LitRec: Books? What are those?

Okay people...I am introducing some new things to this blog upcoming. One of which is this post. Sporadically, we will be posting a book rec. You know those...they have paper and binding. We used to read them before Twilight Fanfiction...actually, Twilight used to be one. So this is the first, and he happens to be one of my favorite modern writers.

So read on about one of Smellyia's favorite published authors!

One day, many years ago, I was tooling around my favorite local mom and pop ran bookstore. One of my favorite things at this particular store is that they have the most random and underground recs I have ever seen. I could always count on finding a new author to dote upon there. To this day, they have yet to disappoint me. It was on one of my loner book trips that I found Christopher Moore. His book, Lamb, was a featured rec and normally the stack is decimated by voracious readers, however, his was not. I was curious and read the back of the book. To my delight, I was hooked in by the most ridiculous summary I had ever read.

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

"The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years -- except Biff, the Messiahs best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work "reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Saviors pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But theres no one who loves Josh more -- except maybe "Maggie," Mary of Magdala -- and Biff isnt about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight."

So if the title does not already entice you, maybe I can. I can't tell you how many times I snorted and laughed myself to a near state of urinary tract infection. My kegel exercises were seriously trained when I first read this. Biff completely owned me. He was like the "id" to Jesus' "super-ego". Biff definitely has issues in his constant over-shadowed existence and develops one of the best sense of humors in fiction I have ever seen characterized. Some of his "sacrifices" are not the most distasteful thing to a hormonal teenage boy. Through Biff's experiences, Jesus is able to better understand the mankind he has been sent to save.

"Lamb" By Christopher Moore

In essence, Lamb is about a best friend. It's about having to be resilient when that best friend is the John Lennon to your McCartney, the Harry to your Ron. How do you stay best friends? What would you do for that friend? In a comical roller coaster, we see a completely fictional life of the most recognizable person in Western Civilization.

This book by no means was meant to insult anyone. It's complete fiction and gives a dimension to the common themes of sacrifice, loyalty and friendship. It is at times crass, but never trashy. Even my devoutly Catholic mother-in-law found this book entertaining and has purchased the special addition pictured below. My husband, since reading Lamb, has been a devout fan. We read everything Moore has available and are both waiting impatiently for his next release, Fool, on February 10th.

The author himself is an interesting character. He hails from Ohio, but has made his home base for many years in the central coast of California. He currently resides in Hawaii and splits his time between there and San Francisco. As a fellow central Californian, I am proud to count him as one of the many diverse artists that make up this region. I could be biased because I identify and recognize many of the places he writes about in his other works, but I care not. He brings to life these places I have been to and throws in imaginary locations I can dream about when I visit.

In addition to Lamb, some of my favorite pieces from him are A Dirty Job, Bloodsucking Fiends and it's followup You Suck, and Fluke. All are uniquely bizarre in their own right and I urge you to start with Lamb and work your way through. Mr. Moore has given me many hours of unabashed giddiness and has brought discussion into this Wii soaked household. I can never thank him enough.

Christopher Moore's Website

Picture and summary are copyrighted by Christopher Moore and were found at his website. No infringement is intended.

Smellyia is an Admin for this blog who writes the constant heart fail WIP Disaffected. Her completed stories, When We Drove All Night, Congratulations and two original works are posted on FF and Twilighted. She is currently snuggled up in her infamous batcave with a glass of Grey Goose, her trusty iPhone, her favorite Severus Snape/Hermione Granger fic and a pack of smokes. It is a charmed life she leads.
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