Ask the dust
by John Fante · first published 1939
5mentions
1recommended by
4HN commenters
2018–2026first – last mentioned
25% recommend75% neutral
Arturo Bandini is a struggling writer lodging in a seedy LA hotel. While basking in the glory of having had a single short story published in a small magazine, he meets local waitress Camilla Lopez and they embark on a strange and strained love-hate relationship/ Slowly, but inexorably, it descends into the realms of madness. Ask the Dust is one of the truly great, yet unsung, American novels of the twentieth century. A tough and unsentimental story with a soft and tender hear, it remains as fresh and affecting as the day it was written.
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…your style, or whatever. There are lots of good books out there though, and I'm glad you discovered something above the airport bestsellers. May I suggest to absolutely anyone Hunger, by Knut Hamson Ask The Dust, by John Fante American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis Lullaby, by Chuck Palahniuk Porno, by Irvine Welsh
on “How “The Great Gatsby” took over high school” ↗…into account, I think. It's the place where many people had their first ad hoc meeting with great writers there and had their real education, a notable example is Bukowski: "John Fante’s minor classic “Ask the Dust”; the book, which Bukowski accidentally discovered in the stacks of the Los Angeles Central Library, made a huge impression on him" (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/03/14/smashed). This, the…
on “The last thing libraries need is Silicon Valley “disruption.”” ↗Ask the Dust - John Fante Journey to the End of the Night - Louis-Ferdinand Celine Delta of Venus - Anais Nin The Star Diaries - Stanislaw Lem Maus - Art Spiegelman The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath Japanese Destroyer…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…submission fees. I will very rarely pay an application fee for a conference or entry fee for a contest, but even that I tend to avoid. 2. Perhaps the most depressing thing about reading John Fante’s Ask the Dust were the dollar amounts that were mentioned in the novel. Magazines paid more in nominal dollar amounts for stories in the 1930s than they do now.
on “Ask HN: Any successful transitions from a tech/IT career to working in the arts?” ↗If you read John Fante’s Ask the Dust, he has a number of dollar amounts in there for short story sales. Those numbers are better than pretty much every contemporary opportunity without adjusting for inflation. I would say that the 20s and…
on “The Work Behind the Writing: On Writers and Their Day Jobs” ↗