The novel starts out with the resurrection of Biff by an angel who orders him to write his gospel. Biff is kept hostage in a hotel room by this angel and writes, and he tells it like it is—no sugar-coating, even for Jesus. He meets Jesus as a young boy, then known as Joshua, and instantly the two become friends. Biff and Joshua are able to keep the reader both laughing and yet thinking on another religious and spiritual level. This aspect of the novel resembles Jonathan Safran Foer’s narrative style. Like Foer, Moore is able to tackle a serious subject and yet keep the novel humorous through a unique story-teller.

As a child Joshua goes through the turmoil of not knowing whether he is the son of God and not knowing how to be the Messiah. Biff gives comedic relief as he falls in love with Joshua’s mother Mary and bargains with God for his best friend saying, “Heavenly father… far be it from me to question your judgment, being as you are all powerful and God of Moses and all the above, but what exactly are you trying to do to this poor kid? I mean, he’s your son, right? He’s the Messiah, right? Are you pulling one of those Abraham faith-test things on him? In case you didn’t notice, he’s in quite a pickle here… So what I’m saying is, could you, much as you did with Samson when he was backed into a corner weaponless against the Philistines, throw the kid a bone here?” (61-62). Biff is the pioneer good guy sidekick and, as obvious is his impassioned prayer to God, he is heart-broken because of all the hard trials Joshua must go through. Joshua confides in and learns to love Biff despite Biff’s tendencies toward sin, chaos, and prostitutes.

This relationship continues to the end of the novel. At fourteen, when Joshua decides he doesn’t know how to be the Messiah and needs to learn how, Biff accompanies him on his journey to discovery. Over the next sixteen years, the two seek out the three wise men in places all over Europe and Asia. At times, the writing during these parts seemed forced—a tad over-the-top (monsters, really?). However, the humor and tidbits of religious insight stilled my rolling eyes and pushed me through to the third section of the novel. This final section is worth any monsters endured during the earlier portions of the novel.

After visiting the three wise men, Biff and Joshua go back to Nazareth and begin his ministry, the part of Jesus’s life described by the gospels. Moore is able to connect his imaginative story back to events actually recorded in the Bible throughout this section of the novel. The reader will hear bits of the Sermon on the Mount actually described in the Bible, although Moore intertwines it with his own creative and hilarious ideas of what could have happened behind the curtains. As time progresses and the inevitable death approaches, the reader is almost guaranteed not to be able to put the novel down.

If you have a strong sense of humor and don’t mind jokes about religion or God, you’ll appreciate this book. Whether you’re religious or not, this story is sure to pique your interest and leave you wondering. Purely fictional, it is a creative and funny story, well-written and interesting. Readers will be reminded of the creatively absurd writing styles of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and Tom Robbins. I applaud Moore for having the gusto, wit, and brains to come up with a novel like this. This was one of the most hilarious and imaginative novels I’ve read in a long time, and one I’m sure to read again.