Philippians (The Crossway Classic Commentaries)

I found this book in the "Judaica" section of a large urban bookstore, and was surprised it had not been filed under "true crime." Once I began reading, however, the extent of Tosches' research into Semitic languages and ancient religion greatly impressed and pleased me. He imaginatively interweaves the story of an American-Jewish gangster with that of Rothstein's cultural heritage. The writing style is eclectic, daring... Read Full Review

Nick Tosches is a great writer. KING OF THE JEWS is well researched, informative, and uncompromisingly gutsy. Like Paul Sann's equally brilliant KILL THE DUTCHMAN, Tosches gives us a wild, wicked, topsy turvy lesson on the Jewish gangster from ancient times up through and into the American Experience. It's revists heartily HERBERT ASBURY'S THE GANGS OF NEW YORK; but as seen through the prism of the Jewish-American Experience... Read Full Review

I do not usually write book reviews because digesting books is such a personal experience, but I was surprised that none of the reviewers of Tosches's latest book got it, or him, at all. Tosches is definitely an idiosyncratic, splenetic writer who is not for everyone, but presumably that is exactly what his readers most value. The point of Tosches's book isn't to create a "real" biography of Rothstein, but to question the... Read Full Review

The dark specter of the private mind has often pervaded Nick Tosches' writing, as in his critically acclaimed biographies on Dean Martin (Dino) and Jerry Lee Lewis (Hellfire). Recently, however, the focal psyche examined by the author has been his own, as he scrutinizes and disparages at the behest of his various moods. His novel In the Hand of Dante confronts the writing racket. The Last Opium Den grieves the passing of... Read Full Review