John Fante: The American Dostoevsky? Unraveling the Madness of ‘Ask the Dust’

Episode 56: In the late '90s, I had dinner in New York with Bret Easton Ellis, most known the controversial novel ‘American Psycho’. Not only was he completely unlike the press’s portrayal of him, but he was helpful to me as a writer, recommending John Fante's ‘Ask the Dust’ and other books in the Bandini Quartet. The protagonist, Arturo Bandini, turns out to be Fante’s literary alter ego, an aspiring writer in 1930s L.A., immersed in artistic struggle, tortured love, and abject self-doubt. Fante's storytelling, described as "furiously egocentric" by the critic Janet Maslin, reminds me of an American Dostoevsky. The Bandini Quartet stands as a legit American classic.

Books mentioned:
Less Than Zero, by Bret Easton Ellis (1985)
American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)
The Bandini Quartet:
Wait Until Spring Bandini, by John Fante, published by Black Sparrow Press (1936)
The Road to Los Angeles, by John Fante, published by Black Sparrow Press (1938)
Ask the Dusk, by John Fante, published by Black Sparrow Press (1939)
Dreams from Bunker Hill, by John Fante, published by Black Sparrow Press (1982)
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck (1939)
The Day of the Locust, by Nathanael West (1939)
The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler (1939)
The John Fante Reader, edited by Stephen Cooper, published by Ecco Press (2002)
Notes from Underground, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1864)
Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1866)

Films mentioned:
Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski, screenplay by Robert Towne (1974)
Ask the Dust, directed by Robert Towne (2006)
A Sad Flower in the Sand, a documentary, directed by Jan Louter (2001):    • John Fante - A Sad Flower In The Sand  

#johnfante #askthedust #bookreview