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Camilla. Camilla is eventually admitted to a mental hospital and moved to a second one before escaping. Bandini looks for her, only to find her waiting for him in his apartment. He decides to take her away from Los
Angeles, and arranges to live in a house on the beach. He buys her a little dog and they rent a place in Laguna Beach. He leaves her there to retrieve his belongings from his Los Angeles hotel room, only to find the house empty when he returns. He receives a telegram from Sammy, who requests that he come and retrieve Camilla, as she has shown up at the desert shack he has been living in and is getting on his nerves. By the time Bandini gets there, Sammy has thrown Camilla out and she has wandered into the desert. Bandini looks for her with an agonizing fear that he won't find the woman he loves, a fear that is soon realized. He returns to Sammy's shack and looks out at the empty desert land. He takes a copy of his first novel that has recently been published, dedicates it to Camilla, and throws it into the desert.
391:, which he had stumbled upon in the public library as a young writer. Bukowski's enthusiasm for the novel helped ensure that the novel didn't fall into obscurity in the 1970s. 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 foreword: "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
429:"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."
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Bandini falls in love with Lopez, who is herself in love with her co-worker Sammy. Sammy despises
Camilla, telling Bandini that he has to treat Camilla poorly if he wants to win her over. Bandini struggles with his own poverty, his Catholic guilt, and with his love for an unstable and deteriorating
313:(1982). The last Fante dictated to his wife, Joyce, towards the end of his life after complications from diabetes brought about blindness and the amputation of both legs. Fante's use of Bandini as his alter ego can be compared to Charles Bukowski's character, Henry Chinaski.
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era. His published short story "The Little Dog
Laughed" impresses no one in his seedy boarding house except for one 14-year-old girl, Judy. Destitute, he wanders into the Columbia Buffet where he meets Camilla Lopez, a waitress.
34:
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Initial reception of the novel was mixed, resulting in poor sales. Distribution was hampered because Fante's publisher was embroiled in a legal dispute over publication of an unauthorized version of
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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."
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is the third 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:
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The novel is widely regarded as an
American classic, regularly on college syllabi for American literature. The book is a
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era in Los
Angeles. It is one of a series of novels featuring the character Arturo Bandini as Fante's alter ego, a young
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Fante was one of the first writers to portray the tough times faced by many people in
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has been referred to over the years as a monumental
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led the reissue of the novel by Black
Sparrow Press in 1980, alongside a foreword by Bukowski.
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cites John Fante's work as a significant influence on his own writing, in particular
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Initial publication of the novel followed Fante's successful publication of
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Recurring themes in Fante's works are poverty, Catholicism, family life,
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559:, Black Sparrow Press, Santa Barbara. Introduction by Charles Bukowski
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in 1954. The novel's popularity did not reach its peak until poet
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Fante's most popular novel by far, the semi-autobiographical
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Arturo
Dominic Bandini is a struggling writer living in a
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honoring John Fante is held in his father's birthplace,
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John Fante's Ask the Dust. A Joining of Voices and Views
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from 1894, in which Lt. Glahn tells the story about the
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and his short stories in prominent publications such as
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19:This article is about the novel. For the film, see
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411:. Fante was a great admirer of Hamsun. The title
335:). More than sixty years after it was published,
600:Cooper, Stephen; Donato, Clorinda, eds. (2020).
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511:"John Fante's 'Ask the Dust' grows with time"
177:, first published in 1939 and set during the
173:is the most popular novel of American author
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320:identity, sports, and the life of a writer.
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479:"How Ask the Dust nearly missed greatness"
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415:derives from Knut Hamsun's novel
151:Wait Until Spring, Bandini
116:Print (hardback & paperback)
509:Kellogg, Carolyn (2009-04-07).
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339:appeared for several weeks on
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364:that left it short of funds.
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477:Woodard, Rob (2009-01-14).
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839:Wait Until Spring, Bandini
808:Something for a Lonely Man
691:Wait Until Spring, Bandini
299:Wait Until Spring, Bandini
235:Wait Until Spring, Bandini
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925:Novels set in Los Angeles
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920:Italian-American novels
718:Dreams from Bunker Hill
700:The Road to Los Angeles
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930:Novels set in deserts
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393:Sporting Times? Yeah?
309:(1939) and, finally,
940:Novels by John Fante
935:Novels about writers
910:1939 American novels
435:David Foster Wallace
383:The American author
270:Downtown Los Angeles
241:The American Mercury
945:Roman à clef novels
788:The Reluctant Saint
682:The Bandini Quartet
545:. 21 December 2018.
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21:Ask the Dust (film)
16:Novel by John Fante
741:(unfinished, 1942)
638:Torricella Peligna
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486:. Retrieved
483:The Guardian
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74:Roman à clef
879:Joyce Fante
403:Knut Hamsun
376:has called
333:Book Review
276:during the
266:Bunker Hill
228:Publication
218:Salma Hayek
216:, starring
904:Categories
675:John Fante
592:2016-07-10
528:2016-07-10
488:2016-07-10
451:References
361:Mein Kampf
175:John Fante
48:John Fante
887:Dan Fante
587:0260-9592
523:0458-3035
350:Reception
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301:(1938),
274:dystopia
256:Synopsis
187:Colorado
141:63537603
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640:, Italy
625:at the
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881:(wife)
871:Family
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761:(1952)
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615:Short
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408:Hunger
368:Legacy
289:Themes
246:Bantam
62:Series
44:Author
889:(son)
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185:from
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