Lamb

Read Time: 3 Minutes

I admit it: I completely spaced and forgot to post my review of this one back when I listened to it in September last year. To make things stranger, I didn’t even get it through Audible like most of my collection. I actually stumbled across a copy on CD in a little shop selling used records and old treasures. It felt almost divine… or at least divinely coincidental.

If you’re easily offended by someone poking fun at religion, you’ll likely want to give this a wide berth. Words like “blasphemous” and “sacrilegious” will probably come flying out of your mouth. But if you’re an enlightened human who understands satire and appreciates a good laugh, you’re in for something special.

God, it seems, wants a new testament, specifically one that fills in the missing first thirty years of Jesus’s life. To do that, the angel Raziel resurrects Biff, Christ’s childhood pal and constant companion, and locks him in a New York hotel room to write down the story of their younger days.

Biff, naturally, approaches this holy task with about as much reverence as you’d expect from a man who once described demons, kung fu, corpse reanimations, and hot babes in the same sentence.

The result is a wild, hilarious, and oddly touching journey through the “lost years” of Joshua (as Jesus is called throughout). Biff is the perfect foil to Moore’s version of Christ. He’s mischievous, loyal, sarcastic (which he invented by the way), and always willing to take one for the team.

Whether that means sleeping with half of the local workforce to better “explain” sex to Joshua, or helping to invent “Jew-Do” when Joshua refuses to hit anyone during kung fu training, Biff is the ultimate comic sidekick with an unexpectedly big heart.

What makes Lamb work, though, is that it’s not all jokes and sacrilege. Moore gives Joshua warmth and humanity, and there’s a quiet beauty in watching him wrestle with compassion, love, and what it means to be divine. For all the outrageous humour, there’s genuine respect for the spirit of the story. Enough to make you laugh and feel something at the same time.

Fisher Stevens’s narration fits perfectly. His delivery captures both the dry wit and the softer moments, giving Biff’s voice that balance between irreverence and affection. There’s an easy rhythm to his performance that makes the satire land without feeling forced.

This was my first Christopher Moore book, and it definitely won’t be my last. His blend of humour, heart, and sheer creativity won me over completely. I’ve already been eyeing his back catalogue and adding a few to my wish list. If Lamb is anything to go by, I’m in for a heavenly good time.

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