The best thing about John Fante's "Ask the Dust" is the introduction by Charles Bukowski which made me think I'd like the book, and I don't even like Charles Bukowski's writing. The descriptions of Los Angeles are pretty decent, but the "I" narrator seems prissy and self pitying while also trying to play the role of hard drinking writer. The female center piece is a melodramatic Mexican marijuana addict waitress who keeps breaking into his hotel room and toking up in the closet, which leads to madness. She was just silly. It did remind me of how important it used to seem to be a writer who gets published, back in days when a short story could pay a signifigant check.
Anyone else here read this book?
I give it one bear, no arms up.
2 comments:
I love the Teddy Bear.
Either that is a very small Teddy Bear or a really large book.
I was wondering the same thing as rhsteeleoh about the size of the book and bear.
I don't read much fiction, although I recently enjoyed a graphic novel by P. Craig Russell based on Neil Gaiman's Coraline. It was so damn weird that I couldn't resist buying it.
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