Breaks his silence.

(LRR)

Dan Brown said that when he wrote the book that dissects the origins of Jesus Christ and disputes long-held beliefs about Catholicism, he considered including material alleging that Jesus Christ survived the crucifixion in his book.

While speaking at a benefit for a New Hampshire writers’ group, Brown said the theory is backed by a number of “very credible sources,” but that he ultimately decided it was too flimsy.

“For me, that was just three or four steps too far,” he told the crowd of more than 800 people.

Brown’s discussion of his book, which included fielding questions from the audience, was a rare public appearance for him. He has declined most requests for media interviews this year, saying he is focusing on writing the sequel to his book.

On Tuesday, Brown included several teasers about what that sequel would be about, including that it was set in Washington and would focus on the Free and Accepted Masons, a secretive fraternal organization.

Um. I’m trying to figure out the logic of this. (Which I spent a lot of time doing when I was dissecting this novel. I gave up.) We’re supposed to be shocked at this little factoid that Dan Brown hid from our delicate eyes? If you’ve read the novel, you know that this is one of the big unanswered, not to mention unasked, questions. What the heck happened to Jesus, anyway? Was he crucified? And what happened to the body? Suggesting that Jesus survived (Passover Plot, anyone?) would at least have filled in that hole.

It’s all so pathetically stupid and self-aggrandizing, isn’t it?

And yeah, everyone’s waiting for the next great Mason novel.