Suppressed in the Soviet Union for twenty-six years, Mikhail Bulgakovs masterpiece is an ironic parable of power and its corruption, good and evil, and human frailty and the strength of love. Featuring Satan, accompanied by a retinue that includes the large, fast-talking, vodka drinking black tom cat Behemoth, the beautiful Margarita, her beloved - a distraught writer known only as the Master - Pontius Pilate, and Jesus Christ, The Master and Margarita combines fable, fantasy, political satire, and slapstick comedy into a wildly entertaining and unforgettable tale that is commonly considered one of the greatest novels ever to come out of the Soviet Union. A wild surrealistic romp.... Brilliantly flamboyant and outrageous.-Joyce Carol Oates, The Detroit News; Fine, funny, imaginative.... The Master and Margarita stands squarely in the great Gogolesque tradition of satiric narrative.-Saul Maloff, Newsweek; Funny, devilish, brilliant satire.... Its literature of the highest order and . . . it will deliver a full measure of enjoyment and enlightenment.-Publishers Weekly; A rich, funny, moving and bitter novel.... Vast and boisterous entertainment.-The New York Times