The Road to Cana

May 26, 2008
Roles don't come a whole lot juicier than playing Jesus, so James Naughton hit the jackpot when he got to read Rice's first-person account of the life of Jesus—or Yeshua, as Rice has it. Naughton has a booming baritone—the voice of a born leader. As Jesus, he offers quiet strength and a touching sense of compassion. If the material is overly familiar, for obvious reasons, Naughton handles it well. His pronunciation of the Hebrew terms with which Rice studs the text is nimble, and his reading is hushed without being overly sappy or faux spiritual. Simultaneous release with the Knopf hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 4).