John Fante was among the first writers to capture the tough times faced by many in Los Angeles. His work and style influenced authors such as Charles Bukowski and Jack Kerouac. Fante's writing is recognized as a "criminally neglected" voice, offering a raw perspective on the artist's life and struggle.
As father and son, John and Dan Fante's relationship was characterized by competition, resentment, rages, and extended periods of silence. This title traces Dan Fante's family's history from the hillsides of Italy to the immigrant neighborhoods of Colorado to Los Angeles.
One of the great outsider figures of twentieth-century literature, John Fante possessed a style of deceptive simplicity, full of emotional immediacy and tremendous psychological point. Among the novels, short stories and screenplays that comprised his career, Fante's crowning accomplishments were, for many, his four stories about a certain uncomplicated character from the hills of Abruzzi. Collected together in one volume for the first time, The Bandini Quartet tells of Arturo Bandini, Fante's fictional alter ego, an impoverished young Italian-American who, armed with only a Jesuit high school education and the insane desire to write novels, escapes his suffocating home in Colorado to seek glory in a Depression-era Los Angeles. This edition also includes the first-ever UK publication of Dreams From Bunker Hill, the brilliant and final novel which a blind and wheelchair-bound Fante, nearing his death bed, dictated to his wife Joyce.
West of Rome's two novellas, "My Dog Stupid" and "The Orgy," fulfill the promise of their rousing titles. The latter novella opens with virtuoso description: "His name was Frank Gagliano, and he did not believe in God. He was that most singular and startling craftsman of the building trade-a left-handed bricklayer. Like my father, Frank came from Torcella Peligna, a cliff-hugging town in the Abruzzi. Lean as a spider, he wore a leather cap and puttees the year around, and he was so bowlegged a dog could lope between his knees without touching them."
Focusing on the life of John Fante, this biography reveals how Los Angeles served as a profound source of inspiration for the author. Stephen Cooper, an English and film studies professor, delves into Fante's experiences and influences, providing insights into his literary contributions and the city's impact on his work. The narrative highlights Fante's journey and the themes that resonate throughout his writing, making it a compelling exploration of both the man and the city he cherished.
The narrative explores the remarkable posthumous recognition of a writer whose brilliance was overlooked during his lifetime. John Fante, celebrated for his unique voice and impactful storytelling, emerges as a significant figure for a new generation of readers two decades after his death. The book delves into his enduring influence and the reasons behind his resurgence in literary acclaim, highlighting the qualities that define his genius.
This new edition of the legendary Dago Red, first published in 1940, contains seven new stories, including "A Nun No More" and "My Father’s God."
Henry Molise, a fifty-year-old successful writer, returns to the family home to help with the latest drama; his elderly parents want to divorce. Henry's tyrannical, bricklaying father, Nick, despite being weakened by age and alcoholism, can still strike fear into the hearts of his sons.
Published here for the first time, this text presents a collection of recently-discovered stories by John Fante.
I had a lot of jobs in Los Angeles Harbor because our family was poor and my father was dead. My first job was ditchdigging a short time after I graduated from high school. Every night I couldn’t sleep from the pain in my back. We were digging an excavation in an empty lot, there wasn’t any shade, the sun came straight from a cloudless sky, and I was down in that hole digging with two huskies who dug with a love for it, always laughing and telling jokes, laughing and smoking bitter tobacco.
