Support for LAist comes from
Local and national news, NPR, things to do, food recommendations and guides to Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire
Stay Connected
Listen

Share This

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

Arts and Entertainment

John Fante's Los Angeles

john_fante_asset.jpg
John Fante in a photo dated 1937. (Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection)
()

Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.

In a fantasy tournament of the best novels about L.A., LA Weekly placed John Fante's Ask The Dust in the company of such mainstays as Play It As It Lays and The Day of the Locust. The book had barely lumbered out of the first round when it was bested by Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero.

There is perhaps something symbolic here. Ask The Dust, about a neurotic and starving writer named Arturo Bandini (a clear stand-in for Fante) and his languid days spent in a gritty and despairing Bunker Hill, was eclipsed by a book that centered on the material (and chemical) excesses of Los Angeles. Whereas Ask The Dust evoked a physical wasteland, Less Than Zero honed in on a more figurative take.

Another big difference was that Ask the Dust was hardly a boon for its author; Fante (and the book) would toil in relative obscurity for decades after the novel's publication in 1939. This would be lamented by certain pockets in Los Angeles' more bookish milieu; Charles Bukowski would hail Fante as a "God," and screenwriter Robert Towne would proclaim Ask The Dust as "the best book about Los Angeles ever written" (Towne, after a decades-long effort, would write and direct a fairly lackluster 2006 adaptation).

The appeal of Ask The Dust is immediately apparent (to those who are into that kind of thing, at least). The words are reflective of the air of electricity that pervades L.A.; a persistent hum that, at irregular intervals, gives way to bursts of violence, and rapture, and strife. The book is also impressive for its geographical reach. In a seamless manner, it takes us from a down-and-out bar in Bunker Hill, to the airy expanse of Long Beach, to the sandy shores of the coast. It becomes clear to the reader that Fante is obsessed with Los Angeles, that he regards the city with both a lurid curiosity and bone-deep wariness. Likewise, L.A. would be a recurring star in his canon (which includes the "Bandini quartet"). Here, we take a look at some of the places that shaped the writer and his works.

Support for LAist comes from

(Click through the photos below to read the entries).

As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.

Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.

We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.

No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.

Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.

Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist