Jesus meets history and decides to erase all mention of his name. Vidal gets to poke a lot of fun at Christianity in the process. ( )

I can't believe this book isn't more popular, but I suppose most Americans probably consider it blasphemous. Vidal is at his best here, and at his most irreverent. Not for the easily offended (especially when it comes to Christianity). ( )

a great read for the Christmas season. Vidal uses his usual wit and unblinking irreverence to turn the story of St. Paul on its head and into a funky dark satire reminiscent of Christopher Moore’s Lamb.

or did he tell the Real Story? quo vademus?

we can never be sure because of the presence of one or more hackers who may or may not be erasing and changing the course of history by altering history “tapes.” St. Timothy begins seeing and receiving visitors (he calls them “kibitzers”) and visions from the future via a Sony television set and at certain times and locations. Chet from GE wants him to anchor a “live” broadcast from Golgotha on the day of Jesus’s crucifixion but other people have different ideas about that. along the way, out protagonist Timothy meets some colorful people -Shirley McLain, Oral Roberts, and Mary Baker Eddy to name just a few- and the ending is a surprisingly satisfying twist that even Judas wouldn’t see coming.

time travel, homosexuality, corporate politics, espionage, and Barum & Bailey-style showmanship/grifting represent the story of the birth of Christianity- quo melior?
( )

Sacrilegious, punk, scathing, sharp, but ultimately forgettable, and pointless. The perfect book to read on the beach in the summer or when you really want to piss off a Catholic on your Goodreads list.

No, that's not totally fair. Parts of the story are rather clever and memorable. The polished obsidian stone, for example. ( )

More or less the Last Temptation of Christ minus the religiosity and told from a rather bitterly cynical point of view (a la late Twain). ( )