Dreams from Bunker Hill
by John Fante
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 307)
A sequel to Ask the Dust. I have to say (I love Fante), part 1 left off at a point I didn't want to revisit. Especially if the love interest in Dust, readers were so invested in, changed into a lackluster one as did the one in Dreams, Jennifer Lovelace. While Dust deftly tackled the issue of class, Dreams falls short of this. . . it skirts around the idea.
Why read Dreams: You're a Fante fan, you have to read this. Arturo Bandini still manages to fuck with women, get rejected, and curse all of ...more
Why read Dreams: You're a Fante fan, you have to read this. Arturo Bandini still manages to fuck with women, get rejected, and curse all of ...more
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Another Fante. I can't help it, I love this man. This was not a bad effort but it lacked his poignant descriptions that usually seemed so effortless and the tortured protagonist was too easy to read. So, it fell one notch and I was afraid he was losing his magic at this point in his career. But I'm a sensible gal and I know there is no way Fante would let that happen. I attribute the faults to the fact that he was blind at this point and dictated the story to his wife.
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"She turned and left me alone. I dried myself off, got into my shorts and walked into the kitchen. She was at the stove, cooking my breakfast, her back to me. Skilled ass man that I was, I quickly detected the contraction of her buttocks-- a sure sign of rage in a woman. Experience had taught me great caution in the face of such dramatic change in the derriere and I was quiet as I sat down. It was like being in the presence of a coiled snake."
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Read in January, 1993
recommended to Glenn by:
Charles Bukowski
I loved every John Fante book I have read, which is most of his books. Great story telling, some of the best and most original scenes I've encountered, and great showing of the character's thought process in a very organic way. Some of the funniest, and some of the saddest, fiction I've read. Fante is one of Charles Bukowski's heroes.
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Read in September, 2007
The humor in this book makes it quite appealing, and the prose is lively and buoyant. Not much of a plot, and the love story could be better crafted, though. In the voice and the protagonist Arturo Bandini one can see similarities to Bukowski and his protagonist Henry Chinaski.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in September, 2007
At the end of his life Fante had gone blind. This, his last book, was dictated to his wife who typed it out for him. That merits four stars as opposed to the three it would have gotten because under such daunting circumstances he was still able to "write" a good story.
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not as good as ask the dust and maybe a little repetitive when compared to his other work, but this book is well worth it and not very long. even as i get older, i still enjoy all these alcoholic romantics. maybe because that is where i was for so very long.
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Read in September, 2001
recommends it for:
movie fans
I liked this more than "Ask The Dust" because Fante talks about all the BS that's Hollywood. There's a melodramatic subplot about him falling in love with his landlady, 20 years his senior. I hope they film this one without Colin Farrell.
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Read in January, 2007
I actually found Mr. Fante's final book, transcribed by his wife who he suffered the effects of diabetes, to be better crafted and sound than his more well known works. This book should be a classic.
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I learned that I never want to live in LA again, unless it is destroyed completely and Bunker Hill becomes something closer to what it was when Fante was riding the streetcars.
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Read in July, 2007
The writing is better, but he takes less risks with Bunker Hill. I think the money quickly went to his head.
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More Arturo Bandini goodness. It's not a stale story, it remains fresh and good. I liked it very much.
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i like fante, remenber me the itlian's tales!!!!
bandini of course!!
bandini of course!!
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