Rating: 
Summary: laugh out loud
Review: I enjoyed this book so much. Really needed the laughs. It's best to read in a private place - so you don't embarass yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Inspired lunacy
Review: Did you know that Noah postponed his death for 800 years by convincing a sympathetic Angel of Death that he (Noah) was behind in his paperwork? Such is one of the fascinating factoids found in LAMB, the story of Christ's life as told by his life-long best bud Biff, otherwise known as Levi, son of Alphaeus and Naomi of Nazareth.Biff, so nick-named for the daily slaps upside his head he required as a child, is raised from the dead in the twentieth century to write another gospel. As the millenium approaches, the Son of God is unhappy with the versions written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and wants a re-write. So, Biff is held a virtual prisoner by his minder, the angel Raziel, in the St. Louis Hyatt Regency until the manuscript is finished. After a few introductory scenes in which a young Joshua (aka Jesus) restores life to dead lizards, has mixed luck with deceased humans, and becomes infatuated with a budding Mary Magdalene ("Maggie"), Biff's story hits its stride after Joshua, at about thirteen, debates the Pharisees in the Temple of Jerusalem. Then, our two heroes set out for the Far East in search of the Three Wise Men (Balthasar, Gaspar, Melchior) that attended Joshua's birth. From them, in Afghanistan, China, and India, Joshua learns the wisdom of the Eastern religions in preparation for his own ministry. Since Joshua is forbidden by his Heavenly Father from "knowing" women in the biblical sense, he relies on Biff to apprise him of the experience. And Biff, a ladies man, is just the one to do it, especially after several years living with the Eight Chinese Concubines, who have such names as Tiny Feet of the Divine Dance of Joyous Orgasm, Silken Pillows of the Heavenly Softness of Clouds, Pea Pods in Duck Sauce with Crispy Noodle, and Sue (short for Susanna). After seventeen years of wandering and adventure, Biff and Joshua return to Galilee, where the latter gathers his apostles and disciples and begins the ministry familiar to readers of the traditional gospels. Of course, there are embellishments. Biff's narrative ends on the evening of the Friday of Joshua's crucifixion. LAMB is inspired humor. It's also irreverant, but not maliciously so. The book is author Chris Moore's attempt to flesh out the story of Jesus (Joshua) - to give him a more endearingly human side. For example, when Joshua transforms water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana, he samples his miracle perhaps a little too much. And, when his disciples are astounded when he walks on the surface of the Sea of Galilee, Joshua says: "I just ate. You can't go into the water for an hour after you eat. You could get a cramp. What, none of you guys have mothers?" As one born and raised Catholic (and since "fallen away"), I immensely enjoyed the flippancy of LAMB. Sister Mary's grade school catechism class was never so much fun. While a Christian of a more fundamentalist belief might find LAMB faintly blasphemous, I would hope not. I trust even JC could laugh at a good dirty joke as he sat around the village well with the boys.
Rating:
Summary: breaking new ground
Review: I've read everything Christopher Moore has written, and waited impatiently, like many, for the publication of Lamb. I agree this book is not as "zany" as some of his others; however this is a fine example of the author not repeating himself. No shortage of laughs, and the laughs are a little deeper and more thought-provoking (but laughs, nevertheless). This book takes Chris Moore to a whole new level. I can't wait to see what he does next.
Rating: 
Summary: lively and humorous; almost thoughtful
Review: This is a very entertaining and interesting book. It follows the life Jesus (called Joshua), as told by Levi (called Biff): the one person who was (supposedly) with him for the 20 or so years that don't appear in the Bible. The story is humorous, but also thoughtful about how Jesus might have "gotten to be like that". Their adventures take them to China and India where they pick up some of the Eastern philosophies that are reflected in Jesus' s eachings in the Bible. Moore has done his homework on social and living conditions of the ancient Near East, and builds his plausibility on that historical basis. I only have two complaints about the novel. First, Moore has a penchant for one-liners that really are neither worth it nor necessary; his dialog and narration are hilarious and I find that the one-liners tend to detract from rather than enhance the book's humor. Second, all the character development and world building start to degrade once Jesus and Biff return to Nazareth and the familiar stories of Jesus from the Bible take over. The deft storytelling breaks down and Moore doesn't seem to feel the need to provide as much reason for things -- he's a bit more slavish to Bible than I had hoped for. Consequently, the end of the novel fizzles a bit. It's a very good story, and extremely humorous. I would read other of Moore's books, but I hope the rest have a little more follow-through.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT MOORE'S BEST
Review: I consider myself a fan, but this is not Christopher Moore's best book. In fact, this is his worst. It kind of runs out of steam about half way through. His earlier works have been breezier and swifter reading. LAMB is the life of Christ as seen through the eyes of his best friend Biff. Moore adds a lot of humor not found in the Bible. Jesus alternately killing a lizzard and bringing it back to life, and Biff lusting after Mary. Apparently, the mother of Jesus was hot. Unfortunately, after the bits of humor played out, the thing starts to get a bit tedious. Enjoyable, but I can't help thinking CM could have done more with the material, given his particular slant.
Rating:
Summary: It had me at "Biff"
Review: There SHOULD be a Biff in the Bible!! I too couldn't put it down. I felt that, while profane in places, and novelized, it was interesting to have my own imagination tweaked to the "could-have-been". It is my intent to find more of Mr. Moore's books and laugh out loud some more!
Rating:
Summary: Half human
Review: As many others, I found this book quite an entertaining read. However, more to the point, Christopher Moore added a real human face to the the Christ that I was taught about in church school. As a child learning the Bible, I could never quite grasp the concept of Christ being man and God. Traditional Bible teaching, familiarized me with who God was and what he/she expected of me, but through this story, Moore provides us with a beacon of hope that, as a human, we may eventually find the God in us. Moore indulges a child-like folly to "explain" some of the more mystical stories of the bible. The tales are woven with wit and impecable craft. Some of the explanations were transparent, however, the predictablitly was somewhat charming. Many left me laughing and some of the one liners left tears in my eyes. Overall, this story adds a real human face to the Messiah and for those who choose to search for it, a gift of grace and compassion for our mere mortal status.
Rating:
Summary: What would Jesus have done? Laughed his ... off !
Review: The concept is original, and the writing exactly on target, backed up by some intelligent research. I'm a semi-serious student of spirituality/ religion, so I really enjoyed the mix of humor and serious moments. The pacing of the material was very good; I didn't think it dragged at all. One of Moore's strong points is the dialogue: quite excellent - with moments of unexpected laugh-out-loud punchlines. This book reminded me of a good cabernet: solid, amusing, sometimes surprising, but always enjoyable. I think I've found a new favorite author. Bravo Chris Moore!
Rating: 
Summary: Funny
Review: Ok, first of all, if you are reading these reviews to try and find out if you would like this book, don't read all of them...there are many who feel the need to tell the entire plot of the book. Anyway, this book was very funny, sometimes the humor was juvenile, but even that was extremely humorous. It could, however, offend some people, depending on how strict they are in their religious beliefs. I really enjoyed this book. The con's I found were 1) that it was fairly long, and 2) some parts of the story lagged, making the book longer, and were just not funny. I would recommend this book to people that have a sense of humor and are not easily offended. If you keep in mind that it is a work of fiction and is not intended to try an make people believe anything, you'll enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: I haven't reviewed many books and I don't normally read fiction. But this book caught my eye and had a cool concept. It was funny and insightful - and I couldn't put it down. I think there are even some lessons to learn. If you take religion too seriously this may not be for you. However you be happy if you are a fan of the movie Dogma or can stand back and look anything to see the humor.
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