Ask the Dust
Encyclopedia
Ask the Dust is the most popular novel of Italian-American author John Fante
, first published in 1939 and set during the Great Depression
-era in Los Angeles. It is one of a series of novels featuring the character Arturo Bandini as Fante's alter ego, a young Italian-American from Colorado
struggling to make it as a writer in Los Angeles. The book is a roman à clef
, much of it rooted in autobiographical incidents
in Fante's life. The novel influenced Charles Bukowski
significantly. In 2006, screenwriter
Robert Towne
adapted the novel into a film Ask the Dust
.
Recurring themes in Fante's works are poverty
, Catholicism
, family life
, Italian-American identity, sports, and the writing life. Ask the Dust has been referred to over the years as a monumental Southern California/Los Angeles novel by many (e.g.: Carey McWilliams
, Charles Bukowski, and The Los Angeles Times Book Review). More than sixty years after it was published, Ask the Dust appeared for several weeks on the New York Times' Bestseller's List.
, a rundown section of Downtown Los Angeles
. Living off the zest of oranges, he unconsciously creates a picture of Los Angeles as a modern dystopia
during the Great Depression
era. His published short story "The Little Dog Laughed" impresses no one in his seedy boarding house except for one 14-year-old girl. Destitute, he wanders into the Columbia Buffet where he meets Camilla Lopez, a waitress.
has called Ask The Dust the greatest novel ever written about Los Angeles.
The American author Charles Bukowski
cites John Fante's work as a significant influence on his own writing, in particular Ask the Dust. Bukowski, who befriended the older author towards the end of Fante's life, wrote a foreword to this novel for the Black Sparrow Press reprint edition. Bukowski states in this forward "Fante was my god" Bukowski chronicled their relationship in his short story "I Meet the Master," although in the story, the author is referred to as "John Bante" and his book is called "Sporting Times? Yeah?"
Ask the Dust contains thematic similarities to Knut Hamsun
's 1890 novel Hunger
. Fante was a great admirer of Hamsun. The title Ask the Dust derives from Knut Hamsun
's novel Pan
from 1894, in which Lt. Glahn tells the story about the Girl in the tower:
In David Foster Wallace
's 1987 novel The Broom of the System
Lavache 'Stoney' Beadsman has a wooden leg with a hidden drawer in which he keeps marijuana cigarettes and other illegal substances. Ch. 4 of Ask the Dust refers to a character named Benny Cohen who, "had a wooden leg with a little door in it. Inside the door were marijuana cigarettes. He sold them for fifteen cents apiece" (37).
John Fante
John Fante was an American novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Italian descent. He is perhaps best known for his work, Ask the Dust, a semi-autobiograpical novel about life in and around Los Angeles, California, which was the third in a series of four novels, published between 1938...
, first published in 1939 and set during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
-era in Los Angeles. It is one of a series of novels featuring the character Arturo Bandini as Fante's alter ego, a young Italian-American from Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
struggling to make it as a writer in Los Angeles. The book is a roman à clef
Roman à clef
Roman à clef or roman à clé , French for "novel with a key", is a phrase used to describe a novel about real life, overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship between the nonfiction and the fiction...
, much of it rooted in autobiographical incidents
Autobiographical novel
An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fiction elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction...
in Fante's life. The novel influenced Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
significantly. In 2006, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
Robert Towne
Robert Towne
Robert Towne is an American screenwriter and director. His most notable work may be his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown .-Film:...
adapted the novel into a film Ask the Dust
Ask the Dust (film)
Ask the Dust is a 2006 film based on the book Ask the Dust by John Fante. The movie was written and directed by Robert Towne. Tom Cruise served as one of the film's producers. The film was released on a limited basis on March 17, 2006...
.
Novel
Fante's most popular novel by far, the semi-autobiographical Ask the Dust is the second book in what is now referred to as "The Saga of Arturo Bandini" or "The Bandini Quartet". Bandini served as his alter ego in a total of four novels: Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1938), The Road to Los Angeles (chronologically, this is the first novel Fante wrote but it was unpublished until 1985), Ask the Dust (1939), and finally Dreams from Bunker Hill (1982). The last was dictated to his wife, Joyce, towards the end of his life. Fante's use of Bandini as his alter ego can be compared to Charles Bukowski's character, Henry Chinaski.Recurring themes in Fante's works are poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, family life
Family Life
Family Life is a magazine published by, and primarily for, the Old Order Amish. The publisher is Pathway Publishers of Aylmer, Ontario, Canada. Unlike some Amish publications, Family Life is printed entirely in English rather than Pennsylvania Dutch or German.The magazine was founded in 1968 and is...
, Italian-American identity, sports, and the writing life. Ask the Dust has been referred to over the years as a monumental Southern California/Los Angeles novel by many (e.g.: Carey McWilliams
Carey McWilliams (journalist)
Carey McWilliams was an American author, editor, and lawyer. He is best known for his writings about social issues in California, including the condition of migrant farm workers and the internment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II...
, Charles Bukowski, and The Los Angeles Times Book Review). More than sixty years after it was published, Ask the Dust appeared for several weeks on the New York Times' Bestseller's List.
Synopsis
Arturo Bandini is a struggling writer living in a residential hotel in Bunker HillBunker Hill
Bunker Hill may refer to:* A hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts** Battle of Bunker Hill, a battle American Revolutionary War fought near the hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts** Several American ships named after the Battle of Bunker Hill, including:...
, a rundown section of Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
. Living off the zest of oranges, he unconsciously creates a picture of Los Angeles as a modern dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
era. His published short story "The Little Dog Laughed" impresses no one in his seedy boarding house except for one 14-year-old girl. Destitute, he wanders into the Columbia Buffet where he meets Camilla Lopez, a waitress.
Inspiration
He was one of the first writers to portray the tough times faced by many people in Depression-era Los Angeles. Robert TowneRobert Towne
Robert Towne is an American screenwriter and director. His most notable work may be his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown .-Film:...
has called Ask The Dust the greatest novel ever written about Los Angeles.
The American author Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
cites John Fante's work as a significant influence on his own writing, in particular Ask the Dust. Bukowski, who befriended the older author towards the end of Fante's life, wrote a foreword to this novel for the Black Sparrow Press reprint edition. Bukowski states in this forward "Fante was my god" Bukowski chronicled their relationship in his short story "I Meet the Master," although in the story, the author is referred to as "John Bante" and his book is called "Sporting Times? Yeah?"
Ask the Dust contains thematic similarities to Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. He was praised by King Haakon VII of Norway as Norway's soul....
's 1890 novel Hunger
Hunger (novel)
Hunger is a novel by the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun and was published in its final form in 1890. Parts of it had been published anonymously in the Danish magazine Ny Jord in 1888. The novel has been hailed as the literary opening of the 20th century and an outstanding example of modern,...
. Fante was a great admirer of Hamsun. The title Ask the Dust derives from Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. He was praised by King Haakon VII of Norway as Norway's soul....
's novel Pan
Pan (novel)
Pan is a 1894 novel by the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. Written while he lived in Paris, France, and in Kristiansand, Norway, Hamsun was directly influenced by the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky...
from 1894, in which Lt. Glahn tells the story about the Girl in the tower:
"The other one he loved like a slave, like a crazed and like a beggar. Why? Ask the dust on the road and the falling leaves, ask the mysterious God of life; for no one knows such things. She gave him nothing, no nothing did she give him and yet he thanked her. She said: Give me your peace and your reason! And he was only sorry she did not ask for his life."
In David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace was an American author of novels, essays, and short stories, and a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California...
's 1987 novel The Broom of the System
The Broom of the System
The Broom of the System is the first novel by the American writer David Foster Wallace, published in 1987.-Background:Wallace stated that the initial idea for the novel sprang from a remark made by an old girlfriend. According to Wallace, she said "she would rather be a character in a piece of...
Lavache 'Stoney' Beadsman has a wooden leg with a hidden drawer in which he keeps marijuana cigarettes and other illegal substances. Ch. 4 of Ask the Dust refers to a character named Benny Cohen who, "had a wooden leg with a little door in it. Inside the door were marijuana cigarettes. He sold them for fifteen cents apiece" (37).
External links
- Short radio script from Ask the Dust at the California Legacy ProjectCalifornia Legacy ProjectThe California Legacy Project began in 2000 as a project at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA and later partnered with Heyday Books in Berkeley, CA. The project uses a research team of SCU interns to create radio scripts for the radio anthology "Your California Legacy" on KAZU 90.3 FM,...
. - An annual festival honoring John Fante is held in his father's birthplace, Torricella PelignaTorricella PelignaTorricella Peligna is a comune and town in the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region of Italy.-External links:*...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...