Butler is funny as Hell while asking the Big Serious Questions. The more familiar you are with Dante, the better this novel. I knew right away, on page 2, I was going to like the book when one of the first denizens introduced was "George Clemens, inventor of the electric hand dryer for public restrooms." Actually, everyone seems to be there, all the best people. The protagonist, Hatcher McCord, died a big-shot TV news anchor and now headlines "The Evening News from Hell." He lives with Anne Boleyn, beheaded queen of Henry VIII. The couple keep trying to, as she says, "'play at the beast with two backs.'" "'Have you been hanging around with Shakespeare again?'" the protagonist asks jealously."'He's insufferable,' Anne says."'You sound more and more like him.'"'He complains all the time.... He weeps for quill and ink.'"'Please.'"'His hard drive keeps crashing and he loses his plays.'"'We all have to keep up.'" (17)In the neighborhood where "the poets and playwrights and fiction writers dwell" the bookstores carry nothing but unsold remainders and go out of business at sundown. Except for Sylvia Beach's famous Paris bookshop, Shakespeare and Company, where the shelves are packed. "'Every volume I have,'" she points with despair. "'Reader's Digest Condensed Books. It's all I can get.' Sylvia begins to weep softly. 'Is it because of Adrienne, do you suppose? That I'm here, with these?'"Another torment Sylvia suffers is that writers never visit her store. "'I only get book reviewers. They come in and sit around, and they all seem unaware of who or where they are. I don't know them. They clearly read too fast and in the wrong frame of mind. They miss so much. Perhaps that's why they're here.'" (86) This book was all that I was expecting it to be (sly, witty, satirical) and surprisingly even more. Among the jokes and social satire evolved some very thought-provoking concepts about life and guilt, and what makes us human. There is an underlying current of sadness in this book that I think comes from the realization that a lot of it may be true (not necessarily about the afterlife, one way or the other). The end is enjoyable and perhaps relieves some of the melancholy, and it certainly makes me want to read some of Butler's other work.
What do You think about Hell (2009)?
A story told from Hell. Simplistic plot, but often funny. Butler’s prose is always engaging.
—katenikandrova
I love "The Inferno" and this is a more modern take on hell with a surprise ending.
—Kimberly
This book is incredibly funny, gives a different and very interesting view on hell.
—lux25
