Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have nothing on this modern retelling of the story of Jesus Christ written by his childhood friend Levi, who is called Biff. In this humorous account, Biff primarily fills in the gaps left by the other evangelists from Jesus birth to the start of his ministry. The novel is told in parallel narratives between Biff’s experience writing the gospel in the 21st century and Biff’s experience being Jesus’s constant companion from his childhood up to his crucifixion.
The novel starts out slow, talking about Jesus and Biff’s childhood in Nazareth, showing the contrasts between Jewish culture and Roman culture. The novel picks up when Jesus and Biff reach adolescence; none of the authors of the gospels cover this part of Jesus’s life in detail, so the author had a lot of liberty with this portion of the narrative, and what he produced was extremely captivating and interesting. During this part of the novel, Jesus and Biff journey to find the three wise men who came to Jesus’s birth, and on their journey learn important lessons from older faiths and philosophies — including Confucianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism — that Jesus later incorporates into his own teachings. After Jesus and Biff return home, the novel chronicles Jesus’s ministry, highlighting many familiar biblical characters including John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, and the twelve apostles, and culminating in Jesus’s trial and crucifixion.
This novel was brilliantly imaginative and clever, especially the part dedicated to Jesus and Biff’s quest to find the three wise men. Biff’s voice as a narrator was sometimes crude but always hilarious, sarcastic, and unique. Seeing Jesus’s life from his best friend’s point of view made it simple to see Jesus’s humanity in his younger years and how he grew into his role as Son of God. Though it is unnecessary to be a well-learned Christian to enjoy Lamb, I found it was easier to understand much of the humor and foreshadowing having some knowledge of Christian teachings. I would recommend this novel to anyone who can laugh about their religion a bit or anyone who enjoys an offbeat twist on a well-known story.
Availability: USMAI and COSMOS
Review Submitted by: Brianna Glase
Rating: Highly Recommended
An older book (copyright 2000), this is an ugly story of kidnapping and revenge. Unlikable characters, lots of sexually explicit action, and far-fetched storylines make it a distasteful and unpleasant read. I can’t recall now whether this is typical of Greg Iles or not, but I won’t be seeking his books out in the future.
Continuing my binge reading of Nevada Barr, I was dismayed to find the main character still in the throes of emotional recovery (odd that she’s had similar experiences in the past without so much as a twinge of conscience…), but at least her sense of humor is in full force. Burn was a good read by an intelligent author who writes for a higher level of readership than your usual murder mystery writer. I do look forward, frankly, to the main character’s return to the great outdoors and leaving the more sordid escapades of humans behind…
In this autobiography of a simple Midwestern boy, actor Rob Lowe tells the tales of his journey to award-winning fame, his story beginning very early in his life with his family struggles and problems fitting in at school. After becoming a child star, Lowe’s fame rockets after starring in The Outsiders and St. Elmo’s Fire and becoming a member of the infamous media-spawned Brat Pack, a group of young stars in the 80s recognized for partying and debauchery. Lowe tells of his career successes and failures and his struggles with alcoholism, romance, and discovering himself as an actor, culminating in his experience of what he describes as one of the best roles of his lifetime: starring as Sam Seaborn in the critically acclaimed TV series The West Wing.
This was a quick and enjoyable “beach read”. Taking place in Nantucket, it follows the ups and downs of lifetime best friends with some interesting twists. A short but enjoyable read.
If you are looking for a good, old-fashioned vampire novel, look no further than Lauren Owen’s The Quick. For the first 150 pages, you may think that Owen’s novel (her first) will be a straightforward, conventional tale of orphaned siblings in Victorian England. Then, James Norbury finds himself a reluctant member of the Aegolius Club, a secret society for the wealthy (and undead). After James goes missing, his sister Charlotte travels to London to search for him. Like the heroine of any Gothic novel, Charlotte finds herself navigating a underground London populated by dangerous characters: child vampires, a pair of “Van Helsings,” and the mysterious Doctor Knife. Like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Owen plays with narrative and form to encompass the thoughts of both the (un)dead and the “quick.” Only the narrative of Charlotte, our virginal heroine, falls flat. Overall, however, Owen has written a dark, compelling story of the monsters within us all. No sparkly vampires in sight.