Michael Musto

Michael Musto (born December 3, 1955) is an American columnist for the The Village Voice, where he writes La Dolce Musto. He is the author of Downtown and Manhattan on the Rocks as well as a compilation of selected columns published as La Dolce Musto. His subsequent collection, Fork on the Left, Knife in the Back, was published on September 1, 2011 by Vantage Point Books.

Early life
Musto was born in Brooklyn to an Italian-American family. He attended Columbia University graduating in 1976. During his studies, he was a theater critic for the Columbia Spectator.

Career
Musto began his Village Voice column in 1984, after having already written features for the publication. He is a recurring guest on several nationally broadcast television programs including Countdown with Keith Olbermann and others on A&E and PBS, also having appeared on E!, VH1, Real Housewives of New York, The Daily Show, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He is gay and is published regularly in several LGBT publications. He appeared in drag in a blue dress in the all drag queen music video for Cyndi Lauper's single "Hey Now (Girls Just Want To Have Fun)", and as a reporter in the film Garbo Talks. He wrote several articles in The Village Voice about the murder of Angel Melendez, bringing national attention to a case that resulted in the trial and conviction of Michael Alig and Robert "Freez" Riggs. He was the first to report Alig's firing from the Limelight club by owner Peter Gatien, and to allude to a missing club kid. When his blind item describing the buzz on the details of the crime got picked up by The New York Post's "Page Six" gossip column, the story took on more prominence.

On the June 14, 2007 episode of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Musto coined the word 'celebutard' (combination of the words celebrity, debutante, and retard) to describe Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. He gave a cameo appearance in Erasure's 2010 re-release of A Little Respect (HMI Redux)', the proceeds of this release were donated to help students attending the Harvey Milk Institute.

In 2011, Musto was named one of the "Out 100" of the country's most influential LGBT personalities. He's appeared in documentaries about actor/writer Charles Busch, Paris Hilton, Warhol star Jackie Curtis, restaurateur Florent, Michael Alig, camp performer Divine, clubs like the Roxy and Squeezebox, and many more.

Published works
Musto has authored four books:
 * Musto, Michael. (June 12, 1986) Downtown-V285 Publisher: Vintage. ISBN 0-394-74285-0
 * Musto, Michael. (September 1989) Manhattan on the Rocks. Publisher: Henry Holt & Co ISBN 0-8050-1032-7
 * Musto, Michael. (January 1, 2007) La Dolce Musto: Writings by the World's Most Outrageous Columnist Publisher: Carroll & Graf ISBN 0-7867-1879-X
 * Musto, Michael. (September 1, 2011) "Fork on the Left, Knife in the Back" Vantage Point Books

Musto has contributed to four works published by others:
 * Contributed foreword to Gary Lee Boas's (January 2000) Starstruck: Photographs from a Fan Publisher: Dilettante Press ISBN 0-9664272-5-4
 * Contributed as an author to Patrick McMullan's (November 2003) so8os: A Photographic Diary of a Decade Publisher: powerHouse Books. ISBN 1-57687-187-8
 * Contributed as an author to Kim Hastreiter's (September 14, 2004) 20 Years of Style: The World According to Paper Publisher: Amazon Remainders Account. ISBN 0-06-072302-5
 * Provided afterword in Anthony Haden-Guest's (October 2, 2006) Disco Years Publisher: powerHouse Books ISBN 1-57687-325-0