A great big thank you to Professor White, in whose 20th Century Russian Prose class I read this book! The book has many levels - and even if you look no further than the very surface, it is a bizarre yet hilarious story. If you put more thought into the reading, it delves in to themes of good and evil and all that good stuff (and thankfully, Bulghakov is much more eloquent than I am). It was several years ago that I read this so I don't remember many of the details, but I do remember that it was my favorite piece that we read in the course. I lent my copy to a friend and I never got it back, which is too bad because I'm dying to read it again. One of these days when I can justify spending the money on a book I've already read, I'll get myself another copy. Until then, I'll just leave you with my highest recommendation! By the way, you do not at all need an extensive background in all things Russian in order to read this book. I am a scientist, not a historian, and I loved it!