“Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal” by Christopher Moore
I’ve been reading a lot of post-apocalyptic and dystopian stuff lately, and decided I wanted something cheerier, so I selected Christopher Moore’s Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal for one of my book groups. I read and enjoyed it before (holy cats, that was over five years ago, before Guppy was born!), but think I’ve grown to love it this time. At first, it seems like a silly romp–a fictional account of the lost years of Jesus told by his buddy. But a second reading reinforced not only a sweetness to the story, but an underlying provocativeness that makes me want to go to the gospels to remind myself of what’s “true” and what’s “fiction.” Moore triesto be obnoxious, and probably succeeds, to many people. But I don’t buy it. There’s an underlying earnestness in Biff, and thus in the book, that makes this more than a Bible-based confection.
I wrote in 2005: “This is a fun, funny, clever book. I didn’t find it life-changing, or overly thought-provoking, though.”
I don’t think that was true. I’m pretty sure it was after reading Lamb and the passage in which Joshua and Biff stay with Gaspar in a Chinese monastery that I became conscious of the pervading multi-tasking that I did, and tried to do one thing at a time.
Right before I had a second child. Nice timing. Didn’t work.
But I _am_ aware of it, still, and think of it nearly every morning, when I have to remind myself not to read, but simply enjoy my cappuccino and cherry-pomegranate toaster pastry. So, this book is not only funny, but it might change your life. How’s that for a recommendation?
May 14th, 2011 at 8:35 am
I’ve tried to read this twice and just couldn’t get into it. I’m not sure why, but the comedy seemed to fall a little flat to me, and I worried that I’d not be able to handle an entire novel’s worth. But the fact that you enjoyed it so much means that I will give it another go! I’ve read another Moore novel and liked it well enough, so I’m not sure where this reluctance is coming from…