John Fante's work has consistently delved into profound themes, including the elusive American Dream, the delicate psychology of immigrants, and the intricate dynamics of Italian American families. This study reveals the ingenious manner in which Fante employs humor and satire as powerful rhetorical devices to breathe life into his Italian, Italian American, and American characters. Drawing inspiration from literary giants such as Luigi Pirandello and René Girard, the author embarks on a fascinating journey into Fante's rich literary landscape. When We Were Bandini also offers an engaging comparison between Fante's works and those of other authors like Cervantes, Hamsun, Bukowski, and even his own son, Dan Fante. This comparative analysis sheds light on the possible reasons behind Fante's unique status: he is a cult writer in Europe, relatively underappreciated in his home country, the United States. Challenging the conventional notions of Fante as a strictly autobiographical and confessional writer, the author urges readers to look beyond the surface and unravel the layers of his literary genius.

He came along, kicking the snow. Here was a disgusted man. His name was Svevo Bandini, and he lived three blocks down that street. He was cold and there were holes in his shoes. That morning he had patched the holes on the inside with pieces of cardboard from a macaroni box. The macaroni in that box was not paid for. He had thought of that as he placed the cardboard inside his shoes.

Ask the Dust is a virtuoso performance by an influential master of the twentieth-century American novel. It is the story of Arturo Bandini, a young writer in 1930s Los Angeles who falls hard for the elusive, mocking, unstable Camilla Lopez, a Mexican waitress. Struggling to survive, he perseveres until, at last, his first novel is published. But the bright light of success is extinguished when Camilla has a nervous breakdown and disappears . . . and Bandini forever rejects the writer's life he fought so hard to attain.

Possessing a style of deceptive simplicity, emotional immediacy and tremendous psychological point, among the novels, short stories and screenplays that complete his career, Fante's crowning accomplishment is the Arturo Bandini tetralogy. This quartet of novels tell 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 but though the physical escape is complete, the psychological imprint continues as he comes to terms with love, desire and the knowledge his talent may not be recognised.

My first collision with fame was hardly memorable. I was a busboy at Marx's Deli. The year was 1934. The place was Third and Hill, Los Angeles. I was twenty-one years old, living in a world bounded on the west by Bunker Hill, on the east by Los Angeles Street, on the south by Pershing Square, and on the north by Civic Center. I was a busboy nonpareil, with great verve and style for the profession, and though I was dreadfully underpaid (one dollar a day plus meals) I attracted considerable attention as I whirled from table to table, balancing a tray on one hand, and eliciting smiles from my customers. I had something else beside a waiter's skill to offer my patrons, for I was also a writer.

Frederick Schiller Faust (1892-1944) was an American author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary Westerns under the pen name Max Brand. Prolific in many genres he wrote historical novels, detective mysteries, pulp fiction stories and many more. Table of Contents: The Dan Barry Series The Untamed The Night Horseman The Seventh Man Dan Barry's Daughter The Ronicky Doone Trilogy Ronicky Doone Ronicky Doone's Treasure Ronicky Doone's Reward The Silvertip Series Silvertip The Man from Mustang Silvertip's Strike Silvertip's Roundup Silvertip's Trap Silvertip's Chase Silvertip's Search The Stolen Stallion Valley Thieves The Valley of Vanishing Men The False Rider Other Novels Above the Law Trailin'! Riders of the Silences (Luck) Crossroads The Man Who Forgot Christmas Black Jack The Cure of Silver Cañon Donnegan (Gunman's Reckoning) Bull Hunter Jerico's Garrison Finish The Long, Long Trail Way of the Lawless (Free Range Lanning) Alcatraz The Garden of Eden The Power of Prayer The Rangeland Avenger Wild Freedom The Boy Who Found Christmas His Name His Fortune The Quest of Lee Garrison Rodeo Ranch "Sunset" Wins Soft Metal Under His Shirt The Tenderfoot The Black Rider In the River Bottom's Grip Acres of Unrest Bad Man's Gulch The Whispering Outlaw The Desert Pilot The Mountain Fugitive The Mustang Herder Destry Rides Again The Hair-Trigger Kid (Duck Hawk's Master) The Lightning Warrior The Three Crosses Range Jester Gunman's Gold The Red Bandanna Marbleface (The Tough Tenderfoot) Red Devil of the Range King of the Range (Strength of the Hills)