Rating: 
Summary: very interesting! but Not for everyone
Review: this book has very interesting ideas in it. it is written brilliantly. i don't think this book is for everyone. some will find it extremely offensive. if you are into historical fiction then this book is for you except that is much more darker than an average historical fiction. if ur into this stuff then i would recommend this one.
Rating:
Summary: very interesting! but Not for everyone
Review: this book has very interesting ideas in it. it is written brilliantly. i don't think this book is for everyone. some will find it extremely offensive. if you are into historical fiction then this book is for you except that is much more darker than an average historical fiction. if ur into this stuff then i would recommend this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Misguided effort
Review: This book is a promise unfulfilled, and not worth the sacrifice it takes a reader to get through it. The modern day plot line, intentionally written to offend with coarse language and imagery, promises an examination of how the corrupt publishing world, dominated by mediocrity, will react to the discovery of the original manuscript of the Divine Comedy in a Vatican store room. But all we get instead are the expressions of awe by literary experts and shoot-outs among the crooks trying to sell the manuscript. The historical plot line, following Dante as he struggles with God and Nature to complete the work, also fails to deliver. It is written in an egotistically overblown style in which every word is latinized (never "begin", always "commence") and adjectives and nouns are routinely converted into pretentious verbs (e.g., "he cruelled his wife"), a trick Dante mastered and Tosches hasn't. The plot falls flat with a dull "twist" at the end about the true authorship of the work that has little to do with the rest of the story and a trite meeting between Dante and an Arabic sage who is supposed to know the meaning of life but who basically tells him nothing. Tosches grasps at an all encompassing world view that accounts for the interplay of the three great religions from the beginning of time to 9/11 (which actually plays a minor and unnecessary role in the plot) but the accomplishment eludes him. The main lesson you come away with is how impressed Tosches is with himself, what he's written (all his prior works get an airing this time around) and what he's learned about classics. Gratuitous profanity does not save this book from bombastic pedantry. Peccato.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth your time.
Review: This book was an utter waste of the time it took me to read the 300+ pages.
E.G. - the bombastic, egocentric author spends about 12 pages ranting against the modern publishing industry in an aside that has nothing to do with the rest of the book; it only serves to stroke his own ego from atop this overwrought pedantic soapbox.
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing invective
Review: This book will have you laughing out loud with its refreshing invective. Not since Celine has hate been this funny. But the book is more than this and more than readers are lead to believe by the back cover copy.
Rating:
Summary: So bad that I couldn't finish it
Review: This is quite likely the worst book I have ever read. The premise on the dust cover is quite promising, but Nick Tosches couldn't fulfill it. Perhaps an author who is less in love with himself could write a good story with the same premise. I really tried to work my way through this mess, but I eventually had to give up about half way through. I couldn't stand the punishment anymore. You can sense the fact that there is a story to be told but you cannot get past the author's pompus, self absorbed style to find it.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Beastly
Review: This is simultaneously the most beautiful and the most repulsive book I have ever read. The parts describing Dante's imaginings of Paradise, the struggle with God, the brushstrokes of color and beauty and poetic possibility for humanity - these are evocative and entrancing almost to the point of tears. And, yet, the bottom-dwellers, with their ugly behavior and gross language are more repulsive than I can really live with.Both aspects of the book work magically to set the stage for Dante's own descent into a nightmare of darkness and silence. He himself lost his Paradise, and the incredible artistry of the author paints in poetry and drama the dual side of human nature, and the necessity of a dark side alongst the light one. In the end, I couldn't keep the book out in the house. I've hidden it, because I cannot stand to let it go. I am too embarrased to have my spouse and children open it to the first chapter, and see the words I have been reading. Perhaps the pen could have been a little gentler but, then, would it have been restrained in its depictions of beauty and power and the unutterable longings of the human spirit?
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting mix of ideas
Review: This novel really isn't the caper book that most people thought it was going to be. Instead, I think the author tried to meld both his intimate knowledge of Dante and the thuggishness of New York City. What results is a rather schizophrenic work. The book starts out with the plotline in which a priest finds Dante's manuscript of the Divine Comedy. Afterward we are shifted with the plotline(s) of Dante dealing with his banishment from his home in Italy, and his subsequent loss of faith in God; there is also a minor plotline at the end where his wife becommes the primary narrator; I think Tosches would have been better off just taking one of those ideas and elaborating on them, instead of jumbling all of these ideas into one book. I enjoy his lucious prose style but at some point I just felt frustrated with the novel. I believe the academics--university professors and Dante scholars--would enjoy this book more than the average person looking to read a crime caper. There are parts of this book that I enjoyed--like the scathing rant on the publishing industry--but as a whole the book was disappointing. This is not a historical mystery--I would suggest going elsewhere to read one
Rating:
Summary: Lots of shooting: priests, housekeepers, old men, dogs...
Review: This novel's main character, Tosches himself, suffers from terminal cancer, which protects him from being affected emotionally by the violence perpetrated by his criminal associates. It's the only way we could ever sympathize with him, and even then it's not easy. This book reminds me of The Club Dumas by Arturo Peres-Reverte, or even one of Iain Pears' art history mysteries. If you like those books, you will probably like this one. Unfortunately, Tosche's lurid writing will turn off a lot of readers. Indeed, many people won't be able to read beyond the first grisly chapter. The best thing I got out of this book was a desire to take down and reread Divina Comedia. Talk about lurid.
Rating:
Summary: three hangups
Review: tosches has loads of talent, but he's got three hangups that are holding him back from writing a good book: 1) he thinks he's a tough guy; 2) he thinks he's a great writer; 3) and he thinks he's smarter than the rest of the world. every page of this novel seems to be dedicated to forcing the reader to agree with those three propositions. when he's not showing off his knowledge of literary history or his florid writing style, he'll simply try to impress you with how vulgar and violent he can be. it's too bad, really, because this is an engaging story, and tosches is clearly the right guy to tell it. But sometimes the reader just wants to grab him by the throat and say, "Okay, you're tough, you're smart, you're a great writer, now get on with it already!"
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