Champagne and Cocaine

a novel by Richard Vetere

Champagne and Cocaineby Richard Vetere

Champagne and Cocaine
by Richard Vetere

“Evocative and gritty as only New York can be, Richard Vetere’s Champagne and Cocaine is testimony that intelligent men spiraling through destructive choices can make for a hell of a read.”-—Robert H. Patton, author, Patriot Pirates

“I devoured it.”–Tony Danza, actor

Champagne and Cocaine is everything the title promises: heady, dangerous, and utterly addictive. Bringing an astute literary sensibility to a noirish premise, Vetere paints a beautifully gritty portrait of New York in its disco heyday. For those of us longing for that vanished city of filth and vice, Vetere’s new novel is a gift straight from the graffitied heavens.”–Stefan Merrill Block, author, The Story of Forgetting

In New York City, 1980, Danny Ferraro believes he is living “the life”: late-night discos, call girls, and hits of cocaine between pick-up games across the city. But it all comes crashing down when his luck runs out and he finds himself in debt to the mob. Frightening and fascinating in its depictions of drug-fueled, sex-infused, winner-take-all poker bouts, Vetere’s compelling novel illuminates the shadowy base of the eighties mob scene, as his anti-hero struggles to escape the downward spiral of depravity.

Champagne and Cocaine: a novel by Richard Vetere
ISBN: 978-1-941110-29-4; 5.25″ x 8″, 210 pages, Trade Paper; Retail $15.95
Publication date: Tuesday, May 17, 2016

ALSO AVAILABLE AT
amazon-logo bn-logo Indiebound_logo Powells_logo

 

Distributed by:
PGW-logo

High Praise for Champagne and Cocaine

“Vivid, detailed descriptions . . . fast-paced narrative . . . This well-crafted thriller will appeal to fans captivated by noir and the mystique of mob life.” —Foreword Reviews

“Everything the title promises: heady, dangerous, and utterly addictive. . . . Vetere paints a beautifully gritty portrait of New York in its disco heyday. For those of us longing for that vanished city of filth and vice, Vetere’s new novel is a gift straight from the graffitied heavens.” —Stefan Merrill Block, author, The Story of Forgetting

“Vetere captures the decadent ‘80’s just as the iconic decade leaves the starting gate. His lead character Danny Ferraro is a deer in the headlights blinded by the lure of depravity, the mob, drugged induced sex and the gaudy glamour of the night club scene. Vetere’s page turning Champagne and Cocaine oozes vibrantly, written by an author who knew New York City at that time well enough to put his own stamp on its origins.” —Judge Ed Torres, author, Carlito’s Way and Q&A

“Evocative and gritty as only New York can be, Richard Vetere’s Champagne and Cocaine is testimony that intelligent men spiraling through destructive choices can make for a hell of a read. — Robert H. Patton, author, Patriot Pirates and Cajun Waltz

“I devoured it” –Tony Danza, actor

“More than a novel, Champagne and Cocaine is a smooth read, a meditation on the dangers of mixing reality with art in New York’s disco era.  Ferraro is one of Vetere’s greatest characters.” –Fred Gardaphe, author, From Wiseguys to Wise Men

“An insightful window into the life of one man’s struggles . . . when he must choose between the night life of gambling, drugs, and lots of sex and the contemplative life of the writer and teacher. Nicely paced in elegantly colloquial prose.” —Anthony Julian Tamburri, author, Re-reading Italian Americana

Past Praise for Richard Vetere:

“In this utterly unique story, novelist Vetere unfolds a caper of inter-dimensional scope.” –Publishers Weekly

“An original, hilarious and poignant tale of second chances, the role of fate plays in our lives and the triumph of the creative spirit.” –Adriana Trigiani, author, The Shoemaker’s Wife

“Vetere is a man with a writer’s soul!” –Israel Horowitz, Newsday

“Vetere demonstrates the ability to mix the poetic with the colloquial.” –Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
 


The Writers Afterlife

a novel by Richard Vetere

The Writers Afterlife, a novel by Richard Vetere

The Writers Afterlife, a novel by Richard Vetere

“In this utterly unique story, novelist Vetere unfolds a caper of inter-dimensional scope. The scenes taking place in the afterlife are written with classic magic-realist gusto; those taking place on earth will have readers rooting for Chillo’s success.”Publishers Weekly

“An original, hilarious and poignant tale of second chances, the role of fate plays in our lives and the triumph of the creative spirit.”–Adriana Trigiani, author, The Shoemaker’s Wife and Cooking with My Sisters

The Writers Afterlife is the story of Tom Chillo, a 44-year-old writer on the verge of fame, who suddenly dies of a stroke and finds himself transported to a place where all writers are sent after they die. After mingling with “The Eternals”—including Shakespeare, Wilde, Keats, and Tolstoy—he discovers that his true “peers” in this new world are all haunted by the same regret: They never achieved the fame they felt they deserved during their lifetime. There’s still a chance, though. Every writer has the opportunity to return to Earth for exactly one week, and convince someone to set the wheels in motion to give their life’s work widespread notoriety. The trick is to come up with the perfect plan, the first time. Failure is not an option. The Writers Afterlife is brimming with warm humor and an underlying commentary about the drive for fame in contemporary culture. With a deft hand, Vetere explores the deceptions that people employ to achieve at all costs. A string of eccentric New York characters fly off the page, and make for a stunning, memorable book that is a delight to read.

The Writers Afterlife: a novel by Richard Vetere
ISBN: 978-0-9884008-9-4; 5.25″ x 8″, 218 pages, Trade Paper; Retail $16.95
Publication date: Tuesday, March 11, 2014


amazon-logo bn-logo Indiebound_logo Powells_logo

 

Distributed by:
PGW-logo


Author Richard Vetere
Reads from The Writers Afterlife


Playwright/Film Director Israel Horovitz
Reads from The Writers Afterlife


Author Richard Vetere
AD-TV Interview


High Praise for The Writers Afterlife

“In this utterly unique story, novelist Vetere unfolds a caper of inter-dimensional scope. The scenes taking place in afterlife are written with classic magic-realist gusto; those taking place on earth will have readers rooting for Chillo’s success.” Publishers Weekly, Featured Review

“The Writers Afterlife is a remarkable commentary on the state of literature in the mind of a writer, reminding us that literature is made out of other literature, and that every writer is, in many ways, in some type of competition with all the other writers who ever existed for an audience. He does all this in prose that’s lean, direct, and keeps the wheels of plot turning to a surprising finale.”
Fred Gardaphe, Distinguished Professor of English, Queens College, CUNY

“The Writers Afterlife is an original, hilarious and poignant tale of second chances, the role that fate plays in our lives and the triumph of the creative spirit. Tom Chillo is a hero with heart. You will root for him as he reaches for the brass ring and learns to live life with gusto. Richard Vetere is a great storyteller who moves effortlessly between the genres of theater, television, film and novels. His versatility is on display here as he takes us to the world beyond and back again as Tom Chillo realizes his dreams and earns his salvation. Bravo!” Adriana Trigiani, author, The Shoemaker’s Wife and Cooking With My Sisters

“When Richard Vetere writes about a writer’s life, he knows what he’s talking about. His character Tom Chillo—a playwright, film writer, novelist and consummate New Yorker—has dedicated his life to becoming one of the greats but dies prematurely and learns that he will not spend eternity with the Eternals. So what happens in the Afterlife? Tom falls in loves, suffers anxiety and does all he can to get back to life and change his fate. If this isn’t a movie it is definitely a TV series!” Dan Lauria, actor, The Wonder Years and Lombardi

“Richard Vetere is an elastic writer who has the talent to bend a tale in the direction it needs to go. I hope when I’m in the Afterlife, he’s there to tell me more good stories.” Tom Fontana, writer, St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Street

“Vetere demonstrates the ability to mix the poetic with the colloquial.” Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“[Richard] Vetere is a man with a writer’s soul!” Israel Horowitz, Newsday

“In Mr. Vetere’s work, imagery and metaphor blend, often brilliantly, imparting beautiful word pictures.” Lewis Colka, The Village Voice


Featured Articles by and about Richard Vetere

“Why Writers are the Heroes of Our Times”, guest blog on The Huffington Post, April 2, 2014. Excellent personal column about the need for writers in the age of technology.

Artistic Ascension: Richard Vetere on ‘A Writers Afterlife’ (Q&A) by John Valeri, Examiner.com, March 31, 2014. In an extensive interview, Richard Vetere reflects on life as a writer and what drove him to create The Writers Afterlife.

Queens writer explores literary purgatory in new book by Andrew Shilling, Queens Ledger, April 2, 2014. Brief insight into Vetere’s relationship to his native Queens, New York neighborhood and its influence on his novel, The Writers Afterlife

About Richard Vetere

Richard Vetere

Richard Vetere

Richard Vetere is the author of the novels Champagne and Cocaine and The Writers Afterlife (both Three Rooms Press), and The Third Miracle (Simon & Schuster), now in several languages. He co-authored the screenplay adaptation of The Third Miracle for the Francis Ford Coppola-produced fi lm, starring Ed Harris. Vetere’s plays, performed globally, include Machiavelli, Caravaggio, Gangster Apparel, The Marriage Fool and his Pulitzer-nominated One Shot, One Kill. He lives in New York City.

 

 

 

 


Share This!
Facebooktwitterredditpinteresttumblrmail