Synopses & Reviews
In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value the manuscript of
The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand.
Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.
Review
"[A] blindingly brilliant and joltingly weird work of art....[T]he most audacious thing about In the Hand of Dante is the author's furious delivery of rare aesthetic bliss. (Grade: A)" Troy Patterson, Entertainment Weekly
Review
"Tosches shows off an impressive breadth of knowledge on the life and times of Dante....[B]oldly treads the line between high art and vulgarity, begging the question as to whether it is a masterpiece or just plain pretentious." Benjamin Segedin, Booklist
Review
"[A] great, glorious mess of a novel that happily breaks every rule it can." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"[R]azor sharp insights...this novel's true wisdom lies in its poetry." San Diego Union Tribune
Review
"[S]chizophrenic yet at times brilliant....The fact that the cynical Tosches doesn't provide easy answers only adds more provocation. Highly recommended." Library Journal
Synopsis
Now in paperback--the Tosches masterpiece--a life-or-death thriller based on the life of Dante and a thief named Nick Tosches.
The masterwork of a writer long recognized as an inspired prose stylist, and now increasingly celebrated as one of America's most important writers. The hardcover edition, now in its fourth printing, appeared on bestseller lists throughout the country, including the San Francisco Chronicle and Boston Globe lists. Tosches is a contributing editor of Vanity Fair.
Synopsis
Deep inside the Vatican library, a priest discovers the rarest and most valuable art object ever found: the manuscript of The Divine Comedy, written in Dante's own hand. Via Sicily, the manuscript makes its way from the priest to a mob boss in New York City, where a writer named Nick Tosches is called to authenticate the prize. For this writer, the temptation is too great: he steals the manuscript in a last-chance bid to have it all. Some will find it offensive; others will declare it transcendent; it is certain to be the most ragingly debated novel of the decade.
Synopsis
Now in paperback--the Tosches masterpiece--a life-or-death thriller based on the life of Dante and a thief named Nick Tosches.
About the Author
Born in Newark and schooled in his father's Jersey City bar, Nick Tosches, a contributing editor of Vanity Fair, is the author of the acclaimed biographies The Devil and Sonny Liston, Dino, Power on Earth, and Hellfire. An anthology of his writings, The Nick Tosches Reader, was recently published by Da Capo Press.