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Summary: Among my favorite books of all time
Review: A friend of mine brought this book to my attention about 10 years ago; he said it was the "best book he had ever read." After countless readings of my single, tattered copy, I have to agree. It immediately comes to mind when asked to list my favorite books; the story and its characters have stayed with me even as countless others have been read and forgotten almost immediately. As it follows the cursed life of its unlikely anti-hero, "Satan" is tragic, sad, bizarre, and very, very, funny. Leven is among the rare writers who can create a world so vivid that entering it, and believing in it, is effortless -- no matter how strange things get. Read this book; it's wonderful.
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Summary: The Prince of Darkness chimes in...
Review: After reading the Amazon reviews, you would think that this is a perspective-changing book with the same impact as "Atlas Shrugged" or the Bible. Tragically, it is not; but it is a sometimes funny, sometimes (ethically) horrifying book. It is more of a story about Dr. Kassler and his terrible life than it is about Satan. But interleaved through the book is the series of seven sessions between Dr. Kassler and Satan (Satan's complaint: "People got me all wrong!") Especially interesting is Satan's explanation of the horrible reputation that he has unjustly received. Satan with a persecution complex... Unfortunately, this is not the main thrust of the book. Instead, the main thrust is Dr. Kassler himself, which, though making for an interesting story, is not actually as humorous. The key message I received from the book was: "Realize that other people are not out to screw up your life, they have their own problems...it's not about you." (This is my paraphrase of pg. 410 in my book.) For this alone, it may be worth reading, since the story of Sy Kassler's life supports this message in a way that my Amazon review might not. To sum it all up, this book is interesting and sometimes insightful, if not a total laff-riot. I found it to be worth at least one read, and would possibly be worth the purchase, if it can only be located...
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Summary: The 20th century's "Letters from the Earth"
Review: I read this book ten years ago as a college freshman and I found it a deeply moving, and somewhat cautionary tale. Leven's use of the Devil to critique Judeo Christian morality and culture is not new. Anyone who's read Sam Clemen's "Letters from the Earth" or William Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" will recognize familiar themes. What makes this book stand out is it's conveyance of those themes in a more accesible modern voice and it's invoking of psychotherapeutic principals in the telling. The emphasis on hope (true evil in the book being revealed as hopelesness) in the face of arbitrary, impersonal hardship illustrates a cornerstone of psychological maturity and mental health. Levin is a worthy successor to the tradition of Clemens and Blake, but he won't likely make it into the Norton Antholgies. The plot is a little too convoluted and, as other reviewers have noted, there is not one sympathetic female character anywhere in the book. At the time I read this book, it was life changing. Years latter, it's less so, but still worth reading. Very cool that it's been published again.
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Summary: FUNNY, CLEVER, INTELLIGENT & ORIGINAL
Review: It is the funniest, smartest, and most enlightening book I've read. It is also clever, intelligent, and original. It is the best book I have ever read. The story and its characters are unforgettable.
It follows the cursed life of its "unfortunate", unlikely anti-hero, the Jewish psychoanalyst, Dr. Kassler, J.S.P.S. - "Just Some Poor Schmuck". Kassler strikes a deal with the Devil, who wants psychoanalysis, because the Devil feels he's really a good soul that is being wrongly blamed for the worlds' ills. In exchange for 7 sessions of psychoanalysis, the Devil agrees to tell Kassler "The Meaning of Life", after the 7th session. He does.
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Summary: GOOD BOOK YOU HOLES
Review: IT's GOOD, PURCHAse IT NOW or I WiLL BE sAD
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Summary: "Satan" is heavenly.
Review: Java is filled with unlimited possibilities. Consider this: I was at a local coffee place with a friend who was leaving town. He ran into the coffee shop's lending library (take a book and either return it or replace it for the other interested readers around you) and came back out with a book that he said had caught his eye during his many excursions for caffeine. The book was Jeremy Leven's 1982 "Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, J.S.P.S." Quite a mouthful of a title. I nodded politely and began edging toward the door. But my friend's description of the book ("Some doctor develops a computer program that believes it is Beelzebub, and proceeds to give it therapy") intrigued me. So, after a few weeks of tossing and turning, I decided to return downtown and check out the book. The story is a little more complicated than that. Dr. Sy Kassler does indeed see a computer that may or may not turn out to be Lucifer, Prince of Darkness. But there are many hilarious twists and turns to this 500-page tome, and many different aspects to the plot. SATAN: The computer, if that is what it is, is the brainchild of the genius Dr. Leo Szlyck. Szlyck is called to connect and create a mysterious bunch of wires and synapses to result in ol' Mephistopheles. But it is during the course of therapy that the Dark One asks us to ponder, "Think about what it must take to dare to be God's enemy." THE UNFORTUNATE DR. KASSLER: Sy Kassler is indeed unfortunate. We first meet him coercing an STD-beleaguered, only-Italian speaking girl into his bed. Then there is his subsequent love affair with and marriage to the commitment-shy Vita, who turns psychotic after the birth of their first child. Kassler leads the life of a tragic figure. And now he's treating Satan? God help him. Literally. EVERYTHING ELSE: There's Lupa, the beautiful woman who falls in love and has an affair with the computer; Sam Zelazo, Kassler's boss and Szlyck's archnemesis and a multitude of other plotlines and characterizations that make the on-cover comparison to novels like Joseph Heller's "Catch-22" seem very apt. It is a story that is very much about Satan's psyche and those of the people surrounding him. Leven compiled a classic comedic think piece with "Satan," and philosophers and comedy seekers alike should seek it out. Author Robert Heinlein has a quote on the back of the book that is so appropriate to the tone and mood of the book that it deserves to be the last word: "'Satan' is terrific! I could not put it down. However, Jeremy Leven will be lynched if they ever catch him."
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Summary: Hilarious
Review: My father reccomended that I take a look at this book after I finished Catch-22, and I absolutely loved it. This book points out the hypocrisy of our society without sounding self-righteous or arrogant, and Satan is an amazingly funny and perceptive voice of reason. Not really right for the super-religious among us, but for me, a perfect book.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: My father reccomended that I take a look at this book after I finished Catch-22, and I absolutely loved it. This book points out the hypocrisy of our society without sounding self-righteous or arrogant, and Satan is an amazingly funny and perceptive voice of reason. Not really right for the super-religious among us, but for me, a perfect book.
Rating:
Summary: simply awesome!
Review: This book is a blend of computers, Florence,, religion, sex, Albert Einstein and pyschology (and that's just Chapter One) that is not only highly original, but very entertaining. I rarely re-read a book, but I've often thought about this book since I first read it about 15 years. The hardcover is long out of print so I was glad to find this recent paperback.
Most "humourous" books are only amusing, but this one is actually humorous. In fact, this is a very funny book. It is also very clever.
Rating:
Summary: Diamond in the Rough
Review: This book is a true gem! Leven's indictment of the history of religion, morality, and the contentious practice of psychotherapy is incisive, original, and utterly engrossing. "Satan" reads with the urgency of attention of a great mystery novel, the humor of a piercing satire, and the depth of veracity the likes of which the objects of its examination could only hope to approximate. Why this book is not more well-known is beyond me, but, suffice to say, I cannot recommend it more highly.
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