Lamb

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore, 444 pages

When Levi who is called Biff (for the sound it makes when his mother smacks him upside the head) was 6, he met his lifelong best friend, who just happened to be the Messiah. This fantastically smart and funny book attempts to fill in the story of the years missing from the gospels by letting Christ's foul-mouthed, womanizing best friend tell his side of the tale. The resulting story weaves together many religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism, and does so hilariously, but without being offensive. This is truly one of my favorite books and I thought that the time was ripe to re-read something that celebrates religious and cultural similarities rather than differences.