The Devil's Own Work
0-00-223832-2
The Devil's Own Work is a 1991 novella by Alan Judd which won the Guardian Fiction Award. A modern version of the Faust legend,[1] it was inspired by a dinner with Graham Greene.[2] and tells of a pact an author makes with the devil as told by his lifelong friend. In style the work was compared by Publishers Weekly with that of Henry James.[3]
Plot introduction
The unnamed narrator tells of his friend Edward's meeting in the south of France with O. M. (Old Man) Tyrell, a renowned author. Tyrell is found dead the following morning and the narrator later learns that Tyrell has given Edward a peculiar handwritten manuscript which becomes the source of Edward's later literary success. Edward also inherits Tyrell's ageless mistress Eudoxie but all is far from well with Edward who grows to loathe the hold that the manuscript and Eudoxie have over him but is unable to escape...
Reception
- Elaine Kendall writing for the Los Angeles Times was positive, concluding "Wry and insightful, The Devil's Own Work toys with the notion of demonic possession but becomes a thoroughly realistic and highly original story of revenge; a chilling cautionary tale for literary critics and an unalloyed delight for everyone else".[4]
- The Spectator was similarly enamoured, "a brilliant novella, almost a fable".[5]
- Kirkus Reviews however concluded "Judd seems to intend his tale as an allegory about the price of success, but the connections are strained and the plotting predictable. An uneasy, unhappy, and unproductive mix of Ford Madox Ford and Stephen King.[6]
References
- ^ Judd, Alan (7 June 1994). The Devil's Own Work. Knopf. ISBN 0679425527.
- ^ "Alan Judd". Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
- ^ "Fiction Book Review: The Devil's Own Work by Alan Judd, Author Knopf Publishing Group $17 (115p) ISBN 978-0-679-42552-6".
- ^ BOOK REVIEW / NOVEL : A Story of Literary Dreams and Revenge : THE DEVIL'S OWN WORK by Alan Judd; Knopf $17, 115 pages - Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^ Thirty years on » The Spectator Retrieved 2013-09-13.
- ^ THE DEVIL'S OWN WORK by Alan Judd | Kirkus Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- v
- t
- e
- Faust
- Johann Georg Faust
- Deal with the Devil
- Simon Magus
- Theophilus of Adana
- Erdgeist
- Mephistopheles
- Pan Twardowski
- Stingy Jack
- Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587 chapbook)
- Doctor Faustus (1592 play)
- Cenodoxus (1602, play)
- Goethe's Faust (1808 play)
- "Bearskin"
- "Daniel and the Devil"
- Melmoth the Wanderer (1820)
- "The Devil and Tom Walker" (1824)
- St. John's Eve (1830)
- Auriol (1844)
- Chasse-galerie (1892)
- The Sorrows of Satan (1896)
- Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician (1898)
- The Master and Margarita (1929–1940)
- Mephisto (1936)
- "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1937)
- None but Lucifer (1939)
- Doktor Faustus (1947)
- The Devil in Velvet (1951)
- The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant (1954)
- Gimmicks Three (1956)
- The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (1956)
- That Hell-Bound Train (1958)
- For a Breath I Tarry (1966)
- The Damnation Game (1986)
- Eric (1990)
- The Devil's Own Work (1991)
- Jack Faust (1997)
- Johannes Cabal the Necromancer (2009)
- The Last Faust (2019)
- Gretchen (1879)
- Damn Yankees (1955)
- Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1955)
- The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon (1965)
- Temptation (1986)
- Il Dottor Faust (2018)
- Faust (1816, Spohr)
- La damnation de Faust (1846, Berlioz)
- Faust (1859, Gounod)
- Mefistofele (1868, Boito)
- Le petit Faust (1869, Hervé)
- Faust and Marguerite (1855, Lutz)
- Faust up to Date (1888, Lutz)
- Doktor Faust (1916–1925, Busoni)
- Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights (1938)
- The Rake's Progress (1951, Stravinsky)
- Reuben, Reuben (1955)
- Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1994)
- Faustus, the Last Night (2006)
- Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814, Schubert)
- Faust Overture (1840, Wagner)
- Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges' 2nd movement "Quasi-Faust" (1847, Alkan)
- Scenes from Goethe's Faust (1853, Schumann)
- Part II of Symphony No. 8 (1906–07, Mahler)
- Faust Symphony (1854–1857, Liszt)
- Mephisto Waltzes (Liszt)
- Gothic Symphony (Brian)
- Bagatelle sans tonalité (Liszt)
Albums |
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Songs |
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- The Laboratory of Mephistopheles (1897)
- Faust and Marguerite (1900)
- The Damnation of Faust (1903)
- Faust and Marguerite (1904)
- The Student of Prague (1913)
- Rapsodia satanica (1915)
- The Student of Prague (1926)
- Faust (1926)
- The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
- Alias Nick Beal (1949)
- The Legend of Faust (1949)
- Beauty and the Devil (1950)
- Marguerite de la nuit (1955)
- Damn Yankees (1958)
- Faust (1960)
- Bedazzled (1967)
- Doctor Faustus (1967)
- El extraño caso del doctor Fausto (1969)
- Mephisto (1981)
- Doctor Faustus (1982)
- Oh, God! You Devil (1984)
- Crossroads (1986)
- Faust (1994)
- Bedazzled (2000)
- Faust: Love of the Damned (2000)
- Fausto 5.0 (2001)
- I Was a Teenage Faust (2002)
- Shortcut to Happiness (2007)
- Goat Story (2008)
- Faust (2011)
- The Last Faust (2019)
Episodes |
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Other |
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- Damn Yankees (1955)
- Randy Newman's Faust (1995)
- Success! (1993)
- Faust (2003)
- Disco Inferno (2004)
- Gods' Man (1929)
- Faust (manga) (1950)
- Doctor Faustus (comics) (1968)
- Faust (comics) (1987)
- Frau Faust (2014)
- Mephistopheles and Margaretta
- Paintings
- Category