It takes the Gospel According to Matthew fewer than 50 lines to deal with Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness, about double the length of the following un-King Jamesian summary: the newly baptized Galilean retreats to the Judean desert where he is mocked and enticed by the devil; Jesus does not take the bait; he won't turn stones into bread because man does not live by bread alone; he won't jump from the temple tower to prove his divinity because it is forbidden to presume God's protection; finally, he rejects the Faustian bargain--the world's riches for his soul.
Jim Crace's Quarantine...