The Devil's Best Trick
by Randall Sullivan
According to Charles Baudelaire, who knew a thing or two about evil, the Devil’s best trick is convincing the trick that he doesn’t exist. Randall Sullivan borrows the troubled poet’s quote for the title of this book and, by the end of it, appears convinced that the Devil does exist.
As it happens, I had first read anything by Randall Sullivan only some months ago, when I came across The Miracle Detective. That book is, broadly speaking, an examination of the phenomenon of Marian apparitions, with a particular focus on the visionaries of Medjugorje. It is also, however, a personal exploration of faith and a description of the author’s idiosyncratic journey towards the Catholic faith.
As with his earlier “religious” book (Sullivan has also written several other works of non-fiction which have nothing to do with spirituality) it is quite difficult to pigeonhole the subject-matter of The Devil’s Best Trick. In the first part of the book, Sullivan alternates a cultural and philosophical history of the concept of the Devil (and, more widely, the “problem of evil”) with a “true crime” account relating to a series of mysterious murders in Texas with an occult backdrop.
Later in the book, there’s a surprising turn, as Sullivan turns adventurer and embarks on a hair-raising trip to Mexico to attend a witches’ convention, where the Devil is openly invoked. This also leads Sullivan to explain why, in his view, the Aztecs and indigenous populations, with their violent cults, were, actually, devil-worshippers. Throughout the book, as in The Miracle Detective Sullivan struggles with his doubts, and tries to come to terms with his faith.
This book is, in a sense, an ambitious and glorious mess – in
the sense that it tries to be too many things at the same time. This
notwithstanding, I found it engaging and interesting and, perhaps against all
odds, it does add up to a sum of its parts.
342 pages, Kindle Edition, Grove Atlantic
Published May 14, 2024
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