The Devil's Notebook

Rating:
Summary: I know it's Satanism, but shouldn't it be called humor?
Review: As any Satanist can tell you, LaVey was a man full of biting wit, iconoclastic insight and, above all, a most astute and adroit observer of human folly and misinterpretation, himself being subjected to the latter more than anyone in recent memory.

In this book, published after two decades of inactivity (to the world of print), LaVey sheds light on many interesting topics, bringing his usual dose of sardonic humor to the printed page.

A particular essay comes to mind when I think of this book- it's called "Hatha Toilet Seat Meditaion," and if it doesn't solicit laughter from you, nothing will. For those of you who are familiar with it, I'm certain you're grinning right now. For those who aren't, read the book and find out why.

Other essays focus on some pretty forbiding topics, and the level of candor expressed by LaVey never lets us forget that while the media may have portrayed him as several things- none of which were especially flattering- we will continue to respect him for the insight he shared with us, remembering the first time we read the "Satanic Bible," a book that for many of us described the thoughts we'd always thought, but never knew anyone else did.

So, when you read this book, say to yourself with a sigh of gratification, "Hail Satan!"

If you'd like to contact me, you can do so at [e-mail]

If you're a recently self-discovered Satanist, you have my best wishes for your continued learning and exploration.

HS!

Rating:
Summary: Indispensable for any Satanist.
Review: Contrary to the views taken by some less educated people, this book is not irredeemable. It has as much, if not more, value than most any other book on Satanism. It present humor with info that is wondrously adroit and aplicable. I would recomend you start with this book. It will disprove any notions based on misconceprions. Among topics discussed is "How to Be God," which I found most useful, the creation of "Total Environments," or how to make an environment suitable for magical workings. A very handy tome. Read it if you are a new or established Satanist- its that versatile. Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoy the book! Hail Satan!

Rating:
Summary: The Best of Anton Lavey's Work
Review: Greetings Everyone. Out of all of Anton Lavey's works (satanic bible, satan speaks, and the satanic witch), this book rght here, "The Devil's Notebook" (in my opinion anyway) is the best of Lavey's works. At the same time that some of the stuff in this is humorous (read chapters "Duck-Billed Platitudes", "Hatha Toilet Seat Meditaion", and "The Whoopi Cushion Shall Rise Again" for instance) most of stuff that Lavey says in this book is so true I'm surprised Lavey himself is not a perfect human being. Chapters like "on the Importance of Being Evil", "The Goodguy badge" and "Two Wrongs Make A Right" I agree with completely. You'll have to buy the book yourself and see why. Of course, I'm not actually a satanist, I'm really an atheist, so the only thing that I do not agree with in this book is all that magic and occult [stuff] that plague all of Lavey's work (I know that satanism doesn't equal to devil worship and Lavey's work doesn't mention anything about virgin sacrifices, animal mutilation or any other sick stuff that christians like to credit satanist with, for those of you that are satanist and are reading this review, so relax). Anyway, I have read other of Lavey's works. The satanic bible was okay, but it was filled with stuff that people should already know by instinct, satanist or not. The Satanic witch is just about the only piece of Lavey's work that I find repugnant and stupid. Again, in my opinion, those of you that are starting into satanism and/or never read one of Lavey's works, satanist or not, I suggest you start with this book first before you read any other material by him.

Rating:
Summary: The Best of Anton Lavey's Work
Review: Greetings Everyone. Out of all of Anton Lavey's works (satanic bible, satan speaks, and the satanic witch), this book rght here, "The Devil's Notebook" (in my opinion anyway) is the best of Lavey's works. At the same time that some of the stuff in this is humorous (read chapters "Duck-Billed Platitudes", "Hatha Toilet Seat Meditaion", and "The Whoopi Cushion Shall Rise Again" for instance) most of stuff that Lavey says in this book is so true I'm surprised Lavey himself is not a perfect human being. Chapters like "on the Importance of Being Evil", "The Goodguy badge" and "Two Wrongs Make A Right" I agree with completely. You'll have to buy the book yourself and see why. Of course, I'm not actually a satanist, I'm really an atheist, so the only thing that I do not agree with in this book is all that magic and occult [stuff] that plague all of Lavey's work (I know that satanism doesn't equal to devil worship and Lavey's work doesn't mention anything about virgin sacrifices, animal mutilation or any other sick stuff that christians like to credit satanist with, for those of you that are satanist and are reading this review, so relax). Anyway, I have read other of Lavey's works. The satanic bible was okay, but it was filled with stuff that people should already know by instinct, satanist or not. The Satanic witch is just about the only piece of Lavey's work that I find repugnant and stupid. Again, in my opinion, those of you that are starting into satanism and/or never read one of Lavey's works, satanist or not, I suggest you start with this book first before you read any other material by him.

Rating:
Summary: Of limited interest . . .
Review: I feel kind of put off, if only because I have trouble giving this work more credit, simply because I find myself wondering how much was actually LaVey's own work. Run a google search on "LaVey", and you'll come across many websites, and many articles noting the fact that ASL was apparently quite a habitual falsifier. According to testimonies, research, and official documents, much of the life LaVey played up to the public, was built around tall tales. Everything from his name, to his personal holdings, to many of his "infamous" life experiences, were all made up or heavily exaggerated (apparently much of "The Satanic Bible" was just lifted from previous works, with no credit being given to said volumes.) Not to say that he isn't still an interesting individual from a psychological standpoint- it must have taken quite a sense of character for him to build up such a lifestyle, and, maybe he did indeed have a reason for all that carrying-on? Anyways, read this book for a collection of interesting, and sometimes thought provoking essays, whether they were all written by him or not.

Rating:
Summary: Of limited interest . . .
Review: Not only to Joe Citizen, but to most Satanists as well, to whom this must seem rather tiresome. This is my first exposure to LaVey's writings, and I'm not terribly impressed. I found his style (and philosophy) to be manipulative, juvenile, and pedantic. A predilection for obscure words and arcane references. I'll assume then, that being irritating and difficult to understand is a Satanic tenet. Don't get me wrong--I found many interesting parts to this book, especially when it came to his taste in classical music, in manufactured environments and artificial human companions. If you're into robotics you definitely want to hear what LaVey has to say. But if you're new to Satanic philosophy or the Left Hand Path, I'd look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Read
Review: This book is a collection of essays, written by Mr. (pope?) Lavey. Judging by the introduction, written by Adam Parfrey, it is some sort of tribute to him - though I am not for sure. It is good for entertainment, though not a whoooole lot else... but then again, books are a form of media, and the whole purpose of media is to entertain, so...

Alright, this is deffinatly a great read! I totally, TOTALLY loved the Diabolica, Duck-Billed Platitudes, and How to Be a God! They are all very entertaining and humorous (though I'm not sure whether or not they're supposed to be). Also, the whole book is pretty motivational for that little screaming, raving satanist in all of us.

That's about all there is to say about it. I mean, honestly, at only 147 pages, it's not a huge chunk of reading. I read it over one weekend. Not great, but not bad - not by any means bad - hence three stars.

Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Read
Review: This book is a collection of essays, written by Mr. (pope?) Lavey. Judging by the introduction, written by Adam Parfrey, it is some sort of tribute to him - though I am not for sure. It is good for entertainment, though not a whoooole lot else... but then again, books are a form of media, and the whole purpose of media is to entertain, so...

Alright, this is deffinatly a great read! I totally, TOTALLY loved the Diabolica, Duck-Billed Platitudes, and How to Be a God! They are all very entertaining and humorous (though I'm not sure whether or not they're supposed to be). Also, the whole book is pretty motivational for that little screaming, raving satanist in all of us.

That's about all there is to say about it. I mean, honestly, at only 147 pages, it's not a huge chunk of reading. I read it over one weekend. Not great, but not bad - not by any means bad - hence three stars.

Rating:
Summary: A Unique Collection of Satanic Essays
Review: This book is a well-written collection of Mr. LaVey's essays. For the most part this book is not required to understand The Church of Satan. The book does highlight Mr. LaVey's unique philosophy and various related topics. The range of topics is too broad to summarize, so I'll list several highlights:

"Ravings From Tartarus": Why ritual spells do not work, and how to accomplish your goals.

"The Importance of Keeping a Secret": Types of secrets, and methods to ensure secrecy.

"Nonconformity -- Satanism's Secret Weapon": The Satanist as Master in a throng of weak-willed slaves.

"Let Me Entertain You": Techniques for maintaining your Satanist identity of dominance. "Responsibility for the responsible..."

"The Construction of Artificial Human Companions": Building android companions. "Read between the 'lie-ons'" concerning android joint construction, then re-read "Nonconformity -- Satanism's Secret Weapon".

"Misanthropia": The psychology of Satanists and their android companions. "Read between the 'lie-ons'", then re-read "Nonconformity -- Satanism's Secret Weapon".

Keep your ice open.

Rating:
Summary: Has Moments.
Review: This book is not LaVey's best. The best thing about it is the humour that LaVey manages to weave into his writing -- at times it can get a bit childish, but at it's best, the irreverance can be quite amusing. Unfortunately, it doesn't really reddem the book, as it seems quite obvious that he has nothing to say here. LaVey seems much bitterer and full of himself in a rather narcissistic way than he was earlier in his life and this lack of perspective makes him seem sort of absurd. In this collection of essays, LaVey is indulging himself -- but it is largely the indulgence of a two year old throwing a temper tantrum rather than the indulgence of the artist, which was the ideal that he had in mind when he wrote the Satanic Bible. There are essays about playing dumb jokes on people, on how much he hates everyone, and so on. But there are some gems here. His aphorisms are worse than useless, but ideas of the "Law of the Trapezoid" are interesting, as are his sharing of his musical tastes with everyone (and rather good taste it is!). He shares his interest of the odd and unusual, inlcuding several little-known but interesting people and the rip-roaring humour of "Hatha Toilet Seat meditation". Still, these little snippets are not quite enough to redeem this volume and the foreward by Kenneth Anger certainly adds nothing to the book (he mentions that lamentable fact that the popular media had chosen to ignore LaVey -- but does not mention that LaVey has plagiarised so much of his "work" that he has got basically what he deserved). The sheet music for the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is included, as well as various original musings which really aren't worth anyone's time except for the most enthusiastic LaVey worshipper. If your library has it, it might be worth a read, but it's not worth the price. If you want laVey at the height of his powers, check out the Satanic Bible; this is just the rantings of a bitter old man.