New Releases by Nick Tosches

A work of dangerous and haunting beauty by America''s last real literary outlaw. Under Tiberius is a thrilling story of crime and deceit involving the man who came to be called Jesus Christ. Deep in the recesses of the Vatican, Nick Tosches unearths a first-century memoir by Gaius Fulvius Falconius, foremost speechwriter for Emperor Tiberius. The codex is profound, proof of the existence of a Messiah who was anything but the one we''ve known -- a shabby and licentious thief. After encountering him in the streets of Judea, Gaius becomes spin doctor to Jesus, and the pair schemes to accrue untold riches by convincing the masses that Jesus is the Son of God. As their marriage of truth and lies is consummated, friendship and wary respect develop between these two grifters. Outrageous and disturbing, Under Tiberius is as black as the ravishing night, shot through with fierce and brilliant light.

Nonfiction back stories of 1960''s rock and roll music business pioneers- the labels, the artists and the promoters, told in the gritty style of Nick Tosches.

Celebrating the dark origins of our most American music, Country reveals a wild shadowland of history that encompasses blackface minstrels and yodeling cowboys; honky-tonk hell and rockabilly heaven; medieval myth and musical miscegenation; sex, drugs, murder; and rays of fierce illumination on Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others, famous and forgotten, whose demonology is America''s own. Profusely and superbly illustrated, Country stands as one of the most brilliant explorations of American musical culture ever written.

A forgotten singer from the early days of jazz is at the center of this riveting book -- a narrative that is part mystery, part biography, part meditation on the meaning and power of music.

Nick Tosches discovered Thierry Alonso Gravleur''s paintings in one of the major Los Angeles art galleries. He was immediately stricken by the strength of Gravleur''s expressionist works which almost obsessively explore the human face: Gravleur is capable of rendering a face like no-one since Rembrandt and of capturing a soul like no-one since Bosch. Both artists meet and unsurprisingly decide to work together. They share the same vision of a humanity torn between idealization and pulsing. The result matches each artist''s talent: Tosches'' words echo Gravleur''s drawings; Gravleur''s drawings and paintings illustrate Tosches'' words.

Flamboyant mobster Arnold Rothstein was gambling and money. He was the inspiration for Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby and Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls. It was rumored he masterminded the 1919 World Series fix. He was Mr. Broadway, a king of corruption holding court from his private booth at Lindy''s Restaurant. In this lively, sprawling biography, the inimitable Nick Tosches -- "one of the greatest living American writers" (Dallas Observer) -- examines the myth and extraordinary legacy of Arnold Rothstein. It is an elegy to old New York that places an iconic, larger-than-life criminal kingpin firmly at the center of nothing less than the history of the entire Western world.

Now in paperback--the Tosches masterpiece--a life-or-death thriller based on the life of Dante and a thief named Nick Tosches.

The author, fueled by romantic, spiritual, and medicinal needs, details his mesmerizing quest--part spiritual, part hallucinogenic--from Europe to Cambodia, in search of the mysterious opium den, ultimately discovering the key to true fulfillment. 20,000 first printing.

In 1962, Sonny Liston became boxing''s world heavyweight champion. He was a poor plantation boy and a bruiser for the mob who had done time for armed robbery, but he had fought his way to the top. Those he met in the ring said he was unstoppable, even dangerous. Sonny, however, knew differently.

Newsday has said that Nick Tosches "casts brilliant black light." The San Diego Reader has said that "Tosches''s best sentences uncoil like rattlesnakes and strike with a venom that spreads poison through all the little Sunday-school ideas you''ve held dear." And Rolling Stone has said that "Tosches can write like a wild rockabilly raveup. He can be elegant as a slow blues." The Nick Tosches Reader is the author''s own selection of his best work over the past thirty years, including fiction, poetry, interviews, rock writing, investigative journalism, and criticism. First published in major magazines, obscure underground periodicals, and his own best-selling books, many of these selections deal with rock ''n'' roll and cultural icons—but there are also pieces on everything from William Faulkner to organized crime to heavyweight boxing, including the Vanity Fair feature that gave rise to Tosches''s major new book on Sonny Liston, published by Little, Brown. Here is "a unique and darkly impressionistic cultural history" of the last three decades as only Nick Tosches could write it.

The anti-Ali, Sonny Liston represents everything that is compelling and terrifying about boxing. An overwhelmingly powerful fighter, Liston rose from a desperately poor childhood to street criminal to world heavyweight champion. He then became the pawn of a series of criminal organizations and was shadowed throughout his life by government investigations, arrests, and the rumor of corruption. The Devil and Sonny Liston is not just the biography of a boxer; it is one of the greatest organized-crime stories ever told and confirms Toschess place as one of the most powerful and original writers of our time. Toschess acclaimed biography of Dean Martin, Dino, sold more than 110,000 copies From the rappers Wu-Tang Clan to writer Thom Jones, people are fascinated by Sonny Liston and by boxing in general. King of the World by David Remnick sold more than 100,000 copies. Tom Cruises Cruise/Wagner Productions is at work on a movie based on this book. A collection of Toschess best writing, The Nick Tosches Reader, is due out in 2000. Tosches is a contributing editor of Vanity Fair.

J''ai voulu explorer les zones obscures de l''histoire de la country music, pas sa popularité actuelle ; écrire un livre pour ceux qui s''intéressent davantage à la question de savoir d''où vient cette musique et ce qu''elle est profondément, plutôt qu''à son développement récent. Alors que le livre regorge de stars à moitié oubliées, de chanteurs de honky-tonk fanés, de rockabillies obscurs et de musiciens noirs des générations passées, alors que des pages et des pages sont consacrées à des gens comme Jimmie Rodgers, Elvis Presley et Jerry Lee Lewis, ce vieux Willie Nelson et ce vieux Waylon Jennings ne sont signalés qu''en passant. Et tandis que le plus long chapitre du livre est dédié au thème du sexe dans la country music, la vallée de l''ombre du décolleté de Dolly Parton est complètement passée à l''as.

A purse-book of breath from dead places, of gutters that run through paradise and gods who dwell in madness, of ancient wisdoms and ancient rhythms come back to town in kid-mohair britches. Chaldea is Newark. Chaldea is the place of all dark magic, deep within the lake of the heart; the place of resurrection, annihilation, and the breezes of all that is forbidden ... it comprises 25 poems and a story. --CUZ Editions.

From dealing blackjack in the small-time gangster town of Steubenville, Ohio, to carousing with the famous "Rat Pack" in a Hollywood he called home, Dean Martin lived in a grandstand, guttering life of booze, broads, and big money. He rubbed shoulders with the mob, the Kennedys, and Hollywood''s biggest stars. He was one of America''s favorite entertainers. But no one really knew him. Now Nick Tosches reveals the man behind the image--the dark side of the American dream. It''s a wild, illuminating, sometimes shocking tale of sex, ambition, heartaches--and a life lived hard, fast, and without apologies.

A portrait of singer Jerry Lee Lewis details his early life, music, controversial marriage, problems and decline, endurance, and revival in popularity.

Mafiaen i USA er døende, og det tvinger den legendariske Don di Pietro ud i en skånselsløs krig, hvor han spiller sine modstandere på heroinmarkedet ud mod hinanden

Profiles Hall of Fame inductees and discusses the development of music scenes and genres in this companion to the awards ceremony.

A look at the early history of rock music focuses on influential, but overlooked singers and musicians, including Big Joe Turner, Louis Prima, Bill Haley, The Clovers, and Screamin Jay Hawkins.

Profiles Hall of Fame inductees and discusses the development of music scenes and genres in this companion to the awards ceremony.

In light of the designer jeans phenomenon, America''s fascination with and exploitation of the derriere is examined in text and photographs