Product Description

A brilliantly written portrait of Lucifer encountering the world of the senses, telling his version of the Bible, and discovering what it's like to be human - in Clerkenwell. 'Now, Your million questions. All, in the end, resolvable into one: What's it like being me? What, for heaven's sake, is it like being me? In a nutshell (which, thanks to me, is the way you like it in these hurrying and fragmented times), it's hard.' Finally, the other side of the story. The Prince of Darkness has been given one last chance: he will be readmitted to the company of his fellow angels if he agrees to live out a human life. Highly sceptical (naturally), the Old Deal-maker negotiates a trial period - a summer holiday in a human body, with all the delights of the flesh. The body, though, turns out to be that of Declan Gunn, a depressed writer living in Clerkenwell, interrupted mid-suicide. Making the best of a bad situation, Luce himself takes to writing - to explain, to strip back the Biblical spin, to help us see the whole thing from his point of view. And to knock that Jesus off his perch. Beset by distractions, miscalculations and all the natural shocks that flesh is heir to, Lucifer slowly begins to learn what it's like to be us. Glen Duncan's brilliantly written new novel is an investigation of the world of the senses - the seductiveness of evil, and the affection which keeps us human.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33513 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.co.uk 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

Matthew Baylis
'Duncan is a sharp, sometimes savage observer of the human condition, whose talents are as many as the legions of Hell'

Independent
'Clever and challenging...sizzling with mephitic energy'

Customer Reviews

The prince of darkness is a gentleman....William Shakespeare
A friend of mine works in a bookstore and recommended I,Lucifer a couple of years ago. He knows my taste in books so I thought I'd give it a try. Saying that it's a page-turner, that I couldn't put it down even after I had read it twice over, is a huge understatement. Truth is, the reader is immediately drawn into witnessing a series of events and afterthoughts that are unbelievably funny, cheeky, wicked and dark at the same time. Before long, I found myself empathising with Lucifer....at which point, having been a sad soul entrapped in a catholic convent school for many years, I felt compelled to put the book down and tell myself "It's Lucifer, for God's sake! You're feeling sorry for THE DEVIL". Well...it is at this stage that Duncan's work should be appreciated beyond it's literary value....because despite the nuns' influence and years of daily doses of guilt tripping, I picked the book back up and said "Yeah...so what?!"

Read it.

The spiritual guide of the millenia!
It's tough judging humanity and the human experience objectively when you are a mortal yourself.

And so Glen Duncan guides the reader on a journey of revelation, riding on the back of Lucifer's wit and fury, where he explores what it is like to be taxpayer. We see the world from the view of Satan himself, and get to know this being that the preachers warn us about.

However, seeing as half of our worlds greatest writers have "human behavior" as their subjects, this isn't really that great of a feat. What Glen Duncan REALLY manages here is to remain objective; that while Satan portrays himself as the free-thinking rebel, the underdog constantly blighted by the power of God, "I, Lucifer" holds the balance dearly between good and evil, wonderfully demonstrating that everyone has their flaws, be they mortal or a member of the angelic host. Littered around the pages are short stories of various eras, such as the extermination of the nephilim, the Nazi regime, the redemption of the playboy satanist and the iron grip the Inquisition held on the peasant people, not to mention the life story of most of the books most prominent characters, each and every one colourful yet broken, sad husks. And while Lucifer enjoys his newly-acquired five senses, he starts investigating his own fragile psyche...

"I, Lucifer" is much more than a mere book, but a collection of stories that each carry a meaning, a myriad of tales that each teaches us something about the dangers of the flesh and mind.

Wickedly Funny!
This book had me in stiches, and is definately in the top five books of all time in my opinion! I found myself laughing out loud and agreeing with lucifer on a number of matters both of this world and beyond. This novel is intelligant, witty, honest, sarcastic and very, very entertaining. Purchasing this book will be money well spent.