In The Hand Of Dante – Nick Tosches

So it was on most mornings, to be sure: those mornings that were not of the ever more rare days, the days of the sky of illimitableness, or the days of the sky of signs, or of the days of the sky of vows, or of the days of the sky of the dead’s unrest, beneath the ground and in the wind, or of the days of the sky of summoning.

The days of signs stirred him, invigorated him, be they of the signs of the comings and goings of seasons, or of those more arcane signs of which the ancients knew much that since had been lost. Yes, he loved these days. Even as he hated the season whose coming the signs might signal—the wretched malarial summer or the harsh chilling rain of this region to which his fate had brought him—he loved the signs themselves: the wildflower bloom and breezy blushing skies of spring’s final strophe, the smoky wood scents and rustling sweet winds through grape-ripe dry leaves of autumn.

Of those other, arcane signs—the hues of the moon, the flight of certain birds, transformations and prodigies of clouds and beasts—he felt at times that his understanding so little of them served only to increase all the more the awe and mystery they held for him. Jews and Saracens had taught him much of what had been lost, recovered by them, and held close by them; but they themselves had uncovered and knew but little.

The days of the sky of vows were the days of willfulness. On these days, he took pen in hand, as a sore-shouldered and world-weary field-man might take scythe in hand, going forth with naught but the doomful vow of what must be done.

“An incendiary novel….The most audacious thing about In the Hand of Dante is the author’s furious delivery of rare aesthetic bliss.” —Troy Patterson, Entertainment Weekly “A masterful, unique novel….Tosches has written a riveting read, a surreal, complicated work altogether equal to the controversy it will generate.” —Dylan Foley, Philadelphia Inquirer “If you are weak of heart, put this down. Of course, if you want an absorbing book written by a masterful writer, by all means, pick it up….Tosches pulls it together in wicked, outrageous style.”

—William McKeen, Orlando Sentinel “ Nick Tosches dumps the sacred and profane inside a cocktail mixer and shakes ’em up, hard.” —Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Like reading Naked Lunch spliced with pieces of The Confessions of Saint Augustine. It’s jarring at first, but it grows on you, as the book’s design begins to make more and more sense…. In the Hand of Dante jogs the mind, and in the end it earns a distinction that can be claimed by few recent novels: This is a book that deserves a second read….Tosches seems the perfect writer to tackle the subject of Dante’s emotions.”

—Jenny Shank, Rocky Mountain News “Astounding…. A staggering work of genius….Toschesisa gifted showman….You’ll likely find yourself compulsively reading.” —Chauncey Mabe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel “Tosches writes with the flourish of Faulkner and the grittiness of the toughest pulp fiction.” —Curtis Ross, Tampa Tribune “Tosches is as elegant and substantive a writer as is working today….A singular American writer unafraid to wrestle with monstrous themes and to examine his own deep fearsome wounds—and break your heart with the beauty of language at the same time. You’ll love it, you’ll hate it, you won’t be able to put it down.”

—Dennis Love, Book Street USA “Everything about Tosches’s work is outsize….He writes to the stars and gutter at the same time.” —Steve Erickson, Bookforum “A grand, expansive treatment of themes Tosches has chased throughout his career: the act of creation, God and faith, love and death….

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 0c4b5be2f86dd14e
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,559,940 bytes (1.488 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9780759527362
• Pages: 314
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 528.48 minutes
• Total Words: 105,695
• Total Characters: 576,162
• Average Words per Page: 336.61
• Average Characters per Page: 1834.91

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