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510 ratings, 4.13 average rating, 31 reviews
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published
1999
by Canongate Books Ltd
binding
Paperback, 207 pages
isbn
0862419786
(isbn13: 9780862419783)
description
Fiction. John Fante recalls his first novel, recently republished by Black Sparrow Press: "Now that I am an old man I cannot look back upon WAIT ...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 629)
Read in July, 2007
No tan buena y fascinante como 'Pregúntale al polvo' pero también recomendable. Arturo Bandini (el protagonista de estas y otras novelas de Fante) es para mí uno de los grandes personajes de la literatura. Aquí está a punto de terminar la escuela primaria, pero está de lo más mosqueado porque en la escuela cuando los ordenan por estatura él siempre tiene que ir delante de cagones más pequeños que él pero más altos, como el estúpido de su hermano pequeño. Arturo Bandini es hijo de i...more
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Read in January, 1990
a perfectly perfect novel. the Bandini series is what made Fante a hero amongst literary giants, and i will admit that his short stories tend to fall a bit, well, short. but this, the first in the Bandini series, far outshines the more popular "ask the dust" (oh and collin farrel my ASS!) - you will truly KNOW Arturo Bandini after you read this one. You might not like him later, but you'll dig where he's coming from. and that's something, at least...
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Read in August, 2007
i'm glad i tried this author again, although it was purely by coincidence that last night after my drunken friend tore her place apart, she came up with this book for me to read. i didn't know what it was going to be, but despite all the cuba libres i had drank i immediately recognized the name. the characters are the same. the number of kids are different, but the rest is the same. the narrator who loves yet hates his mother for what she's not, the cold winter that means the father has no work ...more
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This is the 2nd in the series that I have read from his Bandini character. I read Ask The Dust(the third in the series) first and am reading this(first in the series) 2nd. I will read the 2nd in the series next and the fourth in the series last! All I can say at this point is that I was so mesmerised by the writing style and storyline from this book that I nearly finished it in one sitting. If my eyes would've held up, there would've been no stopping me. I will write a proper review when fi...more
i recommend any book by J.F. the true master of the short sentence
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Read in January, 2006
recommended to Jennifer by:
Paolo
I loved Wait Until Spring, Bandini, the first of four novels about the Bandini family (Italian immigrants living in Colorado during the Great Depression), and especially about the eldest son, Arturo. I loved the engaging, crisp writing style and remember laughing out loud at the world seen from inside the head of an adolescent girl-obsessed boy. While Fante touches on big issues--poverty, racism and the American Dream)--hi
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who loves great literature that's not too thick!
A fantastic introduction to Arturo Bandini's world. Arturo is a young adolescent, growing up during the Depression in the United States. His father likes a drink and tends to spend too little on his family, forcing them to live indebted to their local grocery store.
This book was very absorbing. The story of Arturo's unrequited love for his classmate should speak to anyone who's ever had a crush. Whether or not you grew up in the 1920s or 1930s.
This book was very absorbing. The story of Arturo's unrequited love for his classmate should speak to anyone who's ever had a crush. Whether or not you grew up in the 1920s or 1930s.
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I don't know that I liked this better than Ask the Dust. I'd say it was a push. 3.5 stars if I could.
I did get into the general love of Bandini and like Ask the Dust this book grabbed a huge amount of momentum as it went on. I could have taken or left it over the first hundred pages. The middle 50 were decent, the last 100 were very strong.
Antonio Bandini, you conflicted little bastard. I almost teared up for you yesterday....
I did get into the general love of Bandini and like Ask the Dust this book grabbed a huge amount of momentum as it went on. I could have taken or left it over the first hundred pages. The middle 50 were decent, the last 100 were very strong.
Antonio Bandini, you conflicted little bastard. I almost teared up for you yesterday....
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I saw the movie years ago and only later learned that Fante was a writer highly regarded by Charles Bukowski. Also, he is included in a book called Cult Fiction. So I finally read the book about a year ago. What I remember about it is that he used a kinda quirky repetitive style in the beginning of the book which he did not sustain. I didn't have trouble sticking with the book until the end, but I don't remember much about the story now.
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
folks who want Bukowski ruminating with a bigger vocabulary
This one really pulled at my heart strings...Fante has terrific control over his balance of humor and darkness, sadness and humility, and other juxtapositions that work nicely together from beginning to end. If you like loathing-man noodles, Fante's fusilli compared to Bukowski's spaghetti--tastes the same, just one's more complicated looking than the other. All in all, highly recommended!
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in May, 2008
This is a quick read as I knocked it out after a couple of lunch breaks. I really like Fante, and I got this cheap thinking that I had read it before- but I think this is my least favorite and, turns out, I HADN'T read it before.
It's still Fante: very meat and bone but with a great deal of charm. It probably would have blown me away if this was the first 'Bandini' I had read.
It's still Fante: very meat and bone but with a great deal of charm. It probably would have blown me away if this was the first 'Bandini' I had read.
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Read in July, 1994
recommends it for:
Everyone
Chances are, if you know about this Fante guy, you were probably made aware of his greatness by Charles Bukowski. Bukowski wrote some pretty solid stuff in his time, particularly Ham on Rye. He even surpassed the old man in some respects (via his poetry, his status/fame, etc.), but if you want to know about what made Bukowski tick, read this one, and everything Fante ever wrote.
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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.
Charles Bukowski makes it no secret that Fante is one of his big heroes.
Charles Bukowski makes it no secret that Fante is one of his big heroes.
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recommends it for:
Fante lovers
I liked Ask the Dust better, but this is still a very worthy read. Fante's sort of tragic romanticism is there in abundance, but with less of the snappy, hilarious lines I loved in Ask the Dust.
There's a child in my grandmother's apartment jumping around, talking and singing to herself right now, and it's irritating the shit out of me. Jet lag.
There's a child in my grandmother's apartment jumping around, talking and singing to herself right now, and it's irritating the shit out of me. Jet lag.
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Read in September, 2008
recommends it for:
most
The beginning if his Bandini series, this novel was a bit more serious and dour, but not exactly in a bad way. "Ask The Dust" is still the one to read, though. Warning, if you detest characters that are so simplistic as to almost be charicatures, you might look elsewhere.
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recommended to Jonathan by:
some girl from Brazil with a snake tattoo
recommends it for: people who aren't stupid
recommends it for: people who aren't stupid
I love this book. I'm afraid if I talk about it I'll give away too much of the plot, so I'll refrain, but while most folks seem to think 'Ask the Dust' is Fante's best novel, I disagree. This is the one.
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I actually preferred Fante's unpublished (at the time) debut (Road to Los Angeles). This one steps back to a younger Bandini - still an engrossing read of a bare-bones childhood.
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Chronicles Fante's childhood. Sweet but not sentimental nor nostalgic--as fine a sample of narrative as anyone can find from a master of American literature.
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Read in June, 2000
recommends it for:
people with pulses and warm breath
this is the best fucking book. ever. period.
especially the part with the crabs down by the bridge. amazing. best freak out ever committed to paper. ever.
especially the part with the crabs down by the bridge. amazing. best freak out ever committed to paper. ever.
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Read in July, 2007
pretty great, especially if you're interested in ideas of (italian) immigration, class, ethnicity, and how one reconciles these things within the self
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