I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story - Softcover

Duncan, Glen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802140149 ISBN 13: 9780802140142

Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003

Synopsis

The end is nigh and the Prince of Darkness has just been offered one hell of a deal: reentry into Heaven for eternity--if he can live out a well-behaved life in a human body on earth. It's the ultimate case of trying without buying and, despite the limitations of the human body in question (previous owner one suicidally unsuccessful writer, Deelan Gunn), Luce seizes the opportunity to run riot through the realm of the senses. This is his chance to straighten the biblical record (Adam, it's hinted, was a misguided variation on the Eve design), to celebrate his favorite achievements (everything from the Inquisition to Elton John), and, most important, to get Julia Roberts attached to his screenplay. But the experience of walking among us isn't what His Majesty expected: instead of teaching us what it's like to be him, Lucifer finds himself understanding what it's like to be us.
By an author hailed by the Times Literary Supplement as one of Britain's top twenty young novelists, I, Lucifer is "a masterpiece...startlingly witty, original and beautifully written" (Good Book Guide).

About this title

Review

Glen Duncan’s I, Lucifer begins one steamy summer as some heavy negotiations are taking place in Heaven. God has decided to give Lucifer, the furthest-fallen of all fallen angels, a second chance. The Prince of Darkness can return to the fold, provided he manages to last one month on earth without sin. The human form chosen for this celestial experiment? A depressed novelist of little renown, currently contemplating suicide in his Clerkenwell garret.

Lucifer eagerly grasps the opportunity for a holiday on earth, and uses his host’s identity to re-write the story of Creation in a format that has Hollywood moguls kissing his feet. It’s not popular with Him Upstairs, of course, what with the Devil being portrayed as a maverick free-thinker and God as a humourless autocrat. But Lucifer’s having too much fun to care. He’s experiencing the pleasures of the flesh for the first time and everything – the odour of sweaty tube trains, cocaine, ice-cream, dirty sex--delights him. By the time the archangels are dispatched to bring him back, the Lord of all that’s inhumane can’t think of anything he’d rather be than human.

Lucifer befogs his audience, alternately spitting fury at them like some sulphur-charged Dennis Leary and then insisting that he’s a nice guy, just misunderstood. What’s clear, however, is that Glen Duncan is not merely one of those writers who can come up with amusing concepts. He’s a sharp, sometimes savage observer of the human condition, whose talents are as many as the legions of Hell.--Matthew Baylis

Review

"A wicked, impish conceit, all ably orchestrated with Duncan's playful intelligence and sizzling wit." --Arena

"Duncan packs more wit and energy into one page of I, Lucifer than most writers fit into an entire novel. The book is a leap forward in prose." --Neal Pollack

"A fiendishly sharp, intelligent examination of modern human life that is as funny as hell." -The Times (London)

"Stylish...Fiendishly funny, wickedly eloquent...hilarious pyrotechnic prose." -Big Issue

"Clever and challenging...sizzling with mephitic energy." -The Independent

Edition details

• Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802140149
• ISBN 13: 9780802140142
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272