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Ask The Dust

Series: Canons
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( 38,601 ratings, 2,940 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Ask the Dust by John Fante follows the story of Arturo Bandini, an aspiring writer struggling to find success and belonging in 1930s Los Angeles. Battling poverty and isolation, he navigates the complexities of love, ambition, and identity while forming a tumultuous relationship with a Mexican waitress named Camilla. The novel captures the raw ambition and harsh realities of an immigrant's pursuit of the American dream.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy gritty tales of personal struggle and self-discovery set against the backdrop of 1930s Los Angeles. Through vivid storytelling, the story captures the aspirations and turmoil of a young writer grappling with love, ambition, and identity in a city full of possibilities and disappointments.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

One of the great novels of LA, a semi-autobiographical story of a struggling writer.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Arturo Bandini arrives in Los Angeles with big dreams. But the reality he finds is a city gripped by poverty.

When he makes a small fortune from the publication of a short story, he reinvents himself, indulging in expensive clothes, fine food, and downtown strip clubs. But Bandini's delusions take a worrying turn when he is drawn into a relationship with Camilla Lopez, a beautiful but troubled young woman who will be responsible for his greatest downfall.

Ask the Dust is an unforgettable novel about outsiders looking in on a town built on celluloid dreams.

Series: Canons

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Ask the Dust by John Fante is highly praised for its emotional depth, with Charles Bukowski considering Fante an inspiration. The novel is described as powerful, moving, and beautifully realised, receiving acclaim for its affective and poignant storytelling. The protagonist, Bandini, is lauded as a magnificent character, with the book being recommended as a must-read by various notable sources.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781786896209

Publisher: Canongate Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 September 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Canongate Canons

Edition: Main - Canons reissue

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Charles Bukowski
  • Introduction by Charles Bukowski

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 13.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 144g

Pages: 208

About the Author

John Fante was born in Denver on 8 April 1909 and migrated to Los Angeles in his early twenties. 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 recognised in 1987 with a PEN Lifetime Achievement Award in Los Angeles, four years after his death.

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  • The Bandini Quartet
    This quartet of novels tells of Fante's fictional alter-ego Bandini, an impoverished young Italian-American escaping his suffocating home in Colorado for Depression-era Los Angeles. In the beginning, it is the triple weights of poverty, father, and Church that Bandini struggles under. However, though the physical escape is complete, the psychological imprint continues as he comes to terms with love, desire,...
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