Sympathy for the Devil [Paperback]

Michael Chabon (Author), Holly Black (Author), Kelly Link (Author), Stephen King (Author), David Palumbo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2010

The Devil is known by many names: Serpent, Tempter, Beast, Adversary, Wanderer, Dragon, Rebel. His traps and machinations are the stuff of legends. His faces are legion. No matter what face the devil wears, Sympathy for the Devil has them all. Edited by Tim Pratt, Sympathy for the Devil collects the best Satanic short stories by Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Stephen King, Kage Baker, Charles Stross, Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Kelly Link, China Mieville, Michael Chabon, and many others, revealing His Grand Infernal Majesty, in all his forms. Thirty-five stories, from classics to the cutting edge, exploring the many sides of Satan, Lucifer, the Lord of the Flies, the Father of Lies, the Prince of the Powers of the Air and Darkness, the First of the Fallen... and a Man of Wealth and Taste. Sit down and spend a little time with the Devil.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hugo winner Pratt turns his Locus-honed editing skills to the crowded field of themed anthologies. His chosen unifying element is the Devil, or devils, broadly interpreted in 36 original and reprinted works. Bygone days are represented by an excerpt from Dante's Inferno; well-known 19th-century tales such as Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" and Stevenson's "The Bottle Imp"; and stories from the golden age of pulp fantasy, such as Bloch's "That Hell-Bound Train" and Sturgeon's "The Professor's Teddy Bear." The newer offerings are equally wide-ranging, including Kelly Link's poignant, recursive "Lull"; Holly Black's giggle-out-loud "A Reversal of Fortune"; and China Miéville's vividly creepy "Details." Anyone delighted by con games, terrified of damnation, and not offended by Pratt's cheeky dedication ("Thank you, Satan! I couldn't have done it without you") will find plenty to enjoy.
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From Booklist

This theme anthology includes classics from the nineteenth century (Nathaniel Hawthorne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain); all kinds of goodies from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including Robert Bloch’s “The Hell-bound Train;” a parody of Faust by John Kessel and Steven King’s “The Man in the Black Suit,” for a total of 35 stories and a translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow of the 36th canto of Dante’s Inferno. The anthology is distinguished for both variety and quality, and is a good purchase for both home and public libraries. --Frieda Murray

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Night Shade Books; Reprint edition (August 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597801895
• ISBN-13: 978-1597801898
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #886,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mostly strong, themed collection, August 6, 2010

By 

Stefan "Stefan" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sympathy for the Devil (Paperback)

Please allow me to introduce Sympathy for the Devil, a fine new anthology filled entirely with short stories about the devil... who is, as we all know, a man of style and taste. However, you won't just find the smooth-talking stealer of souls here. In addition to that famous version of His Grand Infernal Majesty, you'll also find funny devils, monstrous devils, abstract devils and strangely realistic ones. Devils scary and not-so-scary, devils who are after children's souls and others going after old men. Devils with a surprising amount of business acumen, and devils who try to get what they want, no matter the cost. There's even one who engages in a competitive eating contest -- the prize is, of course, someone's soul.

Sympathy for the Devil, edited by Tim Pratt, offers up 35 very diverse short stories (and one piece of poetry) which all, without exception, deal with the devil in some form. If that sounds a bit one-tone for an anthology, well -- it is. If ever there were an anthology to nibble at intermittently, reading a story here and there instead of reading the whole book cover to cover, this is definitely it. In that sense, it's almost perfect as a nightstand book -- the only problem being that some of the stories are positively terrifying, and if you happen to have a significant other sharing your bedroom, you might get funny looks when he or she spots your collection of devil stories by the bed.

As Sympathy for the Devil presents an impressive 35 stories, I won't bore you by listing and reviewing all of them individually. Instead, here are a few of my favorites:

* Neil Gaiman is the only author with two stories in the collection. While the first one ("The Price") is nothing special, the second one ("We Can Get Them for You Wholesale") has an excellent build-up that leads to a terrifying finish.

* Elizabeth M. Glover's "MetaPhysics" presents an effective and hilarious way for atheists to refute the Horned One.

* Kelly Link's "Lull" was, for me, the biggest revelation in this anthology. It's a gorgeously weird story that I couldn't stop thinking about for days, and have reread several times since. I plan to read much more by Link very soon.

* Michael Chabon's "The God of Dark Laughter" will have you looking at clowns in an entirely new way.

* China Mieville's "Details" is one of those stories that will insinuate itself into your consciousness. It's hard to forget it after you've read it.

* Jay Lake's "The Goat Cutter" was the single creepiest story in the collection, until I got to...

* Theodore Sturgeon's positively terrifying "The Professor's Teddy Bear".

* Another classic closes out the collection on a strong note: John Collier's "Thus I Refute Beelzy" contrasts enlightened parenting with a decidedly dark finish.

While those are my favorites, there are many other great stories here, including some by well known authors such as Elizabeth Bear, Holly Black, Charles de Lint, Stephen King, Charles Stross and Scott Westerfeld, just to mention a few of the names listed on the cover (also featuring a great illustration by David Palumbo). On the other hand, I would have probably left out at least a handful of stories that bring down the anthology's batting average a bit, but luckily there are enough good and great stories to balance things out.

Tim Pratt has done an excellent job bringing variety to the anthology's dark subject, because Sympathy for the Devil contains something for everyone: horror, fantasy, weird fiction, classics, and even a surprising dose of humor. While not all the stories are equally strong, there's easily enough good material here to justify the cover price.

3.0 out of 5 stars Sympathy For The Devil, February 11, 2012

By 

Daniel Honaker (Blytheville, AR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sympathy for the Devil (Kindle Edition)

This is the first title I purchased after receiving my Kindle Fire as a gift. I bought it primarily for several of the included stories, the best of which is "That Hellbounbd Train". The stories I have read have all been entertaining so far and I am satisfied with the book itself. What I am not satisfied with is the lack of a "table of contents" at all. A working TOC would be marvelous, but just a guide to the stories would be an improvement. With this as my first experience with a Kindle format I am not fully happy but my Kindle is great and if this book is ever offered with a working TOC I may just rebuy it.

3.0 out of 5 stars JUST A DEVIL OF A GOOD TIME, January 28, 2012

By 

James L. Woolridge "Wooly in PSL, FL." (Sunny Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sympathy for the Devil (Paperback)

This collection of short stories by some brilliant authors gives the reader a widely varying look at the devil and the his humorous or nasty temper. A fun little read and a great way to sample a few new authors. Look at the author list, you can not go wrong.