Following in the footsteps of Reynolds Price, Norman Mailer, and Edward Hays, James A. Carse (Breakfast at the Victory: The Mysticism of Ordinary Experience) has written this, his own interpretation of Jesus of Nazareth. His antihero is an enigmatic first-century Jew who shuns notoriety and teaches by parables. The beloved disciple of the title is a Philistine woman who is Jesus's companion and muse. She says to him at the start of his ministry: "Teach us your thirst and we will find water where we couldn't expect it."

The parables which Carse puts into Jesus's mouth are even more cryptic than those in the four gospels of the New Testament. This sage is mainly a wisdom seeker and his unconventional view of love is stated explicitly: "We are truly neighbors only when we know we can live together without loving each other." Carse's Jesus is rigorous in his wariness of prophets, visionaries, and miracle workers. Yet he lives on in the hearts of his beloved disciple and others. This oddball portrait of Jesus will appeal mainly to curiosity seekers. It is another example of the continuing interest in the fascinating figure from Nazareth.