Tag: john fante

American Fiction, Book Review, California, Classic, featured, Fiction, Noir, Novel

The Road to Los Angeles by John Fante

The narrator in John Fante’s The Road to Los Angeles kept reminding me of Ignatius J. Riley in John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. But without the heart. Both characters are really incapable of functioning in the world. Both live at the bottom of society, relying on the good graces of their mother for support. Both are convinced of their own genius and not … Continue reading The Road to Los Angeles by John Fante

james b chester1 Comment
American Fiction, Book Review, California, Classic, Fiction, Novel

Ask the Dust by John Fante

My new favorite book. Chances are, you’ve probably never heard of John Fante.  I only stumbled across him because Ask the Dust was included in a box set of novels set in California that I recently lusted after.  Though I couldn’t afford the box set, my library had a copy of Ask the Dust on the shelves.  Lucky for me. Written in 1939, Ask the … Continue reading Ask the Dust by John Fante

james b chester1 Comment