Ask The Dust by John Fante
Arturo Bandini is a twenty-year-old burgeoning writer, spending his days hungry for success, life and food in a dingy hotel in Los Angeles. Full of the enthusiasm of youth, and the thrill of having one short story published, the reality of poverty and prejudice has hit him hard. He meets a local waitress, Camilla Lopez, and embarks on a strange and strained love-hate relationship. Slowly, but inexorably, it descends into the realms of madness. Fante depicts the highs and lows of the emotional state of Bandini with conviction, but without easy sentiment. In Ask the Dust, Fante is truly 'telling it like it is' as a poverty-stricken son of an immigrant in 'perfect' California.
a powerful and moving read - it has a strong nostalgic charm* * The Guardian * *
A tough and beautifully realised tale - affecting, powerful and poignant stuff. Fante was capable of expressing with thought and experience with an honesty that was as intimate as it was evocative, and as magical as it was true. * * Time Out * *
Bandini is a magnificent creation, and his discovery is not before time. * * Times Literary Supplement * *
This stunning novel, as Charles Bukowski's 1980 foreword outlines, was the reason he became a writer. Is there any better recommendation. * * Uncut * *
A tough and beautifully realised tale - affecting, powerful and poignant stuff. Fante was capable of expressing with thought and experience with an honesty that was as intimate as it was evocative, and as magical as it was true. * * Time Out * *
Bandini is a magnificent creation, and his discovery is not before time. * * Times Literary Supplement * *
This stunning novel, as Charles Bukowski's 1980 foreword outlines, was the reason he became a writer. Is there any better recommendation. * * Uncut * *
Born in Denver on 8 April 1909, John Fante migrated to Los Angeles in his early twenties. Classically out of place in a town built on celluloid dreams, Fante's literary fiction was full of torn grace and redemptive vengeance. Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1938), his first novel, began the saga of Arturo Bandini, a character whose story continues in The Road to Los Angeles, Ask the Dust and Dreams from Bunker Hill - collectively known as The Bandini Quartet. Fante published several other novels, as well as stories, novellas and screenplays in his seventy-four years, including The Brotherhood of the Grape (1977) and 1933 Was A Bad Year (posthumously, 1985). He was posthumously recognised in 1987 with a Lifetime Achievement Award by PEN in Los Angeles, four years after his death from diabetes-related complications.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781841953304 |
| ISBN 10 | 184195330X |
| Title | Ask The Dust |
| Author | John Fante |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Canongate Books |
| Year published | 2002-11-11 |
| Number of pages | 208 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |