We get some strange stuff in the mail at Spectator. From bizarre press releases to hate mail, we see it all. Going forward, we want to share some of the best of it with you. This week we got a children's book called What if Jesus Were a New York City Firefighter?
Written by Martin E. Coleman and Thomas J. Vito, the book was inspired, according to its press release, when one of the authors reflected on spirituality in America and asked himself "What if Jesus had been a firefighter?" We read it. Here's our review.
From a narrative perspective, the biggest problem with What if Jesus Were a New York City Firefighter? is that it doesn't answer its own question. The protagonist, beyond being named Jesus, doesn't seem to share any other similarities with the Biblical Jesus (other than praying a lot).
Also, not a single one of the major characters in this book is a firefighter. Jesus saves a baby from a burning building at one point, but the story ends while he is still in high school. The book would be more accurately titled What if Some Random Kid Were Not a Firefighter?
