Lamb by Christopher Moore

Every year, my Christmas list gets shorter and shorter. Every year, I worry about this because I don’t want to end up an old, friendless curmudgeon who talks only to her husband; but then I remind myself that I have plenty of friends and that the dwindling of gift-giving is a natural result of everyone getting older. I still keep in touch with my old friends, but we live far from each other and these days a phone call is all we need to feel close and loved. My California friends and I never began the gift-giving habit, so there are no expectations.

One of the few people who still exchange birthday and Christmas presents with me is my best friend, M, who lives on the east coast. Part of the appeal is understood to be receiving a package in the mail twice a year. We both appreciate the thought and effort placed in the brown-paper wrapped boxes that we can open with childlike excitement.

Two Christmases ago, at a loss for what to give M, I decided to combine the thrill of receiving packages with my increasing obsession with books, and I gave her a year’s membership to the newly-minted Renee’s Book Club. I promised to send one book of my choosing every month.

The inaugural book, in celebration of Christmas, was Lamb by Christopher Moore. I have only read two of Moore’s wacky books, but from what I’ve heard, Lamb is considered one of his best. Its subtitle is The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, and it is a most clever take on the life of Christ. According to Amazon, “While the Bible may be the word of God, transcribed by divinely inspired men, it does not provide a full (or even partial) account of the life of Jesus Christ. Lucky for us that Christopher Moore presents a funny, lighthearted satire of the life of Christ--from his childhood days up to his crucifixion--in Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. This clever novel is surely blasphemy to some, but to others it's a coming-of-age story of the highest order.”

I have never been a practitioner of any religion, and most of my religious knowledge comes from hodgepodge of sources such as books I’ve read and music I’ve performed. I’m embarrassed to say that there were many details of Christ’s final days that I learned from this book but there were also a number of “aha” moments where I linked an incident from the book to a passing line from a song in Jesus Christ Superstar or Godspell that suddenly shed light on the lyrics. These cross references are reassuring that Moore didn’t make the whole thing up, but when I think about it, the truth of my life seems at the same time sad and exhilarating: I have learned most of what I know from reading fiction.

Lamb by Christopher Moore

tags: books book reviews Jesus Christ gospel Christopher Moore