Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0

Interesting mix of ideas:

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... more info

Rampant Ego Obscures Talent:

Nick Tosches undeniably has talent. Unfortunately for the reader, Tosches is very aware of this fact and wants the reader to be aware of it (the book refers to Tosches' "legendary" poetry readings!). A series of riffs on truly tangential subjects (e.g., the woeful state of publishing in America today) undermines what could have been a great story. When Tosches focuses on the task at hand, the book is gripping, and the sentences sing (sometimes with melancholy beauty, other times raging jazz, and still other... more info

Interesting Idea, Failed Execution:

In the Hand of Dante is an interesting idea for a novel, a modern-day thriller of sorts intercut with an imagined life of Dante. Tosches casts himself as the narrator of his own novel, and in many ways the book (at least the portion cast in the modern day) sounds very much like Tosches speaking. I find that appealing; Tosches has a powerful style, combining a true New York street sensibility with vast erudition and bawdy humor. But if you don't like that style, sort of an East Coast latter day Hunter... more info

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