by placing him in an accurate historical context (I think I might have learnt more from this book than from some of my Religious Studies classes at McGill…) and speculates about what two teenage boys – one the Messiah, the other just an average Joe – might have been up to during the few years the Bible doesn’t explore. He develops his characters with great care, makes them human and endearing. Josh is kind, painfully aware of what’s in store for him and dedicated to doing the best he can with his mission. Biff is witty, resourceful and extremely loyal and protective of his friend. As another reviewer put it, he is Josh’s anchor to the real world, the earthly realm that the Son of God cannot truly comprehend in the same way that an everyman can. The characters are not caricatured in the least; they are treated with such respect that you feel the love Moore poured into this book shine through the wanderings of Josh and Biff and their zany adventures (which include inventing lattes, teaching yoga to an elephant, learning about the Three Jewels, mastering kung fu and drafting the Sermon on the Mountain).

This book is uproariously funny, but also so touching that it made me cry on more than one occasion. The lizard smashing/resurrecting scene at the beginning made me fall in love with it instantly and I want a t-shirt that says “Blessed be the dumbfucks… because Jesus really feels for the dumbfucks”. Obviously, some people will get offended by this sort of stuff, but if you cannot laugh at spirituality, I wonder if you might not be taking it a little too seriously… This is one of my favorite Christopher Moore books specifically because it made me laugh about the sacred without ever being mean or cynical about it, because it helped me reconcile myself with the idea of Jesus I was brought up on and made me see him differently. Now I think I could have been friends with a dude like that!

This was a long and rather meandering review, but the point is… please read this book. ...more

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Dec 09, 2014 Calista rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Humorous books

Shelves: genre-comedy, wordsmith, genre-fantasy, 2002, myth-folktale-fable, want-to-own, favorite, z-christopher-moore

One of the funniest books I've ever read!

This book brought me to the brilliance of Christopher Moore. I have read all his books save his latest. He always entertains me. This is his books book to date. I simply love it.

This is about Biff, Jesus's best friend growing up. He is an earthy, live life to the fullest type of guy who loves sex. One of the funniest scenes is Jesus was asking Biff about sinning, he was having sex. Biff was like, it feels great, etc. Jesus spends the 15 years between his ...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Matthew rated it liked it

Shelves: library, 2016, humor, book-a-book-club

Good book - not great - especially when comparing it to other Moore books I have read. I enjoyed his Shakespeare satire better than the biblical satire - maybe because Shakespeare lends itself more to that.

Most of the stars I have given are for the beginning of the book and then the last third of the book. Jesus (Joshua) as a child and the retelling of the gospels from a different viewpoint were really interesting and it is obvious that Moore did his research.

The middle part of the book - where ...more

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Nov 02, 2007 Shannon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: religious, 2008, historical-fiction, humour

**some spoilers**

Lamb starts with one of my favourite quotes, which sets the scene very aptly: "God is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh" (Voltaire). A deceptively slim-looking book (but one that is absolutely heavenly to hold - no pun intended - with it's glossy floppy cover and delicate leaves), Lamb is, as the title says, the (fictional) story of Christ's childhood as told by his best friend Levi who is called Biff.

Now, Moore doesn't mention Monty Python anywhere, but **some spoilers**

Lamb starts with one of my favourite quotes, which sets the scene very aptly: "God is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh" (Voltaire). A deceptively slim-looking book (but one that is absolutely heavenly to hold - no pun intended - with it's glossy floppy cover and delicate leaves), Lamb is, as the title says, the (fictional) story of Christ's childhood as told by his best friend Levi who is called Biff.

Now, Moore doesn't mention Monty Python anywhere, but I'd wager he's seen Life of Brian. Whether he liked it, got it or appreciated it, I couldn't say, but it's a possible inspiration. It doesn't have the clever wit or irony, or the sheer genius of Brian, but it does have the irreverant humour. That aside, Lamb is a great story, made up but oddly plausible.

Keeping to the "known" facts and not interested in questioning your faith in any grand or cynical way, Lamb is told by Biff, resurrected today by an angel so he can write down his version of events. Given the gift of tongues, Biff writes it in contemporary American idiom, which saves the story from being dry and boring. He claims to have invented sarcasm, and encourages Joshua (later Jesus) to have a sense of humour. The best bit about this book, though, are the adventures the two friends have.

At about 13, they set off to find the three Wise Men who had been there at Joshua's birth, in order for Joshua to learn how to be the Messiah. They spend years in a cave-like fortress in Afghanistan with Balthasar, more years at a Budhist temple in the mountains with Gaspar, and yet more time in India in nooks in a cliff with the seagulls learning from Melchior. They learn Confuscius from Balthasar, Biff learns about poisons and alchemy from Balthasar's Chinese concubines, and they encounter a very hungry demon They meditate and study Budhism from Gaspar (as well as kung-fu and "Jew-do" because Joshua doesn't want to hurt anyone) and encounter the last Yeti; and rescue children from the Hindu god of destruction, Kali, before finding Melchior, who teaches Joshua how to fit himself inside a wine bottle and multiply food - which comes in handy later, that's for sure - while Biff learns the Kama Sutra.

Biff is the perfect counter-point to the more serious, naive and well-meaning Joshua, whose mother brought him up from birth to believe his father is God, not her husband Joseph. Although Moore admits it's hard to write a story set in this time and place because of the lack of knowledge of the period, he does an admirable job and it's entirely believable. I did find it a slow read at times, but I definitely found myself laughing as well. It also gave the best explanation of the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, that I've ever heard, and suddenly it makes more sense. More to the point, though, it makes Joshua - Jesus - more human, and thus more sympathetic. That matters to me, though it might not to other people.

It got so that I found myself really caring for this character, and the others - especially Maggie (the Mary Magdelene), their friend from childhood. The final scenes, when you're suddenly reminded of how the story ends, creep up on you and settles like a lump in your throat, and I totally felt for Biff and understand why he did what he did at the end - though interestingly enough, despite all he'd seen Joshua do, and despite the fact that he had always believed in him, he did not believe Joshua could really bring himself back from the dead. And so, in the end, he did not have faith. A slight irony.

Despite Biff's silly humour and the occasional fart joke, Lamb is written with maturity, compassion and skill. The setting, landscape and supporting characters immerse you in the story, the period and the upheavels. More to the point, it's a nice (comforting) thought that Jesus might have had as good and loyal and silly a friend as Levi who is called Biff. ...more

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Aug 17, 2010 Lance Greenfield rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is an hilarious take on the missing years of Jesus, known as Joshua bar Joseph in this account. The four gospels which mad it into the New Testament miss three decades of the Messiah's life. Only two of them say much about his birth, one describes a brief episode when Jesus was about twelve where he spends some time in discussion with the elders in the synagogue, but they largely concentrate on the short years of his ministry leading up to his crucifiction and resurrection.

Lamb is an accou ...more

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Aug 03, 2008 Lori rated it it was ok

Listened to this on audiobook during a recent road trip. This book reminded me of a Saturday Night Live skit: great concept that somehow wasn't as good in the execution. It's highly irreverent and very funny. The first third is also thought-provoking and quite sweet. I really enjoyed the depiction of Joshua (Jesus) as a child, trying to come to grips with his abilities, with whether or not he really is the son of God and what, exactly, that means for him and for his people. Also loved the friend Listened to this on audiobook during a recent road trip. This book reminded me of a Saturday Night Live skit: great concept that somehow wasn't as good in the execution. It's highly irreverent and very funny. The first third is also thought-provoking and quite sweet. I really enjoyed the depiction of Joshua (Jesus) as a child, trying to come to grips with his abilities, with whether or not he really is the son of God and what, exactly, that means for him and for his people. Also loved the friendship between Biff, Joshua and Maggie (Mary Magdalene) as childhood pals, teasing and protecting each other, secure in their places in a tight Jewish community even while they bump against its strictures.

I liked the author's idea of exploring Jesus' young-adulthood, the part of his life that is a big blank in the Bible. Joshua and Biff leave home to explore other places and cultures, with Joshua taking ideas and teachings and wisdom from those other places and cultures and incorporating them to form his own gospel. Joshua grows into a man and comes into his own on this physical and spiritual journey. But this is also where the book became too ridiculous for me to suspend belief and remain immersed in the story. Chinese concubines? A cartoon-like demon? Sasquatch? I felt stuck in a roadrunner/Wily Coyote episode. Fun to read, naughty and funny, but I missed the thoughtful undertone of the beginning of the book, and I increasingly wondered why Biff remained unaffected by all of his time and shared expereiences witih Joshua. Biff was the ultimate loyal friend, sure, but he remains a caricature--a horny wisecracker. Likewise all of the other apostles--the depictions are funny, but they remain totally flat and buffoonish. I wanted them to really feel something, to question, to show emotion beyond their one-word stereotypes (the village idiot, the fanatic, the penny pincher, the surfer...). It felt like the author got tired and resorted to goofball humor rather than trying to tackle a more serious effort to explore the different reasons these men took up with Joshua and what they may or may not have believed and understood about the ministry they helped create.

The ending was also a letdown. The author seems overwhelmed by how to handle the known story of Jesus' trial and crucifixion. Biff's lack of dimension really comes out here, as the narrative degenerates into Biff's desperate, frantic chase to prevent Joshua from killing himself. It felt like the author didn't quite know what to do with Biff once he arrived at the end of Jesus' life and what he does decide to do to tie it up was disappointing. ...more

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Sep 09, 2014 Algernon (Darth Anyan) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, 2014

Lamb is not the first revisionist and humorous retelling of the Biblical stories I've read/watched, but it may be the best one of the lot. Among my favourites are the movies Dogma by Kevin Smith and The Life of Brian by the Monty Pythons, the novel Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. What puts Lamb above the crowd for me was the surprising fact that this is not actually a lampooning of religion but a genuine attempt to capture the spirituality and the fervour of the original Gospels. ...more

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Jan 09, 2018 Emelia rated it it was amazing

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal was an exceptional book. Yes, it was enlightening. This was a book that was full of not only humor, but historical facts, which delighted me to no end. A good friend asked if I thought it was sacrilegious, I paused to really consider the question. My answer is, not at all. Why wouldn't the messiah have a sense of humor? As the book reminds us of the quote by Voltaire "God is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh". So, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal was an exceptional book. Yes, it was enlightening. This was a book that was full of not only humor, but historical facts, which delighted me to no end. A good friend asked if I thought it was sacrilegious, I paused to really consider the question. My answer is, not at all. Why wouldn't the messiah have a sense of humor? As the book reminds us of the quote by Voltaire "God is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh". So,back to the book:

We meet Levi aka Biff (named for the sound made by Biff's Mother smacking him on the back of the head) in a hotel with the Angel Raziel eating pickles and explaining to Biff why, after 2,000 years, Biff has been raised from the dead. Biff is needed to write a gospel. A gospel of the missing years of Christ. And so we are taken on an epic journey through the missing years of Christ according to Biff, who was actually there when it all went down. Starting when they were six and Jesus was razing the dead; Dead lizards to be exact, and continuing until Christs death.

To make a long review short, Christ aka Joshua, and Biff hit the road so Joshua can find out exactly what it is he is supposed to do as the Messiah. After all, it is a new shoe to fill for a young boy whose Mother has just told him he is the son of God. We walk through Central Asia with Biff and Joshua, seeking the three Magi who were there when Joshua was born in hopes they can clear up a few things and possibly assist Joshua with the whole becoming the Messiah thing. In Asia Biff and Joshua learn of the teachings of Buddha, Joshua reaches nirvana and learns to make himself invisible, and Biff becomes Shaolin, learns the art of alchemy, and reestablishes the reasoning as to why he is called Biff. Did I mention they meet the last Yeti?

In comedy, there is always truth. And hard truths are easier to swallow with a bit of laughter. Although humor is the vehicle of telling the story, extensive research was involved in order to tell it. And I must take this time to applaud Christopher Moore for incorporating that research into his hypothetical story. Presenting potentially controversial subjects in a more palatable manner.

Please take the time to read this book. Whether you are Christian, Atheist, Agnostic, Pagan, or any other religion. You may find yourself accidentally becoming enlightened.

I will leave you with the Authors Blessing found at the beginning of the book,

"If you have come to these pages for laughter, may you find it.
If you are here to be offended, may your ire rise and your blood boil.
If you seek adventure, may this story sing you away to blissful escape.
If you need to test or confirm your belief's. may you reach comfortable conclusions.
All books reveal perfection, by what they are or what they are not.
May you find that which you seek, in these pages or outside them.
May you find perfection, and know it by name." ...more

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Aug 19, 2009 Stephanie *Eff your feelings* rated it it was amazing

Shelves: humor, favorites, 2010, 2014, read-count-2

Second time reading this book and it is still one of my favorites.

Christopher Moore weaves you through all of the major religions and all the while you are laughing your ass off. You can't say that about most religious books...... ...more

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Aug 21, 2011 C.E. G rated it did not like it

Shelves: historical-fiction

So before picking up this book, I read some reviews online that said the book wasn't for "easily offended" Christians, because it's a irreverent retelling of the story of Jesus Christ. I figured that, as a lapsed Catholic who loves to make fun of the church, this book would probably be right up my alley.

How wrong I was. I was offended, but not for any of the religious jabs. This book bases too much of its humor on racism, sexism, and homophobia, and not even in a novel or remotely subversive wa ...more

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Oct 27, 2020 John rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Lamb manages to be clever, irreverent, funny, and potentially offensive in the telling of the gospel of Biff, Jesus’s close childhood friend. The novel fills the gap in what we know from the traditional gospels and makes wonderful suppositions about the thirty years between the manger birth and the crucifixion.
Moore had me laughing one moment and muttering “WTF” in the very next. A thoroughly enjoyable experience.
I imagine this book would be terribly offensive to some. Lamb, in some ways, remin ...more

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Jan 19, 2008 Patrick rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: no one

Shelves: couldnt-get-through-it

I got about 150 pages into this book and just gave up on it. Moore seems to think he's hilarious and cheeky, but the humor just wasn't funny. I understood what he was going for, but I just didn't see why he thought it was as funny as he clearly did. I don't know. I just didn't like it; it got to be a chore to read it, and I wasn't getting anything out of it. After 150 pages, and still feeling that way, I figured it was time to give it up. ...more

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May 17, 2014 Tom Quinn rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Peurile and disappointing. I get the need for scatological, blasphemous fun now and then but this is just weak, the lowest effort of jokes made from the lowest hanging of fruit. It's a mess, thinly constructed, throwing a bunch of potty humor in around what's supposedly some grand point, which makes for a disjointed story that's lamely plotted in the first place. A real letdown - go watch a Mel Brooks flick instead.

2 stars. This book blows. Just plain dumb. ...more

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Oct 19, 2008 Becky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, library-books, 2010, humorous, religion-y, reviewed

I should probably start this review by saying that I found this book in what I now think is probably the most inappropriate place possible.. the Young Adult section of my town library. I'd wanted to read this for a long time, but whenever I browsed the Moore books in the adult section, it was never to be found. I always figured, "Eh, someone probably has it checked out... I'll snag it next time." Oh, silly me. I was foolishly thinking that my library would shelve a mature book full of extremely ...more

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Feb 23, 2007 smalls rated it liked it

OK, I finished the book! Whoohoo! All in all, it was ok for me. I laughed a lot in the beginning...
some of my favorite lines were
"Revelations 2; Just When you thought it was safe to sin."
and "Actually , I thought I'd stay Josh. Your mother needs someone to look after her, and she's still a relatively attractive woman. I mean a guy could do worse."

My absolute favorite part was the lizard in the beginning. I laughed so hard! very fun and creative.

It got slow for me while he was visiting the wisem OK, I finished the book! Whoohoo! All in all, it was ok for me. I laughed a lot in the beginning...
some of my favorite lines were
"Revelations 2; Just When you thought it was safe to sin."
and "Actually , I thought I'd stay Josh. Your mother needs someone to look after her, and she's still a relatively attractive woman. I mean a guy could do worse."

My absolute favorite part was the lizard in the beginning. I laughed so hard! very fun and creative.

It got slow for me while he was visiting the wisemen. But I did laugh once in a while. Definately not as much as in the beginning.

The End...
I was nervous reading the part during His ministry. Being a Born Again Christian, I knew this could be difficult. I did struggle with a few things, and to me they were important. Well, at least two things. First, the scorging, "At least it wasn't a Roman scourge they lashed him with. He took thirty nine lashes, but it was just leather, not the lead -tipped whip that the romands use. "
A cat of nine tails was used with other devices. It was the Romans scourging so it was a roman scourge. Pieces of glass and metal shards are embedded in the leather strips, and they rip through the flesh. Important to me because I want others to know how bad the penalty for our sins was.

Second part was the crusificiton, the poisen. This is a fictional work. But Mr. Moore did do a lot of research for this book as well. And I always have to take a stand on the belief of the real death and resurection of Jesus. I found myself praying that the book wouldn't go that route. But it did, and you are lead to believe that he drinks it. Thankfully Moore didn't let the ending be the poisen.

Now that that is said, I would like to say that I loved that no matter how raunchy the book got, or made me shake my head, the ending was still sad. His followers didn't get it, didn't want to believe it even. It ripped them to shreds inside. With how the book was going,I kept expecting humor in the crusifiction, but it was well done emotionally. If there was a poisen that could work like that, I would have wanted to try it to save Him too. It is too much to fathom that the person you have been friends with for even the time that the real diciples were with Him, was going to have to bear that torture, and then to understand He was coming back, and that it was being done to save the world, I wouldn't have gotten it either. Because of the Bible, those who believe have hindsight. I really appreciated that Moore stayed true to at least the tragedy and pain that His friends had to wittness.

Jesus swearing as a kid, didn't seem to bother me quite as much as it did as He aged. Once the book got to the part that is written, it was much harder for me to find the humor in certain things. But there were some. Like when Biff talks about his mom and Joshua says, "she still plagued with demons?" Lines like that cracked me up.

Thanks for letting me read the book. It was interesting and at times fun. I will still reccomend it to one more of my friends who I know can handle it as a Born Again believer. But it is definately a book I have to be careful of recomendations. Only because so many "Christians" that I know would have a fit reading this book.
But I did pass it on to a friend of mine, who is a christian, but who also has a great sense of humor. ...more

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Nov 29, 2008 Ashley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: alt-history, humor, historical-fiction, retellings, folklore-and-mythology, manly-men-and-their-manparts, bildungsroman, class-gender-race, religion, you-wrote-about-what-now

So this review is not going to be great, because it’s crunch time and I was trying to get my last review of the year in before we got shut out of the Cannonball Read site and/or I have to get back to work. But oh man, such a good book to make my (probably) last book of the year! THIS BOOK SPEAKS TO ME. I’ve actually owned a hard copy for years and years and never bothered to pick it up, and that is so frustrating. I could have been this delighted such a long time ago!

So, what if there was anothe So this review is not going to be great, because it’s crunch time and I was trying to get my last review of the year in before we got shut out of the Cannonball Read site and/or I have to get back to work. But oh man, such a good book to make my (probably) last book of the year! THIS BOOK SPEAKS TO ME. I’ve actually owned a hard copy for years and years and never bothered to pick it up, and that is so frustrating. I could have been this delighted such a long time ago!

So, what if there was another guy in Jesus’s life who was completely left out of the Bible? And what if he was Jesus’s best friend, Levi, who went by Biff? And what if 2,000 years later an angel brings him back to life to finally tell his story? You know those missing thirty years in between the three wise men bringing a baby gifts babies don’t care about at all (myrrh? what even is that?) and the Sermon on the Mount? Basically you get this book.

So first of all, if you’re easily offended, this book is not for you. It is basically the exact opposite of reverent. Its subject, Jesus, and his best friend Biff actually come across very well, and the ideals of Christianity brought down to the dirty human level of Biff were actually pretty affecting. It’s just, you’ve got Jesus (who goes by Joshua because that’s the more accurate Hebrew name, Jesus being the Greek translation) putting lizards in his mouth all over the place, and there’s lots of swearing and vulgarity and stuff like that that surrounding the whole thing. Here is a sample of actual dialogue:

Josh: “What is this thing?”
Gasper: “It’s a Yeti. An abominable snowman.”
Biff: “This is what happens when you fuck a sheep?”
Josh: “Not an abomination, abominable.”

I ALMOST DIED AFTER READING THAT.

If this sounds like something that would interest you, please for the love of Josh check this book out. If it sounds like it would make you angry because you are humorless and dead inside, then you should probably get that checked out by a competent professional. ...more

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Jul 12, 2017 Susana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: norte-americanos, humor, ficção-histórica, 2017, religião

(review in English below)

Gosto muito de "histórias alternativas", sejam da História propriamente dita ou mesmo de contos de fadas (como por exemplo a série Era Uma Vez ou o filme Maléfica), sobretudo aquelas que nos dão uma explicação original para os personagens - reais ou fictícios - serem como são - ou foram.

Aplicando isto a um dos personagens mais interessantes e polémicos (na minha opinião) da História - Jesus Cristo - e polvilhando com uma dose generosa de humor, temos uma receita quase in (review in English below)

Gosto muito de "histórias alternativas", sejam da História propriamente dita ou mesmo de contos de fadas (como por exemplo a série Era Uma Vez ou o filme Maléfica), sobretudo aquelas que nos dão uma explicação original para os personagens - reais ou fictícios - serem como são - ou foram.

Aplicando isto a um dos personagens mais interessantes e polémicos (na minha opinião) da História - Jesus Cristo - e polvilhando com uma dose generosa de humor, temos uma receita quase infalível.

Tal como o autor explica no final desta edição, a ideia para escrever este livro veio do facto de não haver praticamente registos relativos à vida de Jesus até aos 30 anos. Foi "só" fazer alguma pesquisa histórica (incluindo uma viagem a Israel, descrita na Nota Final) e deixar a imaginação (e os dedos) trabalhar.

Há muitas cenas divertidas neste livro, mas a preparação do Sermão da Montanha é impagável!

E também há filosofia, e romance, e drama.

Recomendado a toda a gente (com mais de 18 anos!...)

I really like "alternative stories", either related to real History or even to fairy tales (e.g. the TV series Once Upon A Time or the movie Maleficent), specially those which give us an original explanation for the way characters - real or fictional - are.

Apply this concept to one of the most interesting and controversial (in my opinion) historical characters - Jesus Christ - and sprinkle a generous dose of humour and you get an almost foolproof recipe.

As the author explains in the end of this edition, the idea to write this book emerged from the realization that there are almost no records concerning Jesus' life until he was 30 years old. He "just" needed to do some research (including a trip to Israel, which he describes in the end of the book) and put his imagination (and fingers) to work.

There's a lot of funny scenes in this book, but the preparation of the Sermon on the Mount is priceless!

And there's also some philosophy, and romance, and drama.

I recommend it to everyone (over 18!...) ...more

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Jun 12, 2021 Howard rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, historical-fiction, fiction, fun

3 Stars for Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal (audiobook) by Christopher Moore read by Fisher Stevens.
I thought that this story started out fun. It’s a great idea but the middle and end just dragged on and on for me.

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Sep 17, 2007 Tara rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Those who are not offended easily

Shelves: loved-it, mybookclub

There is something so blasphemous about this book and yet I just laughed from page 1 to the end!

I was raised in a Christian household and knew the story of Jesus forwards and backwards. Or at least I thought I did. Now, I try not to take myself to seriously and I try to maintain a certain amount of humor about my faith and religion as a whole. This book made me bust a gut and there were several times when just a little of "pee" came out, that's how hard I was laughing.

I happened upon this book a ...more

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Feb 22, 2017 Wayne Barrett rated it liked it

Shelves: humor, 2017

3.5

This book was not only funny but it was intelligently funny.

Moore did a great job creating a fictional character (I say that even though I am one of those who believe that Jesus was also a mythical character) and inserting him into the early years of Jesus H. Christ. The more you know your bible stories the more this book will entertain (or offend) you. The biggest problem with the story, and one that keeps me from giving this a higher rating, is the center of the book where Josh (Jesus) and ...more

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About Christopher Moore

Christopher Moore

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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Christopher Moore is an American writer of absurdist fiction. He grew up in Mansfield, OH, and attended Ohio State University and Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA.

Moore's novels typically involve conflicted everyman characters suddenly struggling through supernatural or extraordinary circums ...more