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    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)<br/><br/>This book originally came to my attention after reading the 2000 nonfiction piece <em>The Last...</em><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25021505">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante: A Novel]]>
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    <![CDATA[Deep inside the Vatican library, a priest discovers the rarest and most valuable art object ever found: the manuscript of &quot;The Divine Comedy,&quot; written in Dante's own hand.<p>Via Sicily, the manuscript makes its way from the priest to a mob boss in New York City, where a writer named Nick Tosches is called to authenticate the prize.  For this writer, the temptation is too great: he steals the manuscript in a last-chance bid to have it all. As this dark and twisted journey unfolds, so too does a parallel tale: the odyssey of Dante himself, a man trying to weave a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine.  <p>This novel combines Tosches' vast scholarship about &quot;The Divine Comedy,&quot; Dante Alighieri, and the Middle Ages with an equally vast and intimate knowledge of the lowest murdering scum of New York's ugliest streets. IN THE HAND OF DANTE is a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the masterwork that Nick Tosches has been building toward for years. Some will find it offensive; others will declare it transcendent; it is certain to be the most ragingly debated novel of the decade.</p></p>]]>
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  <read_at>Mon Feb 23 08:12:03 -0800 2009</read_at>
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    <body><![CDATA[I'm going to give up on this one. Life's too short to listen to all this foul-mouthed egotistical babble.<br/>I get the point, the author inhabits the caricature of himself to play with your mind and undermine the foundations of &quot;literature&quot; and the publishing industry, but I just got bor...]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
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  <read_at>Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Apr 26 00:50:36 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Apr 26 01:56:34 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[YES! I admit I picked this book up bec. of size &amp; price for traveling purposes. It's been a while since I read this, but I recall it being one of the books that makes me look words up. &quot;Mr. Nick&quot; is a wordsman...he rolls ideas and words like good-weed joints. There are always new finds arc...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/53992042">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
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  <read_at>Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Dec 19 19:02:17 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Dec 19 19:14:17 -0800 2008</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[One of the three books in my life that I havn't been able to finish. So, I dunno, maybe my reveiw counts for nothing, since I couldn't stick it out. I could not keep track of the characters. The different perspectives were, at once, wordy &amp; vague. Too much was being written, with too little being de...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40498489">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40498489]]></url>
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      <review>
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    <id>1615852</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Benjamin]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Mountain View, CA]]></location>
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  <average_rating>3.20</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
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  <read_at>Sat Dec 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
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  <date_updated>Sat Dec 20 23:43:56 -0800 2008</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[The first hundred fifty pages are rough to say the least and are full of coarse language (I swear he used “fuck” ever other word for two straight chapters) and a non-existent plot. I also could have done without the twenty-five-page rant about the publishing industry. However, I could not put th...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/35286746">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
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  <read_at>Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jul 07 16:16:29 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jul 07 16:21:00 -0700 2008</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[If any of my friends ever asks what I think about them tackling the caballah in their writing, I will shoot them in the face.<br/><br/>Maybe that's a little strong, but I still think it's justified. Maybe just take away their writer's club card till the mood to write about the subject passes them ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26577055">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26577055]]></url>
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      <review>
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    <![CDATA[Deep inside the Vatican library, a priest discovers the rarest and most valuable art object ever found: the manuscript of &quot;The Divine Comedy,&quot; written in Dante's own hand.<p>Via Sicily, the manuscript makes its way from the priest to a mob boss in New York City, where a writer named Nick Tosches is called to authenticate the prize.  For this writer, the temptation is too great: he steals the manuscript in a last-chance bid to have it all. As this dark and twisted journey unfolds, so too does a parallel tale: the odyssey of Dante himself, a man trying to weave a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine.  <p>This novel combines Tosches' vast scholarship about &quot;The Divine Comedy,&quot; Dante Alighieri, and the Middle Ages with an equally vast and intimate knowledge of the lowest murdering scum of New York's ugliest streets. IN THE HAND OF DANTE is a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the masterwork that Nick Tosches has been building toward for years. Some will find it offensive; others will declare it transcendent; it is certain to be the most ragingly debated novel of the decade.</p></p>]]>
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  <published>2002</published>
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  <date_added>Thu Jul 16 10:41:08 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jul 16 10:42:43 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is a wild and weird book set at two levels, the writing of The Divine Comedy and the search for a lost manuscript. It is nigh on a drug fueled extravagazna and a brilliant modern day thriller.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63732925]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63732925]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>58840241</id>
    <user>
    <id>1409361</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Linda]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1409361-linda]]></link>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">40664</id>
  <isbn>0316735647</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780316735643</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">16</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante:  A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169437758m/40664.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169437758s/40664.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40664.In_the_Hand_of_Dante_A_Novel</link>
  <average_rating>3.20</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>177</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jun 08 05:56:24 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jun 08 05:57:00 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Weird and not at all what I expected when I started it.  But interesting.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58840241]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58840241]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>22782924</id>
    <user>
    <id>1180394</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Maureen]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Athens, GA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1180394-maureen]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">40664</id>
  <isbn>0316735647</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780316735643</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">16</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante:  A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169437758m/40664.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169437758s/40664.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40664.In_the_Hand_of_Dante_A_Novel</link>
  <average_rating>3.20</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>177</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[everyone]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu May 22 18:16:46 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu May 22 18:28:58 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book is a fascinating work on the lives of Dante Aligiheri and Nick Tosches.  Nick takes on a subject like Dean Martin, or the Vatican Bank, Sonny Liston or Paradise Lost and makes it his own.  His books are intricately detailed, incredibly well-written,  and alternately mind-expanding and mind...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/22782924">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/22782924]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/22782924]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>17036855</id>
    <user>
    <id>939545</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Vince]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/939545-vince]]></link>
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  <isbn>0316895245</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780316895248</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">5</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630720m/538714.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630720s/538714.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/538714.In_the_Hand_of_Dante_A_Novel</link>
  <average_rating>3.20</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>177</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Deep inside the Vatican library, a priest discovers the rarest and most valuable art object ever found: the manuscript of &quot;The Divine Comedy,&quot; written in Dante's own hand.<p>Via Sicily, the manuscript makes its way from the priest to a mob boss in New York City, where a writer named Nick Tosches is called to authenticate the prize.  For this writer, the temptation is too great: he steals the manuscript in a last-chance bid to have it all. As this dark and twisted journey unfolds, so too does a parallel tale: the odyssey of Dante himself, a man trying to weave a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine.  <p>This novel combines Tosches' vast scholarship about &quot;The Divine Comedy,&quot; Dante Alighieri, and the Middle Ages with an equally vast and intimate knowledge of the lowest murdering scum of New York's ugliest streets. IN THE HAND OF DANTE is a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the masterwork that Nick Tosches has been building toward for years. Some will find it offensive; others will declare it transcendent; it is certain to be the most ragingly debated novel of the decade.</p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Feb 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Mar 04 19:03:21 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Mar 04 19:25:23 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[it had it's moments. i only wish that it continued with the same suspense as how it begins. confusing at first because it's not really obvious when it's a different character telling the story. im pretty sure i would appreciate it A LOT more if i knew what they said when they talked in the other lan...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17036855">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17036855]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17036855]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>26477986</id>
    <user>
    <id>1245266</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Scott]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Reno, NV]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1245266-scott]]></link>
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  <isbn>0316895245</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780316895248</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">5</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630720m/538714.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630720s/538714.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/538714.In_the_Hand_of_Dante_A_Novel</link>
  <average_rating>3.20</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>177</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Deep inside the Vatican library, a priest discovers the rarest and most valuable art object ever found: the manuscript of &quot;The Divine Comedy,&quot; written in Dante's own hand.<p>Via Sicily, the manuscript makes its way from the priest to a mob boss in New York City, where a writer named Nick Tosches is called to authenticate the prize.  For this writer, the temptation is too great: he steals the manuscript in a last-chance bid to have it all. As this dark and twisted journey unfolds, so too does a parallel tale: the odyssey of Dante himself, a man trying to weave a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine.  <p>This novel combines Tosches' vast scholarship about &quot;The Divine Comedy,&quot; Dante Alighieri, and the Middle Ages with an equally vast and intimate knowledge of the lowest murdering scum of New York's ugliest streets. IN THE HAND OF DANTE is a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the masterwork that Nick Tosches has been building toward for years. Some will find it offensive; others will declare it transcendent; it is certain to be the most ragingly debated novel of the decade.</p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Jul 06 18:03:55 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Nov 05 22:32:06 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Just finished tonight (11/5).  I think Tosches spends too much time giving us an essay on what he knows about Dante and it really slows down what could have been an interesting story.  I'm not knocking Tosches' writing style, as he obviously has literary talent.  He just seems to let it take over th...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26477986">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26477986]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26477986]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>2255734</id>
    <user>
    <id>146810</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jason]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/146810-jason]]></link>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">40685</id>
  <isbn>1842430831</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781842430835</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">1</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[In the Hands of Dante]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169437801m/40685.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169437801s/40685.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40685.In_the_Hands_of_Dante</link>
  <average_rating>2.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[people who hate themselves ]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Jun 22 10:26:21 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Dec 16 22:21:17 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[the writing, in and of itself, is pretty amazing, sometimes. interesting time and character shifts.  but trying to follow the story is more trouble than it's worth.  pages and pages of very intense emotionally driven writing followed by...pages and pages of tedious, mind numbing, absolutely boring s...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2255734">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2255734]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2255734]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>27221770</id>
    <user>
    <id>777406</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Gabrielle]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Grants Pass, OR]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/777406-gabrielle-rysula]]></link>
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  <isbn>0316735647</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780316735643</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">16</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante:  A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169437758m/40664.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169437758s/40664.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40664.In_the_Hand_of_Dante_A_Novel</link>
  <average_rating>3.20</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>177</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jul 14 11:46:11 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jul 14 11:47:56 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This was phenomenal. Bouncing back and forth between modern day and Dante's time, the story captivates you. None of the characters are particularly likeable, but they are all intriguing, and you want to know more about them the entire time; the ending comes way too soon.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27221770]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27221770]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>13066943</id>
    <user>
    <id>728291</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jonathan]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Kansas City, MO]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/728291-jonathan]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1199218375p3/728291.jpg]]></image_url>
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  <id type="integer">40664</id>
  <isbn>0316735647</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780316735643</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">16</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante:  A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169437758m/40664.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169437758s/40664.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40664.In_the_Hand_of_Dante_A_Novel</link>
  <average_rating>3.20</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>177</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="fiction" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jan 21 11:28:48 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jan 21 11:33:18 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Great read.  Ran through it in like 4 days over a break I had.    I've always liked Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and Tosches uses that poem as a subtext to place this story of thievery and sin into a fine context.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13066943]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13066943]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>40858502</id>
    <user>
    <id>1637858</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Dave]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Rocky Hill, CT]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1637858-dave-maddock]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1224513171p3/1637858.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">538714</id>
  <isbn>0316895245</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780316895248</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">5</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630720m/538714.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630720s/538714.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/538714.In_the_Hand_of_Dante_A_Novel</link>
  <average_rating>3.20</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>177</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Deep inside the Vatican library, a priest discovers the rarest and most valuable art object ever found: the manuscript of &quot;The Divine Comedy,&quot; written in Dante's own hand.<p>Via Sicily, the manuscript makes its way from the priest to a mob boss in New York City, where a writer named Nick Tosches is called to authenticate the prize.  For this writer, the temptation is too great: he steals the manuscript in a last-chance bid to have it all. As this dark and twisted journey unfolds, so too does a parallel tale: the odyssey of Dante himself, a man trying to weave a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine.  <p>This novel combines Tosches' vast scholarship about &quot;The Divine Comedy,&quot; Dante Alighieri, and the Middle Ages with an equally vast and intimate knowledge of the lowest murdering scum of New York's ugliest streets. IN THE HAND OF DANTE is a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the masterwork that Nick Tosches has been building toward for years. Some will find it offensive; others will declare it transcendent; it is certain to be the most ragingly debated novel of the decade.</p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
            <shelf name="aborted" />
        <shelf name="novel" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Dec 24 18:10:13 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Mar 09 06:12:08 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I've resisted moving this from my current to aborted shelf. At times the writing is beautiful, but Tosches is too busy pontificating in a literary masturbatory stupor to realize he forgot about the plot.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40858502]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40858502]]></link>
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      <review>
  <id>20959282</id>
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    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante:  A Novel]]>
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    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
  </description>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Apr 25 07:27:40 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Apr 25 07:30:07 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[The Sopranos meets The 9th Gate. Sublimely gorgeous writing that tells parallel tales of the life of Dante and the fate of a surviving bit of manuscript from The Inferno. Smartly written and hard-boiled.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20959282]]></url>
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      <review>
  <id>470549</id>
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    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante:  A Novel]]>
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    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
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  <read_at>Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Mar 28 14:52:37 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Dec 16 17:13:30 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[People seem to either love or hate Tosches.  He has an awesome, poetic, and savage voice.  This certainly isn't his best story, but screeds against the publishing business and paeans to Marlowe make up for it.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/470549]]></url>
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      <review>
  <id>27852399</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Cynthia]]></name>
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    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante:  A Novel]]>
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    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
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  <read_at>Sun Aug 31 10:43:32 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jul 21 08:59:30 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Aug 31 10:43:32 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I loved The Dante Club, so went on to read In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches. This book was horrible. I hate starting something and not finishing it, so I finished it and I hated it.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27852399]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27852399]]></link>
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      <review>
  <id>3448486</id>
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    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante:  A Novel]]>
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    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
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  <date_added>Tue Jul 24 07:37:36 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jul 24 07:40:31 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[The erstwhile balls-out rock critic covers the Divine Comedy as a crime thriller, fearless autobiography and Jungian historical revision. Almost stupidly ambitious.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3448486]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3448486]]></link>
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    <![CDATA[In the Hand of Dante:  A Novel]]>
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    <![CDATA[In this exuberantly acclaimed bestseller, Nick Tosches tells the tale of two odysseys: the efforts of Dante Alighieri to weave out of the grossness of his own humanity a poem that contains the sum of the world's wisdom and the very breath of the divine, and the deadly struggle, seven centuries later, to possess an object of inestimable value--the manuscript of The Divine Comedy written in Dante's own hand. Widely hailed as a work of astounding audacity and beauty, the novel draws on Nick Tosches's vast scholarship about the Middle Ages and an equally intimate knowledge of the most degenerate lowlifes of New York's toughest streets.]]>
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  <date_added>Mon Sep 22 12:04:53 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Sep 22 12:07:29 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[ One of the more interesting books I have read in the last few years. The way that the author ties all the threads together is genius.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/33535361]]></url>
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