I actually found this in a used bookshop but I thought I'd just add to the positive reviews of this book. I just read the book over the last 3 days and I am totally impressed and ready to recommend this book to anyone and everyone. I won't bother with description or analysis except to say that the structure of the book was fascinating to me, and the tone hilarious throughout. If the concept of the book (Satan as a computer in therapy) appeals to you at all, then I can almost guarantee that you'll love it.

Jeremy Leven's Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, J.S.P.S. is narrated by the Prince of Lies himself.

The story mainly centers around Dr. Kassler's adult life, but occasionally and skillfully sidetracks into the lives and trials of several other very memorable characters throughout the book. Shortly into the story it is made clear that Satan has a brilliant physicist unknowingly build a machine that allows Satan to communicate with our world. For what purpose? Satan has fallen into a depression and needs psychotherapeutic treatment! Sure, he could visit Freud in Hell, but only Dr. Kassler J.S.P.S. [Just Some Poor Schmuck] will do.

I leave most of the story out because it really is a phenomenal one. Think Catch-22 meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest meets a bawdy science-fiction novel.

Simply put, this book is funny, enlightening, and a must-read for anyone who has a twisted sense of humor and a philosophical streak. The title's description of Dr. Kassler as "Unfortunate" is an understatement--throughout the novel, Leven puts Dr. Kassler through the Trials of Hell, and then some.

I hope the wordy title and religious undertones do not dissuade any readers from this book. Leven is a skilled writer and his jabs at the psychotheraputic community are brilliant.

One of my favorite books of all time.

This is one of my favorite books. Excellent character development, multiple plot lines, and lots of references to what one might find in a liberal education. A great read, but more importantly, allows you to look at existence, humanity, and the complicated interworkings of human relationships on a constant shift between a macro and micro scale. Get it, you won't be disappointed!

Jeremy Leven makes you think about our being, makes you look at things in a different way.
I deeply recommend this book to everyone who wants to find new ways of thinking.

Sy Kassler is a pathetic man. Hopelessly romantic, he marries a woman incapable of responding in kind. Pursuing his father's love and acceptance, he's rejected. And then he agrees to give Satan seven sessions of analysis. Things continue to go downhill from there. Leven's book is an interesting mixture of guilt, suffering and comedy, not entirely successfully blended together, but it does have its moments. Psychology and its many different disciplines takes a beating here as does the legal system and religion, but by taking on so many "sacred cows" Leven dilutes the message. So many scenes are so far over the top that it becomes hard to take anything seriously and there are enough deaths and lives destroyed that this hurts the book's tone. Kassler ends up being so useless that it is difficult to find sympathy for him, but the scenes where he is shown with his kids are truly moving. The ending is the most disappointing part of the journey where elements of horror are introduced that seem out of place as if the there was nowhere else to go, and revelations about some of the characters seem forced. Despite these flaws, SATAN does raise a variety of intriguing ideas and is worth a look.