“And what justice, and from whom, might we expect to meet?​”

If I told you this was a story which sets the devil loose to romp in Stalinist-era Moscow, this would be worth the read. But it is also a scathing satire on Soviet government, class, and lifestyle–of course it is. But also, it is is a reworking of the Gospel story, placing a nuanced Pontius Pilate at its center–and a reverie on the mind of the writer and the power of story–yet again a revisit to Faust, Dante, and Hebraic tradition. And, without question, it is outrageously funny.

With wit of Rushdie but the plot clarity of an old-time genre-thriller, Bulgakov offers a carnivalesque ride into Party politics, addled orthodoxy, the nature of sanity and normalcy, the oppression of women and of the underclass, and the theological and psychological nature of good and evil. Whether delivered from the writerly Master of the title or the demonic trickster cat, the lessons revealed remain unironically relevant today. How much social insanity and corruption will we continue to reason as normal? And what justice, and from whom, might we expect to meet?