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

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore, was first published in 2002 and one of my very dear friends read the book this year whilst on holiday. All her talking about how much it made her burst out laughing, cackle and crow with delight convinced me I needed to read this book. The plus for this book is it's also outside any of my normal genres that I would read. Something I've been trying to encourage in my own reading this year. I don't think I've ever read a humorists book before. So with much anticipation and hoping for a few laughs I dived in. Boy, was I pleased I did!





The book asked the very "serious" question about what the heck was Jesus aka Joshua doing for the first 30 years of his life? I mean, born in Bethlehem in a manger, but then what happened to him until he started his ministry? Christopher Moore tackles this question in hilarious fashion and told through the point of view of Joshua's childhood friend Biff we are entertained as Biff writes the story of those forgotten years. He does it in his own fashion as Biff and Joshua invent everything from Jew-du to sarcasm and irony. All of this seems to fit in perfectly with the role of Joshua. After all sarcasm and irony can come in very handy.

Moore handles difficult questions like what happened to all the yetis with a sense of wit and sadness. Plus it showed how much humans do not like anything that is different. Different is persecuted and annihilated, as those in power try to take over. The will of might over right. Gosh, that was a bit too serious when I'm talking about a funny book isn't it? However the book taps into many reflections on this modern world we live in. For example the portrayal of Egyptians from a Hollywood perspective as the angel Raziel and Biff gorge themselves on TV. Who knew that angels could become fascinated by daytime soap operas. I had to laugh when the angel Raziel developed an addiction to Days of our Lives. 

Read this book if you:

1. Want to laugh out loud a lot
2. Enjoy eating bacon
3. Wondered what Jesus aka Joshua was doing for the first 30 years of his life. Who knew that he would learn kung fu?
4. Realise how essential it must have been to have a friend called Biff to enjoy your travels with. Even if he does seem a bit obsessed with sex.
5. Want to add the word dumbfucks to your vocabulary.
6. Don't take yourself too seriously.
7. Always wondered what happened to yetis.
8. Wondered how one went about recruiting disciples.
9. Realise you probably don't want to live in a pit. However it can be handy for explosive making ingredients.


Hilarious, funny and thought provoking. This Wench rated Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff:

Have you read any of Christopher Moore's other books?