John Fante was born on April 8, 1909 in
Devon, Colorado. He wrote about writing and the people and places where he
lived and worked, which included Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, the Bunker Hill
district of downtown Los Angeles, California, as well as various homes in
Hollywood and Malibu. Diabetes cost him his eyesight and led to the amputation
of both of his legs. He died in 1983.
John Fante is a great author (but little
known, at least in Europe). We can perceive his talent in his lyrical
descriptions of Los Angeles, California (where most of his novels are set) and
his vivid and somehow cynical portraits of his touching characters.
When I first read John Fante in July 2006,
I instantly fell in love with his writing style and his universe. Within a few
months I had read many of his books. My favourite is Ask the Dust (1939) which I have already reviewed. That
said, I have loved all of Fante’s books. That is why I suggest you discover his
novels.
My
thoughts about Ask the Dust: This is an intense book which is easy to
read. It made me want to read it again and, indeed, I have read it twice. The
main character in this book is Bandini.
He encapsulates the entire history of an Italian immigrant childhood:
the misery, the humiliation of the cheated mother and the beatings of the
father. I have considered the possibility that Bandini is Fante, sitting in
that dour Bunker Hill apartment, reflecting on a hard life of devastating
failures punctuated by occasional successes. Bandini is a young man, among so
many other aspiring writers. He only wrote a few books, leading a life in dingy
hotel rooms and inspired by sensual love.