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A Review by Doug Brown

Let's get this out of the way right at the start: if you believe that the gospels, apostles, and life of Jesus are sacrosanct and not ever to be used as a source of humor, this book is not for you. But for those who believe faith and humor are good companions, or who enjoy a good iconoclastic chuckle, read on. Lamb is the story of Jesus' crude best friend Biff, who is pulled from the grave in present times to write a new gospel. The angel who resurrects Biff spends his time lying on a hotel bed, watching soap operas which he is convinced are really happening; he is astonished that the prophets who publish Soap Opera Digest know what will happen a week in advance. Meanwhile, Biff writes his gospel on hotel stationery and sneaks derisive peeks at the copy of the bible he finds in a drawer. In Biff's gospel, Jesus (whose name was probably Yeshua, and is called Joshua throughout the book) and Biff wander the Eastern world, exposing themselves to Buddhism in China, Kali worshipping in India, and Biff generally exposing himself. Joshua befriends a Yeti in the Himalayas, while Biff befriends (biblically) most of the women they meet. In the epilogue, Moore says he included the China section to answer the age-old question, "What if Jesus had known kung-fu?"

Moore does a fairly good job of constructing daily life in Judea under Roman occupation, and of setting up the world Joshua found himself in. While many religious parodies are downright irreligious, Lamb is merely irreverent; most of the irreverence is directed towards the people around Jesus rather than at him. Moore takes as given that Jesus was the Son of God and had miraculous abilities. Throughout the book, Joshua is portrayed as an earnest young man trying to figure out what his father wants from him. The profanity and sex (a bit of the former from Joshua, most of both from Biff) are more likely to cause offense than the novel's irreverence. Some may complain the apostles are lampooned as overly stupid, but Moore is on pretty solid ground here; in the official gospels Jesus makes many references to the intellectual density of his followers. Other reviewers have compared Moore's style to Douglas Adams, although I found Moore's humor less whimsical. In Adams's worlds nothing is sacred; here, faith and the pursuit of enlightenment are considered semi-serious themes to hang a flippant frame around. Fun stuff for those who view the world at an off-kilter angle.