Melisa M. (hedgewitch) reviewed on 12/30/2006 + 113 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 6

LaVey was perhaps the first person to embrace the label "Satanist." He did not, however, take himself as seriously as some who come after him have done. From an Amazon.com review:

"LaVey's book is *not* an occult text: he is openly contemptuous of "occultniks." Rather, it is a bitter yet ultimately life-affirming rant, in the tradition of Great American Misanthropes like Mark Twain and Ambrose Bierce. If you read it the way you might read *Huckleberry Finn* or "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," you'll Get the Point... and the Joke. (LaVey was also a humorist who frequently wrote with tongue-in-cheek... something which many of the Deadly Serious Death Metal Types all too often forget)....If you want to understand modern Satanism -- or if you want to receive a refreshing blast of bitterness and misanthropy from one of the last great cynics -- this book is a must for your collection." --Kevin T. Filan

This is an entertaining work in small doses, but imo it's a bit much all at once. I find cynicism wearing after a time. Still, this is a valuable work that should not be overlooked in any study of modern religious and spiritual paths.

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