John Fante
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John Fante |
John Fante (
April 8,
1909 –
May 8,
1983) was a novelist, short-story and screenwriter of Italian descent. Born in
Colorado, Fante's early years were spent in poverty. He was educated in
Boulder and attended the
University of Colorado.
In 1929, he dropped out of college to write, moving to
California where most of his works are set. There he was befriended by
H.L. Mencken, who published his first story in
The American Mercury magazine.
His most popular novel was
Ask the Dust, a semi-autobiographical novel, forming a part of the "Arturo Bandini" series. Arturo Bandini was his alter ego in a total of four novels:
The Road to Los Angeles (written in the 1930s, but not published until 1985),
Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1938),
Ask the Dust (1939), and finally
Dreams from Bunker Hill (1982), which was dictated to his wife Joyce near the end of his life because he suffered from diabetic blindness.
Other novels include
full of life (1952)
The Brotherhood of the Grape (1977), and
1933 Was a Bad Year (1985). Two novellas, 'My Dog Stupid' and 'The Orgy' were published in 1986 under the title
West of Rome.
Dago Red, a short story collection, was published in 1940 and then again, with additional stories, in 1985 as
The Wine of YouthRecurring themes in Fante's work are poverty,
Catholicism, what it means to be Italian-American, and dysfunctional relationships, be it between lovers or family members, or with God. His novels evoke a
Los Angeles that is all but gone under the effects of urbanization. His direct, clear writing style and witty dialogue make his books readily accessible.
Among Fante's screenwriting credits is
Walk on the Wild Side (1962), based on the
Nelson Algren novel of the same name. Other screenplays include
Full of Life,
Jeanne Eagels,
My Man and I,
The Reluctant Saint,
Something for a Lonely Man and
Six Loves.
In the early 1980's, at the suggestion of novelist and poet
Charles Bukowski (a huge Fante fan: 'Fante was my God')
Black Sparrow Press began to republish the (then out-of-print) works of Fante, creating a resurgence in his popularity. When Black Sparrow was reconfigured on its founder's retirement in 2002, publication of John Fante's works was taken over by
HarperCollins under the Ecco imprint, but not before Black Sparrow Press could publish the last of Fante's uncollected stories in
The Big Hunger (2000).
Full of Life: The Biography of John Fante was published by Stephen Cooper also in 2000, followed by
The Fante Reader in 2003. Also available are two collections of letters,
Fante/Mencken: A Personal Correspondence (1989) and
Selected Letters (1991),
Dominique Deruddere directed the movie version of
Wait Until Spring, Bandini, which was released in 1989. And in March 2006,
Paramount Pictures released a film directed by
Robert Towne that was based on
Ask the Dust.*
Italian-English website about Fante's family*
IMDB entry for "Wait Until Spring, Bandini"*
IMDB entry for "Ask the Dust"*
IMDB Fante filmography
