What does the H. in Jesus H Christ stand for?
Written: May 31 '03 (Updated May 31 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Laugh-out-loud funny! Good light reading
Cons: Don't blame me if you burn in hell!
The Bottom Line: Fabulously funny book! Definitely more entertaining then Matt, Mark, Luke or John!
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| javajnkie's Full Review: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Child... |
I’m going to hell. That was my first thought upon reading just a few pages of Lamb. The thought would bother me a bit more if I believed in hell, but laughing at fictional irreverent beginnings of Christ’s life sure brought up all the religious guilt that was pounded into me as a child. So, first things first--Lamb is filled with sophomoric humor and puts an adolescent face on an adolescent Jesus (aka Josh)—and it’s damn funny. If I were a theist, however, I’d believe God has a sense of humor (George is the leader of a good part of the free world, after all); maybe he’s laughing with Christopher Moore and his legions.
Lamb fills in Josh’s missing years between birth and his reappearance in the New Testament. Where did Christ come-of-age? What did he do during that time? Did he think about sex? Did he fall in love? How did he learn to be the messiah? Moore tackles it all, and I definitely laughed out loud.
Who better to tell the story then Levi, also known as Biff, Josh’s best bud? Biff hung with Josh from the time he was a child and was there at his death; he’s the sidekick who has all the fun and gets none of the glory. Fast forward—two thousand years since Christ’s death, Biff is raised from the dead by an idiot angel (Raziel) and commanded to write a new Gospel. Biff is kept a virtual prisoner in a hotel room, where he sneaks peeks at the original Gospels and marvels at their incompleteness.
"The first time I saw the man who would save the world he was sitting near the central well in Nazareth with a lizard hanging out of his mouth."
We meet Jesus when Biff does, and instantly know something is different about him. It’s not that sticking a dead lizard in your mouth singles you out from the crowd (I’ve got a son who has really eaten earthworms, so the stunt doesn’t seem out of the ordinary to me)—it’s that the lizard goes into Josh’s mouth dead and comes out alive that clues you into his gifts. However, despite this feat and others like it, Josh doesn’t know what his role is. He’s aware that he’s the son of God, but he doesn’t know what a messiah is supposed to do. This leads the two pals on a coming-of-age journey to Asia, where they hope to visit the three wise men who made an appearance years before. During this journey, Josh becomes a monk, studies Kung-Fu, and learns about sex from Biff. On this same journey, Biff invents cream for coffee (thanks Biff!), pencils, and sarcasm.
By the end of the book, you'll love both Biff and Josh. When you first meet Biff, you think "what a jerk!" But the truth is that he's got a heart of gold and really loves his friend. He's the smartest of Josh's followers, he theorizes about a round world and gravity.
He's also sex-smart. Biff teaches Josh, and us, some interesting Kama Sutra moves. In return Josh teaches Biff about spirituality, in doses much lighter than modern religion. Biff summarizes: Be nice to everyone, even creeps. We all know what happens to Josh in the end, but Moore impressed me with his ability to make us care and to make Josh a real-live boy. We see him fall in love with Mary Magdelene, we see him really p*ssed off at his father, and we hear him using some foul language when he’s really angry. Through it all though, it’s clear that Moore respect’s Christian teachings, which should make this book readable for Christian’s with a sense of humor (and everyone else with a sense of humor!).
Completely aside from the fatwa-inducing sacrilegion, I can appreciate that a specific TYPE of humor is needed to appreciate this book. Before you buy the book, I’d recommend reading an excerpt to see if the humor falls in your ‘range.’ If it does, definitely buy Lamb! Highly recommended light reading!
Oh, by the way, the only hint I'll give is that the "H" is a family name. Read the book to find out more.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
javajnkie
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Member: Mari Nichols-Haining
Location: Somewhere Out There, USA
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 22 members
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