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Fork on the Left, Knife in the Back
Fork on the Left, Knife in the Back is the latest zippy collection of columns and essays from Michael Musto, the popular columnist for The Village Voice and a mouthy groundbreaker who takes no prisoners. This collection zooms in on Musto’s favorite celebrities to punk (Sean Combs, Paris Hilton); New York’s most debauched and amusing nightlife experiences; and Musto’s own odysseys, as he talks about the art of TV whoring and the allure of kinky sex, pausing to don drag to imagine what it must be like to be him as Lindsay Lohan as Marilyn Monroe. Stopping for some actual appreciation, the section titled "Weirdos Are My Heroes" celebrates the oddballs and entertainers who’ve elevated the culture, shockingly including Jerry Springer and Sarah Silverman. The book also features an introduction written by Musto, as well as new pieces on universal fame in the new-media age, the state of the celebrity closet, and the appeal of blind gossip items.
Michael Musto writes the hilariously outspoken entertainment column "La Dolce Musto" in The Village Voice . A popular TV commentator as well as a regular presence in magazines, he lives in New York.
Michael Musto writes the hilariously outspoken entertainment column "La Dolce Musto" in The Village Voice . A popular TV commentator as well as a regular presence in magazines, he lives in New York.
- GenresNonfictionEssays
275 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
12 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
Michael Musto
16 books14 followersMichael Musto is an American writer who began his professional career at The Village Voice, where he writes the weekly La Dolce Musto celebrity and gossip column. He is an Italian American and a graduate of Columbia University, where he was a theater critic for the Columbia Spectator. He is the author of Downtown and Manhattan on the Rocks. A selection of his columns has been published as La Dolce Musto.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 5, 2014
ARC for review.
First, the title. I liked it, but then I LOVED it when I saw the whole thing (the Fire Island motto as told by Frank Corradino) in the Acknowledgments section, "fork on the left, knife in the back, spoon in the nose, dish, dish, dish."
As for the book itself, It appears to be an accumulation of Musto's columns from the Village Voice (and does he not write for them anymore? He was an institution.) so some of it is quite dated and other parts go into long discussions of people and places that those outside the NYC party scene (of various decades) would know nothing about (for example there are so many mentions of Kiki and Herb I felt like they might be at my house). He also notes that this is his second collection so perhaps some of the best bits were in the earlier volume.
I'm guessing that pre-Internet blog/Perez Hilton that Musto was THE man about NYC and quite risque and he still knows how to pack a punch....sometimes with his incredibly frank discussions of sex (including a few too many mentions of his own penis), sometimes just with his wit, "Wynonna Judd had an eighty minute therapy session the other night, and since she billed it as a concert, I totally managed to be there to watch." He also must have been, at least in part, the inspiration for SNL's fabulous Stefon character as he snarkily reviews lots of nightclubs along with Broadway shows, parties and other happenings in and around the city.
If you are a fan of Musto or the NYC "scene" during the 1980s and early 90s, enjoy it in small batches.
First, the title. I liked it, but then I LOVED it when I saw the whole thing (the Fire Island motto as told by Frank Corradino) in the Acknowledgments section, "fork on the left, knife in the back, spoon in the nose, dish, dish, dish."
As for the book itself, It appears to be an accumulation of Musto's columns from the Village Voice (and does he not write for them anymore? He was an institution.) so some of it is quite dated and other parts go into long discussions of people and places that those outside the NYC party scene (of various decades) would know nothing about (for example there are so many mentions of Kiki and Herb I felt like they might be at my house). He also notes that this is his second collection so perhaps some of the best bits were in the earlier volume.
I'm guessing that pre-Internet blog/Perez Hilton that Musto was THE man about NYC and quite risque and he still knows how to pack a punch....sometimes with his incredibly frank discussions of sex (including a few too many mentions of his own penis), sometimes just with his wit, "Wynonna Judd had an eighty minute therapy session the other night, and since she billed it as a concert, I totally managed to be there to watch." He also must have been, at least in part, the inspiration for SNL's fabulous Stefon character as he snarkily reviews lots of nightclubs along with Broadway shows, parties and other happenings in and around the city.
If you are a fan of Musto or the NYC "scene" during the 1980s and early 90s, enjoy it in small batches.
August 16, 2017
Smutty Stuff
I found this very unentertaining. Its basically a bunch of his old gossip columns put into different chapters. I thought it would be a real book about his time in the entertainment industry.
I found this very unentertaining. Its basically a bunch of his old gossip columns put into different chapters. I thought it would be a real book about his time in the entertainment industry.
December 14, 2023
Visit JetBlackDragonfly (The Man Who Read Too Much) at www.edenthompson.ca/blog
What a great title. Michael Musto was the pop culture journalist for the Village Voice, where he wrote the column La Dolce Musto and contributed to magazines such as Details, Interview and Vanity Fair. This fourth book of his is a collection from the early 90's until now.
"There are those who love to gossip and there are complete liars. I've always been quite open about being the former type. I can't drive, swim, or rearrange the furniture, but throw me a celebrity name and I can flap my gums for hours about their love lives and weird surgery."
In this collection he opens the doors to readers about Broadway openings, movie premiers, downtown after hours drag clubs, fashion misadventures, and the rise and fall of celebrities.
For 29 years at the Village Voice, his weekly trashtastic gossip and nightlife column spanned the highs and lows of celebrity, blowing the whistle on absurdity while highlighting the aspects that make it so entertaining with dizzying bouts of "Oh no, he didn't." For those who like that sort of thing, touch the feet of the master.
Fork on the Left, Knife In The Back is a calvacade of eyebrow raising and eyeball rolling, counter-culture social climbers, plus the allure of blind items ~ pesky items without names to drive the readers extra crazy. "What trendy author once followed a grungy boy into the bathroom of a train..." Worst private party, worst club or restaurant, he covers it all in flaming detail.
In 1989, he published a novel Manhattan On The Rocks, about a boy who starts a magazine expressly to enter the 80's New York arts scene, hot on the heels of Tama's Slaves Of New York, and Jay's Bright Lights Big City.
Yes, I still have my hardcover copy with it's book jacket quotes from Grace Jones and Sandra Bernhard, and Michael's author picture looking like a young Lou Reed in a spanish bolero jacket. I also have a yellowed column in an old notebook from the Village Voice, circa 1988 - Michael goes to Iceland. He wrote about the nightlife in Reckjavik, and I found it so hysterical and witty, I clipped it and yes, still have the paper strips in my notebook. Perhaps a start in my ongoing interest in Iceland!
Michael was fired from the Voice may 2013, a victim of cutbacks. His columns and previous collections are an amazing chronicle of the 80's, 90's and 00's art scene, a living history of the New York art slave movement. If you longed to go to the Mudd Club, Area, Danceteria while young performers like Madonna were bursting into the mainstream, travel back in time with Michael.
Fork On The Left, Knife In The Back features the 90's until about 06, making it a catty collection to keep you right up to date.
What a great title. Michael Musto was the pop culture journalist for the Village Voice, where he wrote the column La Dolce Musto and contributed to magazines such as Details, Interview and Vanity Fair. This fourth book of his is a collection from the early 90's until now.
"There are those who love to gossip and there are complete liars. I've always been quite open about being the former type. I can't drive, swim, or rearrange the furniture, but throw me a celebrity name and I can flap my gums for hours about their love lives and weird surgery."
In this collection he opens the doors to readers about Broadway openings, movie premiers, downtown after hours drag clubs, fashion misadventures, and the rise and fall of celebrities.
For 29 years at the Village Voice, his weekly trashtastic gossip and nightlife column spanned the highs and lows of celebrity, blowing the whistle on absurdity while highlighting the aspects that make it so entertaining with dizzying bouts of "Oh no, he didn't." For those who like that sort of thing, touch the feet of the master.
Fork on the Left, Knife In The Back is a calvacade of eyebrow raising and eyeball rolling, counter-culture social climbers, plus the allure of blind items ~ pesky items without names to drive the readers extra crazy. "What trendy author once followed a grungy boy into the bathroom of a train..." Worst private party, worst club or restaurant, he covers it all in flaming detail.
In 1989, he published a novel Manhattan On The Rocks, about a boy who starts a magazine expressly to enter the 80's New York arts scene, hot on the heels of Tama's Slaves Of New York, and Jay's Bright Lights Big City.
Yes, I still have my hardcover copy with it's book jacket quotes from Grace Jones and Sandra Bernhard, and Michael's author picture looking like a young Lou Reed in a spanish bolero jacket. I also have a yellowed column in an old notebook from the Village Voice, circa 1988 - Michael goes to Iceland. He wrote about the nightlife in Reckjavik, and I found it so hysterical and witty, I clipped it and yes, still have the paper strips in my notebook. Perhaps a start in my ongoing interest in Iceland!
Michael was fired from the Voice may 2013, a victim of cutbacks. His columns and previous collections are an amazing chronicle of the 80's, 90's and 00's art scene, a living history of the New York art slave movement. If you longed to go to the Mudd Club, Area, Danceteria while young performers like Madonna were bursting into the mainstream, travel back in time with Michael.
Fork On The Left, Knife In The Back features the 90's until about 06, making it a catty collection to keep you right up to date.
July 31, 2014
I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.
LOVED IT!!! All the laugh out loud hilarity that pop culture has given us in recent years in one book. Wish I would have known about this column sooner and read all his work. He has a great voice! Hope there are more books to come.
LOVED IT!!! All the laugh out loud hilarity that pop culture has given us in recent years in one book. Wish I would have known about this column sooner and read all his work. He has a great voice! Hope there are more books to come.
December 18, 2015
Riveting and funny - when you get it. Musto writes superbly, with a perfect mix of sass and humor. And though his references occasionally get difficult to understand, his amazing one liners and segways make up for it all.
Want to read
September 4, 2011This book sounds like fun! Dedicated to "everyone who is still speaking to me."
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews