Lamb: Biff's Story of Jesus's Childhood and the Gospel

Lee Barclay: Second time I've bought this book. A friend stole my first copy (yeah I know it was you DAN!) so it is nice enough to steal.

United States on Oct 18, 2023

Robert McQueen: My brother in law and his father told me I had to get this book. They both laughed telling me a little about it. Can't wait to get reading.

Canada on Aug 09, 2023

Daniel from Norwich: So, Jesus decides it’s time for another gospel to chronicle his missing early years. He sends Raziel, an angel, to earth, who brings back to life Levi, son of Alphaeus. Levi (Biff), annoyed that he has been left in the ground for two thousand years, is given the gift of languages and then punches the angel in the mouth.

Levi is tasked with writing the gospel because he and Jesus (Joshua) were childhood friends. They travelled together through Asia seeking out the three wise men and remained close until Jesus’s crucifixion and subsequent resurrection.

Raziel takes Levi to a hotel in Missouri, USA, to write the gospel. Raziel watches TV, while Levi writes. Through Levi’s eyes, Moore tells the story of the missing years, checking in occasionally on Raziel and Levi in their shared room.

I enjoyed Moore’s ‘A Dirty Job’ last year and wanted to read something else from his back catalogue. ‘Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal’ was very warmly received by the Goodreads community, so I downloaded it to my Kindle.

I enjoyed ‘Lamb’ even more than ‘A Dirty Job’. Clearly, a lot of work had gone into researching the...

United Kingdom on Jul 23, 2023

Scott Schiefelbein: This is a re-read for me . . . and "Lamb" holds up extremely well . . . which is not easy for a comedy to do.

Christopher Moore's "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal," is a reasonably gentle re-imagining of the life of Jesus Christ. "Gentle" is not a synonym for "bland," as Christopher Moore both brings the funny (be careful reading this book in public unless you're comfortable laughing out loud in front of strangers) or for "vague." Moore has done a lot of research into the life and teachings of Jesus and has some thought-provoking observations and questions about arguably the most important figure in world history.

With "Lamb," Moore tries to fill in the multi-year gap in the Bible's telling of Jesus's life . . . as measured by years, the Bible literally ignores most of the years of his existence. So Moore tries to fill in the gaps, and he does so by creating an entirely new Gospel - as written by Levi, called Biff, who is reincarnated by the stupidest angel in modern-day America for this very purpose.

If you've read some of Moore's other novels, you'll recognize Biff instantly - a beta personality, with a quick wit (he invented...

United States on Feb 10, 2022

Timy: “Mankind, I suppose, is designed to run on – to be motivated by – temptation. If progress is a virtue then this is our greatest gift. (For what is curiosity if not intellectual temptation? And what progress is there without curiosity?) On the other hand, can you call such a profound weakness a gift, or is it a design flaw? Is temptation itself at fault for man’s woes, or is it simply the lack of judgment in response to temptation? In other words, who is to blame? Mankind, or a bad designer?”

I’m not going too far if I say, Lamb by Christopher Moore is probably my most favourite book ever. I think it was recommended to me around 2009 – I remember bringing it with me to my first UK trip ever in 2010 and by that time I’ve read it at least once – and I instantly fell in love. In the past 10 years I’ve read it at least half a dozen times. And I still find it damn hilarious every time I decide to reread it. Though I’ve been mostly reading in English for the better part of the last 8 or so years, I think this is the first time that I read Lamb in that language. I have a well worn Hungarian paperback which I love to pieces – and which have a much better...

United States on Sep 12, 2019

Camembaert: I’ll start this review by giving a fair warning: If you are a devout Christian then this book is probably not for you. For everyone else then it might be worth a punt.

The story tells the life of Jesus (called by his Aramaic name of Joshua in this book – Jesus is the Greek version, apparently. Who Knew?) seen through the eyes of his childhood friend Levi, known as Biff. It is plausible, amusing, funny in places and tragic in others. It offers a reason why the Three Wise Men, or Magi, turned up at Joshua’s birth and a good third of the book reintroduces us to them and provides a story that the bible doesn’t tell: A fictional account of what happened to Jesus after his birth and through to the start of his ministry.

In adult life the book describes Joshua’s ministry and hints at how the resurrection might have happened (which is why it’s not for the believers). I didn’t feel it was blasphemous in any way, but then I’m not devout so I probably haven’t got much of a say in that debate. Another warning: The Jewish people don’t come out of this too well, so if you’re Jewish and easily offended then this may be one to miss.

It is helpful if you...

United Kingdom on Feb 19, 2014

Oparazzo: Es ist eigentlich so naheliegend, aber trotzdem scheint Christopher Moore es als erster erkannt zu haben: Die Bibel ist nicht nur voller Wunder, sondern auch voller gähnender Lücken. Eine davon hat er nun mit "Lamb" geschlossen, indem er jemanden, der tatsächlich dabei war, Gelegenheit gegeben hat, Licht auf die 30 Jahre zu werfen, die Christus scheinbar vom Erdboden verschluckt war. Man hätte es sich ja auch denken können: Wie sonst, wenn nicht durch Vor-Ort-Studien der asiatischen Religionen und Philosophien, hätte Christus die rachsüchtigen Schuld-und-Sühne-Prinzipien des Alten Testaments über Bord werfen können und Barmherzigkeit und Liebe zum Maß aller Dinge gemacht?

Die Weg vom kleinen galiläischen Frechdachs, der zum Spaß zermatschte Eidechsen ins Leben zurückholt und ansonsten seinen Eltern das Leben schwermacht, zum Religionsstifter, der seine Wunder mitunter aber auch als Mittel einsetzt, die Zweifler zu beeindrucken, ist eine farbenfrohe und rasend komische Odyssee. Das sie nun, nach 2000 Jahren, auf uns gekommen ist, haben wir der Tatsache zu verdanken, dass Christus' Kumpel Biff, der ihn die ganze Zeit über nicht aus den Augen gelassen hatte,...

Germany on Dec 30, 2012

jos: Ich könnte es mir leicht machen und nur schreiben "Die Bibel nach Biff" : LESEN! - und es wäre alles Notwendige gesagt ;)
Aber dieses Buch hat wesentlich mehr verdient.

Gleich vorneweg, dieses Buch ist gefährlich! Wer ein Problem damit hat, von anderen Menschen schief angesehen zu werden, sollte es nicht in der Öffentlichkeit konsumieren, schon gar nicht als Hörbuch. Die meiste Zeit habe ich während des Hörens einfach still vor mich hingegrinst, aber es gibt (viele, viele, viiiiele Stellen) an denen ich laut loslachen musste, auch wenn ich gar nicht wollte, ich hatte einfach keine Chance. Das Buch ist zum Brüllen komisch - mit Sicherheit das lustigste Buch, was ich je gelesen habe.

Kurz zum Inhalt:

Biff, ein Jugendfreund Jesus' wird wieder zum Leben erweckt, um sein Evengelium zu schreiben. Er soll über die "verlorenen" Jahre berichten, die in der Bibel irgendwie verschütt gegangen sind. Und genau das tut er. Er berichtet von der ersten Begegnung mit Joshua (Jesus) , ihrer Freundschaft, ihrer Schwärmerei für Maria Magdalena (Maggie), Joshs Unsicherheit was diese Sache mit "Gottes Sohn sein" betrifft, wie das mit dem Heilen und "von den Toten...

Germany on Mar 11, 2012