Rating: 
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.
Rating:
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.
Rating: 
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...
Rating:
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...
Rating:
Summary: A modern day take on Dante's "Inferno"
Review: An intensely dense text that is at turns delightful, humorous and sarcastic while remaining thought-provoking throughout. On a humorous par with Douglas Adams' ("The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy") best, but on the intellectual level of Stephen Hawking, with Vonnegut's ironic tone thrown in for good measure.
The novel is actually constructed in a beautiful homage to Dante's "Inferno," right down to the internal movement of the story, which spirals into each of Dante's levels of Hell, allowing the well-drawn main characters to commit each of the sins that would lead them to that specific level. If you can read this book in conjunction with "The Inferno," you'll appreciate its many levels even more. This may be a tall order, but it is truly worth the investment of time necessary.
I have read this book nearly once a year since I first found it in 1984. It's remained fresh every time.
Rating:
Summary: Mind bending psycho babble with loads of wit to boot!
Review: As in "Paradise Lost", a sympathetic look at history's most famous nemesis, Satan. Satan is witty, sly, and brilliant, rather LIKABLE, as he looks upon the life of poor Dr. J. Kassler, whose life has, literally, gone to hell, and who can do no better than to round off his career than by "counselling" Satan on HIS hardships. There isn't a single character you'll forget after putting the book down, for those that cross Kassler's path are wrapped in a destiny that can only lead them to the most bizarre of circumstances. Kassler himself seems to set, costume and design the entire production of his life, without forseeing his finale. Possibly one of the funniest, most original books you'll ever pick up "just for kicks". Trust me, you'll never look at your own problems the same way again.
Rating:
Summary: Mind bending psycho babble with loads of wit to boot!
Review: As in "Paradise Lost", a sympathetic look at history's most famous nemesis, Satan. Satan is witty, sly, and brilliant, rather LIKABLE, as he looks upon the life of poor Dr. J. Kassler, whose life has, literally, gone to hell, and who can do no better than to round off his career than by "counselling" Satan on HIS hardships. There isn't a single character you'll forget after putting the book down, for those that cross Kassler's path are wrapped in a destiny that can only lead them to the most bizarre of circumstances. Kassler himself seems to set, costume and design the entire production of his life, without forseeing his finale. Possibly one of the funniest, most original books you'll ever pick up "just for kicks". Trust me, you'll never look at your own problems the same way again.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely disappointing
Review: Between This book was woefully disappointing. I was unable to see much that was funny. I have an extraordinarily sick sense of humor and appreciate irony, but I found almost nothing funny, so the newspaper reviewers' comments on the paperback version seem ludicrous. I feel like I must have missed something. In its defense, one of two reasons I don't give this book only 1 star is the fact that it worked. I allowed it to work. I let myself empathize with Kassler's spiral into oblivion. But based upon the reviews I've seen, I get the feeling that I wasn't supposed to be so empathetic, and so I feel somewhat duped. Even so, this effectiveness is a plus because it affected me emotionally. The other reason this book escapes 1 star is the *attempt* at philosophy, weak though it is. But a functional book does not necessarily imply an enjoyable one. The only enjoyment I derived from this story was the anticipation that it would by the end culminate in some profound -- or at least amusing -- observation on life, an expectation that was deepened by said friend's insistence that I stick with the book because "it has a great payoff." That I found the conclusion philosophically and comically vacuous makes this book a resounding disappointment, and in my eyes, a failure.
Rating:
Summary: Life-changing, and funnier than Hell...
Review: Can a mere novel completely change your brain chemistry andirreversibly pickle your theology? This one WILL. You'll also laugh,cry and forever rethink what they've always told you about God and Satan. This book's perfectly constructed irony and pit-dark black humor makes it a worthy companion of 'Catch 22', but its characters aren't typical black-comedy pawns. Levin's players are fallible and funny, warm and loving, distinctively-drawn people for whom you'll care deeply. The females are especially strong, sympathetic and distinctive... The book is a hilarious send-up of psychotherapy doublespeak, a surprisingly profound yet entertaining meditation on philosophy and theology (from Satan's side of things), and a tear-provoking tale of Kassler's family, full of love for each other but hopelessly dysfunctional... If Kassler's 1970s-style recap of Job's bad luck streak doesn't plunge him to such wretched depths that he follows through on his planned suicide (and that's a big 'if'), he'll instead plumb the Devil's unhappiness via the strangest psychotherapy ever transcribed. If Kassler makes Satan happy once again, Kassler's reward will be to learn the answer to The Great Question, ''What is life?'' (Yep, the book tells us this cosmic truth, too -- worth the price of admission alone, as the carny pitchmen used to say) .... OK, enough gush. You've GOT to read this. PLEASE. I PROMISE it will be worth every second it takes you to find it. THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book about psychiatry, love, fate, satan and hope.
Review: Dr.Sy Kassler is, in Hell jargon, Just Some Poor Schmuck (J.S.P.S.). His life is a series of disasters of biblical proportions and in the midst of it all, he acquires a very odd patient: a "tangle of wires" in the basement of a mad physicist that claims to be Satan.
Kassler's sessions with Satan, their discussions about faith, sin and literary criticism, the incredibly COMPLETE disaster that is Kassler's life and a few small questions about personal responsibility - previously addressed by Kurt Vonnegut as a matter of "bad chemicals in the blood" - form the ingredients of this wonderful book. Read it and never be the same again.
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