Lucy and Kim and anyone else:
Oh, where to start with Fante? Well, I just copied this document on my
hard drive. If I knew where I found it I'd post the link, but I'll just
paste this, it's a little over a page. For anyone who writes, "Ask the
Dust" is a good book to start with. That, along with "Full of Life" and
"My Dog Stupid" are my personal favorites. They're quick reads, most last
me only two or three sittings, leaving me wanting more. By the way, movie
version of "Wait Until Spring Bandini" is terrible. Great book, bad movie.
I hope the movies made from his scripts are better. Anyone ever see any of
them?
Born in Denver, Colorado, in 1909 to an immigrant Italian
bricklayer father and an extremely religious mother, his early years
were spent in poverty and the anti-Italian prejudice of the time. His
education led him to an absolute, insane determination to
become a writer, so he dropped out of the University of Colorado in 1929
and escaped to California.
Working menial jobs and living in boarding houses and cheap rooms,
his first success was the publication of one of his short
stories in H.L. Mencken's "The American Mercury" Magazine. Mencken became
his friend and mentor. By 1936, Fante had
developed the 'Arturo Bandini' alter-ego. His first Bandini novel, "The
Road To Los Angeles", was rejected by publishers, but the
second, "Wait Until Spring, Bandini", was published in 1938; two reviewers
listed it as 'best novel of the year'. His third novel,
"Ask The Dust" ? generally considered his masterpiece ? was published in
1939, and the short story collection "Dago Red" in 1940.
In 1940, he married budding poet Joyce Smart, against her family's wishes.
But Fante's rapid rise did not continue, and his next book, an epic
tale of Filipino migrant workers, "The Little Brown
Brothers", was rejected. Book and short story sales did not make a living ?
he and Joyce eventually had four children ? so Fante
took jobs writing for Hollywood studios, which he described as "the most
disgusting job in Christ's kingdom".
Twelve years went by before another Fante book was published, "Full
of Life", an atypical work which was ironically a
best-seller and a popular 1956 feature film, starring John Conte & Judy
Holliday. His success in Hollywood was substantial, though
many of his scripts were never produced, and Fante moved his family into a
home in Malibu.
But his creative life was still hell for many years, and in 1955 he
was diagnosed with diabetes, resulting in the amputation of a
leg and then blindness in 1978. In 1980, poet Charles Bukowski sent a copy
of "Ask The Dust" to his publisher, Black Sparrow
Press, demanding republication of Fante's book as a condition of
publication of further Bukowski work. The rediscovery of Fante's
work and the revival of his reputation revitalised him, and even though
blind and seriously ill, he dictated "Dreams From Bunker
Hill" to his wife, and lived to see it published. He died 8 May 1983. Since
that time, all of his books ? even those previously
rejected by publishers ? have been and still are in print. An acclaimed
biography by Stephen Cooper was published in May of 2000,
followed by "The John Fante Reader" in February 2002.
The Saga of Arturo Bandini
"Wait Until Spring, Bandini"
[April 1938]
Black Sparrow Press 9x6 PB
[4/83]
1989 Movie
Directed by Dominique
Deruddere
Starring Joe Mantegna, Ornella
Muti, & Faye
Dunaway, with Michael Bacall
as Arturo
color VHS (1990) for $17.99
via Amazon.com
full credits from IMDb
"The Road to Los Angeles"
[1985]
Black Sparrow Press 9x6 PB
[12/85]
"Ask The Dust" [1939]
Black Sparrow Press 9x6 PB
[6/80]
"Dreams From Bunker Hill"
[1982]
Black Sparrow Press 9x6 PB
[3/82]
Other Fiction
"The Wine of Youth"
[publd in 1940 as 'Dago
Red']
Time Magazine called it
'best story collection of
the year'
Black Sparrow Press 9x6 pb
[10/84]
"Full of Life" [1952]
Black Sparrow Press 9x6 pb
[2/88]
1956 movie
Directed by Richard Quine
Starring Richard Conte &
Judy Holliday
Nominated by W.G.A. for
'Best Comedy'
b&w VHS for $17.99 via
Amazon.com
full credits from IMDb
"The Brotherhood of the
Grape" [1977]
Black Sparrow Press 9x6 pb
[12/88]
"1933 Was A Bad Year"
Black Sparrow Press 9x6 pb
[9/85]
"West of Rome: Two Novellas"
['My Dog Stupid' & 'The
Orgy']
Black Sparrow Press 9x6 pb
[12/86]
"The Big Hunger: Stories
1932-1959"
Black Sparrow Press 9x6 pb
[3/2000]
Motion Picture & Television Scripts
"Dinky" [1935; co-writer]
Starring Jackie Cooper & Mary
Astor; credits from IMDb
"East of the River" [1940;
co-writer; aka 'Mama Ravioli']
Directed by Alfred E. Green,
starring John Garfield; credits from IMDb
"Youth Runs Wild" [1944;
co-writer]
Directed by Mark Robson; credits
from IMDb
"My Man and I" [1952;
co-writer]
Directed by William A.
Wellman; credits from IMDb
"Full of Life" [1956 hit]
Directed by Richard Quine
Starring Richard Conte & Judy
Holliday
Nominated by W.G.A. for 'Best
Comedy'
b&w VHS for $17.99 via
Amazon.com
full credits from IMDb
"Jeanne Eagels" [1957;
co-writer]
Directed by George Sidney,
starring Kim Novak; credits from IMDb
"Walk On The Wildside" [1962]
Directed by Edward Dmytryk (&
Blake Edwards)
Starring Laurence Harvey,
Capucine
& Barbara Stanwyck
b&w VHS for $17.99 via Amazon.com
full credits from IMDb
"The Reluctant Saint" [1962;
co-writer]
Directed by Edward Dmytryk; full
credits from IMDb
"My Six Loves" [1963;
co-writer]
Debbie Reynolds musical
comedy; credits from IMDb
"Maya" [1966; co-writer]
Directed by John Berry
Starring Clint Walker &
Jay North
color VHS for $17.99 via
Amazon.com
full credits from IMDb
"Something For A Lonely Man"
[1968; co-writer]
TV Western; credits from
IMDb
Works About John Fante
"The John Fante Reader" [2002]
Edited by Stephen Cooper
Wm. Morrow 9½x6½ hardcover
[2/2002]
"Full of Life: A Biography of
John Fante" [2000]
by Stephen Cooper
North Point Press 9x6 hardcover
[5/2000]
"John Fante: His Novels &
Novellas" [2000]
by Catherine J. Kordich
Twayne Publrs 9x6 hardcover
[6/2000]
"John Fante: A Literary
Portrait" [1999]
by Richard Collins
Guernica Editions pb [12/99]
"John Fante: A Critical
Gathering" [1999]
Edited by Stephen Cooper &
David M. Fine
Fairleigh Dickenson hardcover
[9/99]
"John Fante & H.L. Mencken:
A Personal Correspondence
1930-1952"
Edited by Michael Moreau &
Joyce Fante
Black Sparrow Press hardcover
[1/89]
Lucy Pearson
<l_r_pearson@yahoo.co To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
.uk> cc:
Sent by: Subject: Inverted forest / John Fante
owner-bananafish@roug
hdraft.org
03/19/03 04:59 AM
Please respond to
bananafish
Dearest bananafish,
How nice to see the list functioning again. I have dropped from lurker to
occasional dipper in of toes recently as I'm teaching in Italy and don't
have much time to use the internet. The last few times I dipped my toes in
it was a trifle frosty, to say the least, but I'm glad to see everyone
seems to be back on form.
It's some time since i read the Inverted Frest, but i'd like to offer
agreement to the sevral people who comented on how worthy of
(re)publication it is and i've enjoyed the discussion so far.
I haven't read John Fante: what did he write? It's always nice to get
reccommendations from bananafish - they have proved worthwhile in the past
- so whoever it was who first mentioned him (sorry can't remember who)
please don't feel that you ought not to be making non Salinger references.
One of the things I like about this list is that I can read / have
discussions about all kinds of things wih people I by and large respect and
admire.
Well, I haven't much else to say, but just felt like extending a hand to
y'all after so long offlist.
Love, Lucy-Ruth
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Received on Wed Mar 19 08:58:41 2003
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