you can figure out the jist of this novel from the title. the story of jesus' first thirty years told from the perspective of his best friend, levi who is called biff. joshua (aka jesus) knows he's the son of god from an early age when he can resurrect the lizards his brother kills. in an effort to find out how to be the messiah, josh and biff embark on a journey to visit the three wise men present at joshua's birth who will hopefully be able to shed some light on the quandry. it is from the wise men that joshua and levi learn about confucianism and hinduism and other 'be nice to your neighbour, don't attach yourself to material things" sentiments and return to israel 15 years later to spread the word.i think if i new more about jesus' life and the new testament, i would have liked this book more. i have a feeling there's a lot of nudge-nudge wink-wink's that i didn't get just by not being familiar with the quirks of the apostles, the teachings of jesus and the stories behind christianity's celebrations. the book is funny, having some killer one-liners and hilarious dialogue, but these get less and less frequent as the story progresses and joshua heads towards his demise.
a strong novel, but not my cup of tea. perhaps i'm wrong, but it often felt like christopher moore forced situations in order to put in some tidbit of jesus' life in the story. the story dragged on in parts and i would frequently get the characters mixed up and not understand what was going on. maybe i should have paid more attention.
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