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233 ratings, 3.95 average rating, 17 reviews
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published
2005
by Canongate Books Ltd
binding
Paperback, 240 pages
isbn
1841956198
(isbn13: 9781841956190)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 293)
Read in September, 2007
Mucho mejor que 'Espera a la primavera, Bandini' y casi tan buena como 'Pregúntale al polvo', libro que desde que lo terminé está ya entre mis favoritos. De John Fante me encanta su sentido del humor y su capacidad de reírse de él mismo, porque todos sus libros parece que son más o menos autobiográficos y, por lo tanto, se diría que acaban hablando siempre de lo mismo, pero lo hace con un estilo personal, directo y sin complejos que te engancha, con lo cual yo diría más bien que con su...more
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recommends it for:
people who like reading about old farts
This book is pretty good. Like most (if not all) of Fante's works it's basically auto-biographical, but in this book he's an old fart. Who really gives a shit about old farts? I mean, he's not even a dirty old bastard of an old fart like his friend Bukowski. He's just some normal old guy.
Don't read this one unless you read 'Wait Until Spring, Bandini' or 'Ask the Dust' and decide that it's a moral imperative that you read everything Fante ever wrote. That's what happened to me. Then I ended...more
Don't read this one unless you read 'Wait Until Spring, Bandini' or 'Ask the Dust' and decide that it's a moral imperative that you read everything Fante ever wrote. That's what happened to me. Then I ended...more
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This guy is one of my favorites. One examople of his hospitality magic here is the first Cafe Roma scene where "a few sportive flys" take rides on the chandelier blades between flights. This one's nowhere near as cool as Ask The Dust or The Road to los Angeles (my favorite by Fante), but is still a good read, touching since the central conflict is between a middle-aged writer (Fante character) and his drunken irascible bricklayer father (as Fante's father really was) who dies in the no...more
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Ah Fante. This book centers around the relationship of a man and his family, but most importantly, his elderly father who is fading fast.
I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. As the book started, I realized it was going to be one of those typical embattled and tragic father stories. Which it was, but not in a boring or predictable way.
All in all, a good quick read. Fante's style is all right with me. And it's easy to see why Bukowski liked him as he did.
I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. As the book started, I realized it was going to be one of those typical embattled and tragic father stories. Which it was, but not in a boring or predictable way.
All in all, a good quick read. Fante's style is all right with me. And it's easy to see why Bukowski liked him as he did.
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Anna by:
Corey
Short and funny, sad and strange. Characteristically late-70s sexual politics and stereotyping underpin real emotion, without undermining it. The characters all being in their fifties/eighties helped in this department, I suppose, and I did find myself wondering if this world somehow really existed, somewhere in the Sacramento Valley in the years just before my birth.
Why have I never read John Fante before? What should I read next?
Why have I never read John Fante before? What should I read next?
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
sadsacks
Mostly about being old and wistful and wistfully watching your parents get old and/or die. This is basically a "father-son" book, and a lesser writer could easily have turned this same story into something completely tiresome - but Fante writes well, and here he's often funny, reflective, humble, and humane. Mostly he's kind of a sad-sack, though. But it works, and the writing here is occasionally graceful and moving.
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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. Fante is one of Charles Bukowski's heroes.
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I just realized, re-reading this fine book that it is among the most painfully real and beautiful explorations of manhood, family, and father-son dynamics I've ever read.
And, the pain (as with all the fiction I love best) is not belittled, but accentuated and made fuller by the copious humor.
Lord, this man could write.
And, the pain (as with all the fiction I love best) is not belittled, but accentuated and made fuller by the copious humor.
Lord, this man could write.
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Read in April, 2008
This was my first exposure to Mr. Fante and I really enjoyed the experience. I like to see characters written with raw intensity - all the horridness of them presented without gloss. Unlike some other authors of this type, like Bukowski, things are a little smoother and easier to swallow - just like a jug or two of the Grape.
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Read in September, 2007
Spins of post modern simple prose.
A book filled with family, self realization, and Italiano all compacted into a bottle of the finest red wine.
A book filled with family, self realization, and Italiano all compacted into a bottle of the finest red wine.
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
wine lovers, old souls, 2nd generation immigrant families
Fante is definitely one of the greatest writers of the last century. It's a shame he wasn't loved more. This is the best of his I've read.
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What all Italian families are like. Feels like I am hanging with my father on every page.
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Wine, adultery and baseball.
It doesn't get more savage than this.
It doesn't get more savage than this.
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Read in January, 2005
About an Italian-American family and wine drinking. Very entertaining.
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Read in January, 2008
Not as good as the bandini books, but man, Fante could write.
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2008 (on 3 people's shelves)
california (on 2 people's shelves)
own (on 1 person's shelf)
siglo-xx (on 1 person's shelf)
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novel (on 1 person's shelf)
1990 (on 1 person's shelf)
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fiction (on 7 people's shelves)
currently-reading (on 6 people's shelves)
2008 (on 3 people's shelves)
california (on 2 people's shelves)
own (on 1 person's shelf)
siglo-xx (on 1 person's shelf)
literatura-en-ingles (on 1 person's shelf)
novel (on 1 person's shelf)
1990 (on 1 person's shelf)
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