John Fante
Encyclopedia
John Fante was an American
novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Italian descent. He is perhaps best known for his work, Ask the Dust
, a semi-autobiograpical novel about life in and around Los Angeles, California
, which was the third in a series of four novels, published between 1938 and 1985, that are now collectively called, "The Bandini Quartet". That book was made into a movie by the same name in 2006. He also wrote several other books, stories, and screenplays, including the 1957 film, Full of Life, based on his 1952 novel by that name. Other noted screenplays Fante co-wrote include the 1962 films Walk on the Wild Side
and The Reluctant Saint
, and 1968's made-for-television movie, Something for a Lonely Man
, as well as several others.
in 1909 to his father, Nicola Fante and his mother, Mary Capolungo. He attended various Boulder, Colorado Catholic schools before briefly enrolling at the University of Colorado
. He dropped out of college in 1929 and moved to Southern California to focus on his writing. He wrote about writing, and the people and places where he lived and worked, which included Wilmington, Long Beach
, Manhattan Beach
, the Bunker Hill district of downtown Los Angeles, California
, as well as various homes in Hollywood, Echo Park, and Malibu.
, his short story "Altar Boy" was accepted conditionally by the magazine's editor, H. L. Mencken
. The acceptance of "Altar Boy" by The American Mercury was accompanied by a reply from Mencken that read: "Dear Mr. Fante, What do you have against a typewriter? If you transcribe this manuscript in type I'll be glad to buy it. Sincerely yours, H.L. Mencken."
By far, his most popular novel is the semi-autobiographical Ask the Dust
, 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: Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1938), The Road to Los Angeles (chronologically, this is the first novel Fante wrote but it was unpublished until 1985), Ask the Dust (1939), and finally Dreams from Bunker Hill (1982), which was dictated to his wife, Joyce, towards the end of his life. Fante's use of Bandini as his alter ego can be compared to Charles Bukowski's character, Henry Chinaski. Bukowski was heavily influenced by John Fante (see below).
Other novels include Full of Life (1952), The Brotherhood of the Grape (1977), and 1933 Was a Bad Year (1985; incomplete). Two novellas, 'My Dog Stupid' and 'The Orgy' were published in 1986 under the title West of Rome. His short story collection, Dago Red, was originally published in 1940, and then republished with a few additional stories in 1985 under the title The Wine of Youth.
Recurring themes in Fante's work are poverty
, Catholicism
, family life
, Italian-American identity, sports, and the writing life. Ask the Dust has been referred to over the years as a monumental Southern California/Los Angeles novel by a host of reputable sources (e.g.: Carey McWilliams
, Charles Bukowski, and The Los Angeles Times Book Review). More than sixty years after it was published, Ask the Dust appeared for several weeks on the New York Times' Bestseller's List. Fante's clear voice, vivid characters, shoot-from-the-hip style, and painful, emotional honesty blended with humor and scrupulous self-criticism lends his books to wide appreciation. Most of his novels and stories take place either in Colorado or California. Many of his novels and short stories also feature or focus on fictional incarnations of Fante's father, Nick Fante, as a cantankerous wine tippling, cigar stub-smoking bricklayer
.
Fante's screenwriting credits include the comedy-drama Full of Life (1957), based on his novel of the same name, which starred Judy Holliday
and Richard Conte
, and was nominated for Best Written American Comedy at the 1957 WGA Awards
. He also co-wrote Walk on the Wild Side (1962), which stars Jane Fonda
in her first credited film role, based on the novel by Nelson Algren
. His other screenplay credits include Dinky, Jeanne Eagels, My Man and I, The Reluctant Saint, Something for a Lonely Man and Six Loves. As Fante himself often admitted, most of what he wrote for the screen was simply hackwork intended to bring in a paycheck,.
In the late 1970s, at the suggestion of novelist and poet Charles Bukowski
, 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).
has called Ask The Dust the greatest novel ever written about Los Angeles.
His work and style has influenced similar authors such as Charles Bukowski
, who stated in his introduction to Ask The Dust "Fante was my god". He was proclaimed by Time Out magazine as one of America's “criminally neglected writers."
In 1987, Fante was posthumously awarded the PEN
USA President's Award.
On October 13, 2009, Los Angeles City Council
member Jan Perry
put forward a motion, seconded by Jose Huizar, that the intersection of Fifth Street and Grand Avenue be designated John Fante Square. The site is outside the Los Angeles Central Library frequented by the young Fante, and where Charles Bukowski
discovered Ask The Dust. On April 8, 2010, the author's 101st birthday, the Fante Square sign was unveiled in a noon ceremony attended by Fante's family, fans and city officials. Fante Square is located near the old Bunker Hill neighborhood he wrote about, and where he also lived.
He is also referenced in the song "Album of the Year" by The Good Life.
Minnesota punk rock group Banner Pilot reverence John Fante in the song "Starting at an Ending."
directed the movie version of Wait Until Spring, Bandini
, which was released in 1989. In March 2006, Paramount Pictures
released Ask the Dust
, directed by Robert Towne
and starring Colin Farrell
, Salma Hayek
, and Donald Sutherland
. In December 2006, a 2001 documentary film about Fante, entitled A Sad Flower in the Sand (directed by Jan Louter) aired on the PBS series Independent Lens
.
On January 18, 2001 the play, "1933" by Randal Myler and Brockman Seawell
, based on the novel
1933 was a Bad Year, premiered at the Denver Center for the Performing arts.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Italian descent. He is perhaps best known for his work, Ask the Dust
Ask the Dust
Ask the Dust is the most popular novel of Italian-American author John Fante, first published in 1939 and set during the Great Depression-era in Los Angeles. It is one of a series of novels featuring the character Arturo Bandini as Fante's alter ego, a young Italian-American from Colorado...
, a semi-autobiograpical novel about life in and around Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, which was the third in a series of four novels, published between 1938 and 1985, that are now collectively called, "The Bandini Quartet". That book was made into a movie by the same name in 2006. He also wrote several other books, stories, and screenplays, including the 1957 film, Full of Life, based on his 1952 novel by that name. Other noted screenplays Fante co-wrote include the 1962 films Walk on the Wild Side
Walk on the Wild Side (film)
Walk on the Wild Side is a 1962 film directed by Edward Dmytryk, adapted from the 1956 novel A Walk on the Wild Side by Nelson Algren. The film had a star-studded cast, including Laurence Harvey, Capucine, Jane Fonda , Anne Baxter, and Barbara Stanwyck, and was scripted by John Fante. Nonetheless,...
and The Reluctant Saint
The Reluctant Saint
The Reluctant Saint is a 1962 film which tells a somewhat fictionalized version of the story of Joseph of Cupertino, a 17th Century Italian saint. It stars Maximilian Schell as Joseph, as well as Ricardo Montalban, Lea Padovani, Akim Tamiroff, and Harold Goldblatt...
, and 1968's made-for-television movie, Something for a Lonely Man
Something for a Lonely Man
Something for a Lonely Man is a made-for-television western movie. It was first broadcast in 1968; NBC aired it a second time on December 9, 1969.-Plot:...
, as well as several others.
Personal life
Fante was born in Denver, ColoradoDenver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
in 1909 to his father, Nicola Fante and his mother, Mary Capolungo. He attended various Boulder, Colorado Catholic schools before briefly enrolling at the University of Colorado
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...
. He dropped out of college in 1929 and moved to Southern California to focus on his writing. He wrote about writing, and the people and places where he lived and worked, which included Wilmington, Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, Manhattan Beach
Manhattan Beach, California
Manhattan Beach is the wealthiest beachfront city located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, USA. The city is on the Pacific coast, south of El Segundo, and north of Hermosa Beach. Manhattan Beach is the home of both beach and indoor volleyball, and surfing. During the winter, the...
, the Bunker Hill district of downtown Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, as well as various homes in Hollywood, Echo Park, and Malibu.
Career
After many unsuccessful attempts at publishing stories in the highly regarded literary magazine, The American MercuryThe American Mercury
The American Mercury was an American magazine published from 1924 to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured writing by some of the most important writers in the United States through the 1920s and 1930s...
, his short story "Altar Boy" was accepted conditionally by the magazine's editor, H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken
Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a scholar of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the...
. The acceptance of "Altar Boy" by The American Mercury was accompanied by a reply from Mencken that read: "Dear Mr. Fante, What do you have against a typewriter? If you transcribe this manuscript in type I'll be glad to buy it. Sincerely yours, H.L. Mencken."
By far, his most popular novel is the semi-autobiographical Ask the Dust
Ask the Dust
Ask the Dust is the most popular novel of Italian-American author John Fante, first published in 1939 and set during the Great Depression-era in Los Angeles. It is one of a series of novels featuring the character Arturo Bandini as Fante's alter ego, a young Italian-American from Colorado...
, 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: Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1938), The Road to Los Angeles (chronologically, this is the first novel Fante wrote but it was unpublished until 1985), Ask the Dust (1939), and finally Dreams from Bunker Hill (1982), which was dictated to his wife, Joyce, towards the end of his life. Fante's use of Bandini as his alter ego can be compared to Charles Bukowski's character, Henry Chinaski. Bukowski was heavily influenced by John Fante (see below).
Other novels include Full of Life (1952), The Brotherhood of the Grape (1977), and 1933 Was a Bad Year (1985; incomplete). Two novellas, 'My Dog Stupid' and 'The Orgy' were published in 1986 under the title West of Rome. His short story collection, Dago Red, was originally published in 1940, and then republished with a few additional stories in 1985 under the title The Wine of Youth.
Recurring themes in Fante's work are poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, family life
Family Life
Family Life is a magazine published by, and primarily for, the Old Order Amish. The publisher is Pathway Publishers of Aylmer, Ontario, Canada. Unlike some Amish publications, Family Life is printed entirely in English rather than Pennsylvania Dutch or German.The magazine was founded in 1968 and is...
, Italian-American identity, sports, and the writing life. Ask the Dust has been referred to over the years as a monumental Southern California/Los Angeles novel by a host of reputable sources (e.g.: Carey McWilliams
Carey McWilliams (journalist)
Carey McWilliams was an American author, editor, and lawyer. He is best known for his writings about social issues in California, including the condition of migrant farm workers and the internment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II...
, Charles Bukowski, and The Los Angeles Times Book Review). More than sixty years after it was published, Ask the Dust appeared for several weeks on the New York Times' Bestseller's List. Fante's clear voice, vivid characters, shoot-from-the-hip style, and painful, emotional honesty blended with humor and scrupulous self-criticism lends his books to wide appreciation. Most of his novels and stories take place either in Colorado or California. Many of his novels and short stories also feature or focus on fictional incarnations of Fante's father, Nick Fante, as a cantankerous wine tippling, cigar stub-smoking bricklayer
Brick hod
A brick hod is a three-sided box for carrying bricks or other construction materials, often mortar. It bears a long handle and is carried over the shoulder...
.
Fante's screenwriting credits include the comedy-drama Full of Life (1957), based on his novel of the same name, which starred Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday was an American actress.Holliday began her career as part of a night-club act, before working in Broadway plays and musicals...
and Richard Conte
Richard Conte
Richard Conte was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films from the 1940s through 1970s, including I'll Cry Tomorrow and The Godfather.-Life and career:...
, and was nominated for Best Written American Comedy at the 1957 WGA Awards
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
. He also co-wrote Walk on the Wild Side (1962), which stars Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
in her first credited film role, based on the novel by Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren was an American writer.-Early life:Algren was born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Goldie and Gerson Abraham. At the age of three he moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois where they lived in a working-class, immigrant neighborhood on the South Side...
. His other screenplay credits include Dinky, Jeanne Eagels, My Man and I, The Reluctant Saint, Something for a Lonely Man and Six Loves. As Fante himself often admitted, most of what he wrote for the screen was simply hackwork intended to bring in a paycheck,.
In the late 1970s, at the suggestion of novelist and poet Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
, 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
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
under the Ecco
Ecco
Ecco may refer to:* Ecco, an imprint of the multinational publisher HarperCollins* ECCO, a Danish shoe manufacturer* Ecco & Miramont, a packaging and labels company* Ecco Employment Agency, an employment agency...
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).
Legacy and recognition
He is known to be one of the first writers to portray the tough times faced by many writers in L.A. Robert TowneRobert Towne
Robert Towne is an American screenwriter and director. His most notable work may be his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown .-Film:...
has called Ask The Dust the greatest novel ever written about Los Angeles.
His work and style has influenced similar authors such as Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
, who stated in his introduction to Ask The Dust "Fante was my god". He was proclaimed by Time Out magazine as one of America's “criminally neglected writers."
In 1987, Fante was posthumously awarded the PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
USA President's Award.
On October 13, 2009, Los Angeles City Council
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...
member Jan Perry
Jan Perry
Jan C. Perry is an American municipal politician. She is currently representing the 9th district of the Los Angeles City Council. She is a member of the Democratic Party.-City Council elections:...
put forward a motion, seconded by Jose Huizar, that the intersection of Fifth Street and Grand Avenue be designated John Fante Square. The site is outside the Los Angeles Central Library frequented by the young Fante, and where Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
discovered Ask The Dust. On April 8, 2010, the author's 101st birthday, the Fante Square sign was unveiled in a noon ceremony attended by Fante's family, fans and city officials. Fante Square is located near the old Bunker Hill neighborhood he wrote about, and where he also lived.
He is also referenced in the song "Album of the Year" by The Good Life.
Minnesota punk rock group Banner Pilot reverence John Fante in the song "Starting at an Ending."
Film and theater adaptations
Dominique DeruddereDominique Deruddere
Dominique Deruddere is a Belgian film director.- Filmography:* Crazy Love * Wait Until Spring, Bandini * Everybody's Famous! -External links:...
directed the movie version of Wait Until Spring, Bandini
Wait Until Spring, Bandini
Wait Until Spring, Bandini is a 1989 film written and directed by Dominique Deruddere, based upon the novel by John Fante. The film won three Joseph Plateau Awards.-Plot:...
, which was released in 1989. In March 2006, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
released Ask the Dust
Ask the Dust (film)
Ask the Dust is a 2006 film based on the book Ask the Dust by John Fante. The movie was written and directed by Robert Towne. Tom Cruise served as one of the film's producers. The film was released on a limited basis on March 17, 2006...
, directed by Robert Towne
Robert Towne
Robert Towne is an American screenwriter and director. His most notable work may be his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown .-Film:...
and starring Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell
Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
, Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek
Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault is a Mexican film actress, director and producer. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role as Frida Kahlo in the film Frida.-Early life:...
, and Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
. In December 2006, a 2001 documentary film about Fante, entitled A Sad Flower in the Sand (directed by Jan Louter) aired on the PBS series Independent Lens
Independent Lens
Airing weekly on PBS through ITVS, the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens introduces new drama and documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of Independent Lens have been presented by hosts Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Howard, Maggie...
.
On January 18, 2001 the play, "1933" by Randal Myler and Brockman Seawell
Brockman Seawell
Brock Seawell has been producing plays, television programs and feature films for nearly three decades. Most recently he completed the full length documentary, "When I Hear Thunder," the tale of four young Native American boxers and their families, which was nominated for a Heartland Emmy in...
, based on the novel
1933 was a Bad Year, premiered at the Denver Center for the Performing arts.
External links
- Who Was John Fante? at Salon.comSalon.comSalon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
- John Fante: Father of L.A. Lit at The Palisadian-Post
- Italian-English website about Fante's family
- 2007 photographs of the ruined apartment house where Fante wrote "Ask the Dust"
- A SAD FLOWER IN THE SAND site for Independent LensIndependent LensAiring weekly on PBS through ITVS, the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens introduces new drama and documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of Independent Lens have been presented by hosts Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Howard, Maggie...
on PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia.... - John Fante's Dreams of Bunker Hill tour from L.A. bus adventure company Esotouric
- 1940 John Fante story about Bunker Hill, from the Los Angeles Times
- http://www.playbill.com/news/article/57952-1933_Tale_of_a_Baseball_Dreamer_Premieres_in_Denver_Jan._18-March_3
- Short radio script from Ask the Dust at the California Legacy ProjectCalifornia Legacy ProjectThe California Legacy Project began in 2000 as a project at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA and later partnered with Heyday Books in Berkeley, CA. The project uses a research team of SCU interns to create radio scripts for the radio anthology "Your California Legacy" on KAZU 90.3 FM,...
. - http://www.archive.org/details/JohnFanteSquareCeremony video