These highly charged and politicized arguments about the evils of late capitalism transform Devil’s Contract from a work of cultural history into something close to a polemic, one with which you may or may not agree. Simon’s style, moreover, can sometimes veer into the over-emphatic.

Provocative, if clunky.

One might wish for it to be expressed through slightly less heated rhetoric and a more limited focus.

Lively.

Simon’s impassioned — one might almost say possessed — approach to his story results in a lot of overheated, sloppy writing.

An undeniably fascinating read.

Simon’s probing curiosity conjures up an enjoyable grab-bag of arcane knowledge. It’s a beguiling literary history of diabolical deals..