Description: Nick Tosches feels life ebbing out of him. He wanders New York City's streets and alleys, immersing himself in the crowd, eventually retreating to a dimly lit bar. There, in the gloom, he meets a tantalizing young woman, and the night that follows is unlike anything he has ever experienced. Propelled by uncontrollable, primordial desires, he tastes human blood for the first time and is filled with a sexual and spiritual ecstasy. The revival quickly fades, and soon Nick is yearning for another taste of the elusive rapture. There follows a descent into madness and a darkness beyond any darkness he has ever imagined, culminating in a revelation beyond all darkness and all light as well.
Brief description: Born in Newark and schooled in his father's bar, Nick Tosches is the author of acclaimed biographies of Sonny Liston, Dean Martin, the Mafia financier Michele Sindona, and Jerry Lee Lewis; of books about popular music; and of the novels Cut Numbers, Trinities, and In the Hand of Dante. His writings through three decades were collected in The Nick Tosches Reader. He is a contributing editor of Vanity Fair.