Nick Tosches

Biography

Tosches was born in Newark, New Jersey, on October 23, 1949. His grandfather emigrated from Italy to New York City in the late 19th century. His grandparents were Arbëreshë from Casalvecchio di Puglia in Apulia.

According to his own account, Tosches "barely finished high school". and later, in the early 1970s, as a snake hunter for the Miami Serpentarium, in Florida. A fan of early rock and roll and "oddball" records, He was also reviews editor for Country Music magazine*.* He has been described as "the best example of a good rock journalist who set out to transcend his genre and succeeded," and as someone who "along with Lester Bangs, Richard Meltzer and a handful of other noble notables from the era... elevated rock writing to a new plateau." He was fired by Rolling Stone for collaborating with Meltzer in filing record reviews under each other's byline.

Tosches' first book, Country: The Biggest Music in America (later retitled Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock and Roll), was first published in 1977. It was followed in 1982 by Hellfire, a biography of Jerry Lee Lewis, and in 1984 by Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll: The Birth of Rock in the Wild Years Before Elvis. He subsequently wrote biographies of the singer and entertainer Dean Martin, the Sicilian financier Michele Sindona, the heavyweight boxer Sonny Liston, the country singer Emmett Miller, the soul/rock band Hall & Oates and the racketeer Arnold Rothstein.

Tosches worked as a contributing editor of Vanity Fair magazine. He described his literary influences as "Hesiod, Sappho, Christopher Marlowe, Ezra Pound, William Faulkner, Charles Olson, and God knows who else." A compendium, The Nick Tosches Reader, collects writings from over the course of his career.

Tosches was featured on the Travel Channel show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations in the episode "Disappearing Manhattan", in which he and Bourdain shared a drink at Sophie's in the East Village, a Manhattan dive bar, and discussed the changing nature of the city.

Tosches died on October 20, 2019, at his home in Manhattan, three days before his 70th birthday.

Influence and admiration

Actor Johnny Depp has stated that he is fan of the author. "I always feel really lucky after I've read one of Tosches's books because it's like you've had this experience with him. And it's funny because hanging out with him is very much like being in one of his books." Depp's enthusiasm for Tosches's works even goes so far that he bought his literary estate for 1.2 million dollars.

Bibliography

Biographies

• 1982 –
• 1984 –
• 1986 –
• 1992 –
• 2000 –
• 2001 –
• 2005 –

Fiction and poetry

• 1988 –
• 1994 –
• 1999 –
• 2002 –
• 2012 –
• 2014 –
• 2015 –

Journalism

• 1977 –
• 1984 –
• 1991 –
• 1999 –
• 2002 –
• 2009 –
• 2011 –

Collections

• 2000 –

Discography

• Blue Eyes and Exit Wounds, with Hubert Selby Jr., produced by the author Harold Goldberg, 1998
• Nick & Homer, with Homer Henderson, 1998
• Fuckthelivingfuckthedead, 2001
• For the taking: Vol. I from CHALDEA
• I'm In Love With Your Knees, with Austin Brookner and Lenny Kaye, 2009
• Text Messaging Mama, with Austin Brookner and Homer Henderson, 2011--
• Autohagiography, with Austin Brookner, 2018

Film and television appearances

• Louis Prima: The Wildest!, 1999
• Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow, 2005
• Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film, 2006
• Mobsters, in the episode "Tommy Lucchese", 2008--
• Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations in the episode "Disappearing Manhattan", 2009

References

References

1. Nunez, Christina. "Meet the Writers: Nick Tosches". Barnes and Noble.
2. [https://books.google.com/books?id=t4YZUcjx6poC&dq=%22nick+tosches%22+1949&pg=PT2309 ''Calendar of Historical Events, Births, Holidays and Observances'']
3. Bloom, Michael. "Nick Tosches's Satisfaction". Scram Magazine.
4. (2019). "Nick Tosches obituary". [[The Times]].
5. Raab, Scott. (December 13, 2012). "Nick Tosches: The ESQ&A".
6. Miliard, Mike. (September 26, 2002). "Saint Nick". The Phoenix.
7. Kienzle, Rich. (March 9, 2016). "Remembering Journalist John Morthland, Friend and Mentor".
8. Doane, Rex. (November 12, 1999). "Nick Tosches, the Man in the Leopard-Skin Loafers". Salon.
9. His work was also published in ''[[Esquire (magazine). Esquire]]'' and ''[[Open City (magazine). Open City]]''. He published five novels, ''[[Cut Numbers]]'' (1988), ''Trinities'' (1994), ''[[In the Hand of Dante]]'' (2002), ''Me and the Devil'' (2012), and ''Under Tiberius'' (2015); and a collection of poetry, ''[[Chaldea and I Dig Girls]]'' (1999). He also worked on ''Never Trust a Loving God'', a book he did in collaboration with his friend the French painter [[Thierry Alonso Gravleur]].[http://www.themorningnews.org/post/whom-do-you-trust Birnbaum, Robert. "Nick Tosches's Unpredictable Enthusiasms and Obsessions Are Worth Paying Attention To"]. ''Morning News''. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
10. Edroso, Roy. (February 25, 2009). "Bourdain Hits Manhattan Haunts, Including Sophie's Bar". [[The Village Voice]].
11. Genzlinger, Neil. (October 20, 2019). "Nick Tosches, Fiery Music Writer and Biographer, Dies at 69". [[The New York Times]].
12. (2024-06-01). "Johnny Depp names the writer he thought was the 'ballsiest'".
13. (July 18, 1999). "Blue Eyes and Exit Wounds: Credits".
14. Wilonsky, Robert. (March 3, 2006). "Sweet Thighs and Another Surprise".
15. Howell, Dave. (June 12, 2005). "Nick Tosches: fuckthelivingfuckthedead". [[PopMatters]].
16. "For the Taking - Nick Tosches: Credits".
17. Bentley, Bill. (January 10, 2019). "Bentley's Bandstand: January 2019".
18. Gleiberman, Owen. (March 17, 2000). "Louis Prima: The Wildest".
19. "Hubert Selby Jr.: It/ll be Better Tomorrow".
20. Stratton, Jerry. (December 10, 2006). "A dark and bloody ground: Hunter S. Thompson".