Nick Tosches is the kind of writer who can turn readers into fakers. You find a book like
his bleakly beautiful 2002 novel In the Hand of ante or his sweeping, darkly philosophical biographies of ean Martin (ino) and
Jerry Lee Lewis (Hellfire), and the perfectlyhard-boiled proseand seductively world-weary tone will have you taking your drinks neat when — the truth is — you like them fizzy.
Even when the spell fades and you’re back to sipping diet soda and such, Tosches’s books have a way of making you yearn for the seamy side.
Where the 6-year-old author’s celebrated nonfiction books shone light into American culture’s morally murky depths, the cult favorite’s audacious and haunting new novel, Under Tiberius (Little, brown), goes even deeper: What if the greatest story ever told was a load of dookie? The book is a retelling of the rise of Jesus, who, in Tosches’s account, is a cynical conman working in cahoots with an equally avaricious Roman, Gaius Fulvius Falconius. “None of what’s in the bible makes sense if you look at it closely,” says Tosches, speaking from a bench outside a bar in his Tribeca neighborhood. “So with this book, I wrote a gospel that didn’t conflict with history and that, in terms of what I know about human nature, made sense.” Simple as that.
In one of your earlier nonfiction books, King of the Jews, about the gangster Arnold Rothstein, there’s a long section where you look at the holes in the historical record of Jesus and hypothesize that he never existed. Was that the seed that grew into this novel?
I had the idea before King of the Jews. I had it for 20 years, when I first became aware of the fact that despite the Romans’ obsessive record, there was never a verifiable reference to Jesus. The historian Tacitus mentions Jesus and so does Josephus in his history of the Jews. ut then I found out that these references are now almost definitely proven to be the interpolations of medieval monastic scribes, so it’s hard to see them as any sort of proof. And the gospels that are devoted to accounts of Jesus’ life were written 100 years after the fact. So I’m thinking, This is amazing, the Catholic Church is based on an imaginary wisp. Not even L. Ron Hubbard went that far.
If you had the idea 20 years ago, what took you so long to write the book?I didn’t feel secure with my mastery of the history of the first century. I wanted to get that down right, and I always have little tests to see if I have the proper knowledge. I’ll go to the greatest expert in one specific historical detail in the world, and they either don’t know the answer and I do know it, or they’re wrong and I know they’re wrong, and that’s when I know I can move forward. This time the test was about the Latin term for agents with whom one deposited money for security in the Romance provinces at this particular period of time. I was told there was none. I found out there were several. That kind of approach has probably held me back. I’d love to be one of these James Patterson guys who can pump things out.
James Patterson is lucky enough to be able to afford to have a team that helps him.I’m not much of a team member. I passed a store the other day on West roadway, an employee’s entrance, and the door was open, and it read, “Team Members Welcome.” When a boss calls you a team member — it’s a good way to keep a good man down.
There are a lot of bleak notions in Under Tiberius, and I want to get to those in a second, but there’s an element of blasphemous fun in writing a book like this, right? How much did you enjoy, purely in a blowing-raspberries way, say, portraying Mary Magdalene as a toothless “fellatrix”?Okay, I didn’t make her old and toothless; that’s actually in all the New Testament fragments: She was extremely old. I was surprised to learn this because I had grown up with this image of, oh, the Magdalene, a beautiful, loose woman. Mary was an old hag. I just took that idea all the way. Sanctimoniousness is dull. It’s insane.
Insane? There’s at least some structural social value in holding up things as sacred, isn’t there? It’s not purely irrational thinking.
To be sanctimonious about a fabrication when you got Con Ed bills to pay? You know, I love paganism. efore organized religion the gods were representations of the elements or forces inside human souls that were not always good. They operated out of jealousy, venality. That makes more sense than the all-powerful iblical god. I don’t think anything all-powerful would really give a fuck about humans. He or she would have the wisdom and wherewithal to know that existence is a joke. With Under Tiberius all I can tell you is that I tried to tell the truth about Jesus. I tried to do an alternative version of the Jesus story that was not calculated to shock or to be different, but just seemed far closer to the truth.
There are aspects of the book — the way you frame the sermon on the mount, for existence — that convey the beauty of those lessons. Is the argument about what’s factually true in Jesus’ story beside the point? The historical-record cloudiness of his biography doesn’t make the wisdom of some of his words any less true, does it?
If there’s any meaning at all in writing it’s to move other people in the possibility of new directions. And some of the thoughts in the book are mine, some are not, and at the center of the story is what’s at the center of the human universe throughout time: fear and greed.
If the universe’s fuel is fear and greed, isn’t having something to lean on even more valuable than it would otherwise be? I mean, fine, Jesus is made up. Trust the song, not the singer.You mean like, the meek shall inherit the Earth? You’re not gonna get shit now while you’re here, but wait till you die, buddy! I don’t want to get too far afield, but most essentially, I think the book is speaking about the nature of this species that in its arrogance calls itself sapiens. We had the need to invent a god that’s gonna protect us from our fears. It’s like, everybody is afraid to be killed: Let’s have God tell everybody that thou shalt not kill. You don’t want to find your wife in a barroom stall with some guy: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. God is basically the sum of all our fears. Not our strengths. What is it that’s so weak, repressed, and frightened in man that he was driven to invent a god? And another mystery that’s essential to the heart of the book is man’s first decline. id he invent the concept of good and evil before he invented the god?
Why do you think the question, let alone the answer, of whether or not Jesus existed rankles people?I believe that there’s something inherent in us that is uncomfortable with accepting mystery. We always want proof, and yet our proof is bound to be based on the algebra of human logic, which is, in essence, a nice parlor game.
Rather than see religious rules and laws as being comforting or otherwise useful, it seems like, according to the logic of Under Tiberius, they’re just meant to be a boot on the neck.
I believe that if you go to the root of any deep pervasive fear, you’ll find that nothing is there. It’s just the emotions and self-deceptions of people. Looking at the gospels, even Christologists, scholars of the new testament, though they don’t say it in so many words, they’ve basically agreed that nothing in the New Testament could have happened or did happen. ut they never take the next step and say, “Therefore, it’s all shit.” Let’s assume for the sake of argument that Christ existed. Okay, there were times when he had to take a piss, times where he shit his tunic. Yes, many of the words attributed to him are beautiful. And many of the words attributed to him must have been worn-out clichés 100 years before his time, and some of them make no sense at all. I wanted to work that into the book. If there is an all-powerful god, do you think we really need to be precious about his feelings?
id you look at any other literary examples of alternate-history Jesus literature? There’s a long list.Someone, and I do take this as a great honor, compared my book to The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis. ut I tried to read that maybe 40-odd years ago and I got so bored that I didn’t make it past page 80. I had no use for other peoples’ fictional efforts or theological writings.
o you think you’ve written a sympathetic Jesus? Even if he starts out with selfish motivations, he’s still offering people something they want, and it doesn’t seem necessarily harmful that they should want it.
Things aren’t black or white. Somebody said, “Well, Hitler loved his mother.” Nobody is so perfect as to be completely good or completely bad.
o you remember when you decided that religion wasn’t your bag?
Probably about the same time I stopped believing in Santa Claus.
The other day, I was reading some of your work from the early ‘0s, and the writing felt so much showier. Now, even when the subject matter is wild, the diction and rhythms have a lovely stillness to them. Was that shift the result of a conscious effort to simplify your style?
No, but it makes sense and I take it as a great compliment. As I got older, I began to notice that a lot of the writers throughout history that I have a great deal of respect for, they all gravitated toward silence, as it were. You know, Ezra Pound’s great line? “All my life I’ve tried to write paradise; be still, paradise is in the wind.” Just be quiet and listen to the elements.
Are you working on something now?
Nah. After this one, I really need a break.
Well, since you’re going to hell, may as well enjoy the rest of your time on earth, right?
[Laughs.] I guess, I guess. If there’s a way to get to hell, I bet you need an e-ticket.
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legal fees. # Many of them had no lawyer to help them navigate the eviction process, no one to tell them about legal protections and nowhere to go when
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were impacted by COVID-19. Under the CARES Act, they were automatically protected from eviction for not paying rent. # An Arizona Republic investigation into the more than 8,000
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. # However, the CARES Act should have stopped landlords from even starting the eviction process in court. # Landlords also have struggled during the pandemic, and the
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slow substantially in metro Phoenix during the CARES Act protection and Governor Doug Ducey's eviction moratorium. But they did not halt like in other cities around the country.
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. # Hundreds of tenants who should have been protected either by the CARES Act eviction ban or the state's eviction ban were kicked out of their Phoenix area rentals
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should have been protected either by the CARES Act eviction ban or the state's eviction ban were kicked out of their Phoenix area rentals. # The state court system
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locked out of their federally backed apartments. # The Republic researched all of the eviction claims filed in Maricopa County Justice Courts during the CARES Act and checked them against
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have been protected under the federal law. # The Republic then reviewed all the eviction filings for the federally protected properties, case by case. # Dozens of renters
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homes. # One woman started to lose her hair after she received a July eviction notice for a Scottsdale apartment covered by the CARES Act. # A single mother
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find another apartment because of the black mark on their credit. # The federal eviction moratorium violations happened at the same time many renters also were protected by a state
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The federal government swiftly passed legislation in late March to protect millions of renters against eviction as the coronavirus pandemic began to threaten the national economy. # The CARES Act
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, a consumer advocate with the nonprofit Arizona Bar Foundation, also has been researching eviction filings. She agrees the federal protection for renters was confusing. # It's
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require landlords to declare whether a property was covered under the CARES Act on Arizona eviction filings until after a state Supreme Court ruling July 7, about two weeks before
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housing advocates are working to find renters illegally evicted under the CARES Act and Arizona eviction moratorium to help them get money back from fees and other costs and erase the
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. Others ran out of funds quickly. # Ryan's apartment owner proceeded with eviction despite the promise of impending aid. The complex hired the law firm of Hull
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a Freddie Mac-backed loan on the property. # Ryan should have been protected from eviction for failure to pay rent, but Ryan did not know what type of loan
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Scottsdale social worker and a copy of Ducey's executive order explaining the state's eviction moratorium. # After the constable read through her proof of COVID-19 impact, he
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not to evict her because of Ducey's executive order -- giving her cover from eviction until her rental assistance kicked in in August. # Although she didn't get
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assistance kicked in in August. # Although she didn't get evicted, the eviction court documents on her record have created issues. # After the constable allowed her
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similarly priced apartment in the area, but her application was denied because of the eviction record. She asked her apartment manager to send a note to the new apartment
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landlord wanted the debt paid by the end of November, or Ryan could face eviction again. # Ryan doesn't know how she will afford the $2,000 payment and
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owners of the CARES Act's implications on their properties. # " While the eviction ban contained in the act may sound simple, it is not an easy process
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four children live in a central Mesa apartment that was covered by the CARES Act eviction ban, but she didn't know it in June when her complex's property
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on when she could catch up on her rent. # When Gomez received an eviction judgment in September, she panicked and started clearing out her apartment. She feared
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, " she said. " I didn't know about the CARES Act or eviction moratoriums. " # When Gomez attended her eviction hearing, the judge told her
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know about the CARES Act or eviction moratoriums. " # When Gomez attended her eviction hearing, the judge told her that she could qualify for another eviction moratorium,
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attended her eviction hearing, the judge told her that she could qualify for another eviction moratorium, this one from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That allowed
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also recently received rental aid and utility payment aid. # Thayne Cullimore, the eviction attorney for her apartment complex, said the landlord has not challenged Gomez's CDC
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under the national moratorium, and " there is no plan to file a new eviction " against her. CARES Act protects landlords through 2020 # While the lack
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actually received rent during the moratoriums, " LeVinus said. ' Egregious' eviction excuses, advocate says # The CARES Act only provided eviction protection to renters for
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' Egregious' eviction excuses, advocate says # The CARES Act only provided eviction protection to renters for not paying rent. Landlords still were able to evict their
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June 4, notifying her that her landlord Citi-Sun City Partners III had filed an eviction complaint against her for allowing an " unauthorized occupant " to stay in her Peoria
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with the online payment system, she said. # Her landlord continued with the eviction proceedings. # Tannisha Hill's landlord, Glendale Enterprise Live Work Lofts LLC,
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or a settlement with their former landlords. In court, renters typically lose eviction cases # Arizona's eviction process moves fast. Tenants can be locked out of
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former landlords. In court, renters typically lose eviction cases # Arizona's eviction process moves fast. Tenants can be locked out of their home within days after
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fast. Tenants can be locked out of their home within days after receiving an eviction judgment. # Renters facing eviction are summoned to appear at a hearing, but
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out of their home within days after receiving an eviction judgment. # Renters facing eviction are summoned to appear at a hearing, but most don't, either because
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miles to her hearing, said she was the only renter to show up in eviction court that day. # Only about 2% of all tenants facing evictions between March
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Washington D.C., San Francisco and Minneapolis provide free legal help to low-income tenants facing eviction. # Using CARES Act money, the city of Phoenix funded a $1 million
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program with Community Legal Services. # Many housing advocates were concerned about Arizona's eviction process before the pandemic. # Matthew Desmond, chief investigator for the Eviction Lab
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trying to help them. # He and other housing advocates say the state's eviction system leans toward landlords and their attorneys. # Kimberlyn Malinka was evicted from her
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submitted documentation showing her salary had shrunk due to COVID to qualify for Arizona's eviction moratorium, but it didn't help. She also tried to work with the
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cases weren't dropped or dismissed. # " The initial findings claim that some eviction cases did proceed in violation of the CARES Act. The courts have not undertaken
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for legal protection did not receive it. " # The Republic investigation found several eviction cases that didn't include information on whether the property was covered by the federal
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federally backed mortgage. # " With a myriad of reasons landlords may make an eviction filing, it has always been incumbent upon them to ensure they are complying with
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take more responsibility for providing information on the CARES Act. # " Every single eviction in Arizona requires due process -- a court hearing where both sides make their case
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both sides make their case. These matters always include the courts examining whether an eviction has been properly filed and comports with existing law. The courts must act as
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prevents judges from independently researching a case before them, so " judges hearing an eviction case are not allowed to ask or go online to check if a property is/was
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sue to recoup attorney and late fees, as well as other costs from an eviction that shouldn't have happened. Where are most evictions happening? # An
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was bought by a Houston group with the same name last year, had 31 eviction filings during the protection timeframe. Some of the filings were immediate for other reasons
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. # The complex has 263 apartments, so almost 12% of its renters faced eviction. Also, it would be difficult for renters to see if they had protection
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if they had protection under the CARES Act because the complex lists an address on eviction filings of 2030 W. Indian School Road. # The address of the complex on
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client directly, " Walker said. # A Nevada group was the next top eviction pursuer on properties covered by the federal renter protection. It filed at least 60
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Republic identified a renter at one of the Maryvale apartments who was served with five eviction notices from March through August. Each month, the tenant paid his rent in
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locks. But the late fees and attorneys fees he had to pay with each eviction filing substantially increased his monthly payments. # Hull, Holliday and Holliday, the
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filing substantially increased his monthly payments. # Hull, Holliday and Holliday, the eviction attorney for the owner of the Marvyale apartments, said in a statement that initially
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Act and couldn't find it on any list. To qualify for Arizona's eviction moratorium, Dale submitted documents showing how she and her boyfriend had both lost jobs
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rental and legal help, Dale and her family were evicted July 30. The eviction on her and her boyfriend's credit, as well as the deposit needed to
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Arizona renters. # Although The Republic found more than 900 renters threatened with wrongful eviction under the CARES Act eviction protection, and hundreds more landlords who ignored the state
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The Republic found more than 900 renters threatened with wrongful eviction under the CARES Act eviction protection, and hundreds more landlords who ignored the state and federal eviction moratoriums,
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CARES Act eviction protection, and hundreds more landlords who ignored the state and federal eviction moratoriums, the majority of landlords did halt evictions. # That is evident in
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of landlords did halt evictions. # That is evident in the substantial decrease in eviction filings in Maricopa County beginning in March. # While the CARES Act protection and
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Maricopa County beginning in March. # While the CARES Act protection and the state eviction moratorium have expired, the CDC moratorium, which halts evictions for tenants who can
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have to pay back all of the money they owe -- immediately -- or face eviction. # " Arizona could see 150,000 evictions by the end of 2021, "
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We need to fix as much as we can of what's broken with our eviction process as fast as we can. And we need a lot more renter aid
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second iteration of the CARES Act with more money for rental assistance and possibly another eviction moratorium for federally backed properties. This time, however, they hope the moratorium
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viable social safety net, " spokesperson Patrick Ptak said. A guide to eviction moratoriums # The state and federal government enacted multiple eviction moratoriums during the COVID-19 pandemic
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. A guide to eviction moratoriums # The state and federal government enacted multiple eviction moratoriums during the COVID-19 pandemic. They all had different rules, end dates and
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July 26, but landlords had to give 30 days' notice before proceeding with eviction, essentially extending the protection to Aug. 26. # Qualifications: The CARES Act
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, essentially extending the protection to Aug. 26. # Qualifications: The CARES Act eviction protection only covered renters who lived in properties with federally backed loans or received housing
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to prove a COVID-19 impact to qualify. Landlords were not allowed to start the eviction process for tenants who couldn't pay rent. Landlords could evict for other reasons
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evict for other reasons, including police arrests or domestic violence situations. # Arizona eviction moratorium # Date enacted: March 24 # Expiration date: Oct. 31 # Qualifications
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to make partial rent payments, had applied for rental help and confirm that an eviction would leave them homeless or in cramped, unsafe living conditions. Renters can't
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's eviction process before the pandemic. # Matthew Desmond, chief investigator for the Eviction Lab at Princeton, said there is no one source for evictions in Arizona and
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if we verify that a property was covered by the CARES Act. " Eviction makes finding housing hard # Evictions can stay on a renter's credit record for
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We organize our archives by 6-year-long “ages”. We are currently in the as-yet-unnamed third age of ribbonfarm, (2019-2024).
- are reading.
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