The five, irreverent, satirical and imaginative stories contained in "Diaboliad" caused an uproar upon the book's first publication in 1925. Full of invention, they display Bulgakov's breathtaking stylistic range, moving at dizzying speed from grotesque satire to science fiction, from the plainest realism to the most madcap fantasy. "Diaboliad" is a wonderful introduction to literature's most uncategorisable and subversive genius.