Full of life - john fante

Biography of John Fante

John Fante was an American writer and screenwriter of Italian descent. He was born in Colorado in 1909. Fante attended a parish school in Boulder and Regis High School, which was run by the Jesuits. He also attended the University of Colorado and Long Beach City College.

In 1929, Fante began writing and in 1932, his first short story was published in The American Mercury. Many of his stories were subsequently published in magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly, The American Mercury, The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, Esquire, and Harper's Bazaar.

His first novel, "Wait Until Spring, Bandini," was published in 1938. The following year, "Ask the Dust" was released, followed by the short story collection "Dago Red" in 1940. Fante's literary career was heavily influenced by the literary atmosphere of America during that time.

In 1933, Fante lived in a Long Beach attic, working on his first novel, "The Road to Los Angeles." In a letter to Carey McWilliams dated February 23, 1933, Fante wrote, "I have seven months and $450 to write my novel. I think it's pretty fabulous." Fante signed a contract with Knopf publishers and received an advance. However, he did not finish the novel in seven months. Sometime in 1936, he revised the first hundred pages, making some cuts, and completed the book.

In an undated letter (around 1936) to McWilliams, Fante wrote, "The Road to Los Angeles is finished, and my God! How pleased I am... I hope to send it on Friday. There is something in it that will curl the hair on a wolf's rear end. It may be too strong; i.e. lacks 'good' taste. But I don't care." The novel was never published, probably because the subject matter was deemed too provocative in the mid-1930s. The novel introduces Fante's alter ego, Arturo Bandini, who reappears in "Wait Until Spring, Bandini" (1938), "Ask the Dust" (1939), and "Dreams from Bunker Hill" (1982).

The manuscript was discovered among John Fante's papers by his widow, Joyce, after his death and the book can now rightfully take its place on the short but impressive list of important first novels by American authors. Publishers did not frequently publish Fante, as it was not the best time for literature. Therefore, he earned a living as an unappreciated screenwriter. Some of his films have become classics of mid-century Hollywood, including "Full of Life," "Jeanne Eagels," "My Man and I," "The Reluctant Saint," "Something for a Lonely Man," "My Six Loves," and "Walk on the Wild Side."

In 1955, John Fante was diagnosed with diabetes, and complications from the illness led to blindness in 1978. However, he continued to write, dictating to his wife, Joyce. His final book, "Dreams from Bunker Hill," was published in 1982 by Black Sparrow Press. John Fante passed away on May 8, 1983, at the age of 74.

The honor of "rediscovering" John Fante for the American reading public belongs to Black Sparrow Press, known for its impeccable literary taste. Fante's catalog in the press is relatively small, consisting of a dozen slim volumes and two volumes of letters (including more than twenty years of correspondence with the great philologist and linguist H.L. Mencken), but, as they say, it is worth many other folios. Fante's style is deeply traditional, without frills. His language is melodic and transparent, and his speech is direct and honest to the point that many consider him a precursor to the American literary underground of the 1960s. Charles Bukowski, forever grateful to Fante for the influence his books had on him, wrote in the preface to the reissue of "Ask the Dust": " a man who finds gold in the city dump, I went with the book to the table. The lines rolled easily across the page, there was a flow. Each line had its own energy and was followed by another like it. The substance of each line gave the page form, a feeling of something carved into it. And here, at last, was a man who was not afraid of emotion. There was a great deal of it on every page."