Ask the Dust

South of No North led me to Love Is A Dog From Hell which led me to this book by Fante. I think we who appreciate what Bukowski did for changing modern writing, owe a debt of gratitude to Black Sparrow Press, which published Bukowski. And then Bukowski said to to Black Sparrow, "Hey, you should check out Fante." And the rest is literary dust. This book is a gem of depression. A stark sadness on a sun-lit beach, a lonely sigh, a beautiful, beautiful book. Don't ask why, just ask the dust.

This tale of Arturo Bandini, a young would-be writer living on the edge in 1930s Los Angeles, is the book that Charles Bukowski discovered in a local library and was purportedly his inspiration for becoming a writer himself. Like Henry Chinaski in Buk’s autobiographical works, Bandini is a stand-in for Fante, and his personal disasters are mined for their comic gold. He falls in love with a waitress named Camilla, only to watch her fall in love with another man and eventually suffer a nervous breakdown. In the end, Bandini realizes he can't help Camilla and must focus on his… show more.