In a few words
A rediscovered classic about frustrated masculinity in America’s Great Depression. Introduced by Dan Fante
In a few words
A rediscovered classic about frustrated masculinity in America’s Great Depression. Introduced by Dan Fante
Bandini is a magnificent creation, and his rediscovery is not before time
John Fante takes some beating . . . mean, moody, disturbing and intensely atmospheric
Bandini is a magnificent creation, and his rediscovery is not before time.
John Fante takes some beating . . . mean, moody, disturbing and intensely atmospheric.
More about
the book
For Arturo Bandini, oldest son of Italian immigrants living in small-town Colorado during the Great Depression, the winter proves harsh. When his father seemingly abandons his family, Arturo is left to pick up the pieces, even as turmoil rages within him.
With its evocative account of grinding poverty, tragic love affairs and tumultuous adolescence, this first novel from the Bandini quartet is a much-neglected masterpiece of modern American literature.
More about
the book
A powerful, lyrical and touching tale of a turbulent adolescent trying to break out of the suffocating, prison-like confinements of family, poverty and religion in a small town, Wait Until Spring, Bandini tells the story of a winter in the childhood of Arturo Bandini, oldest son of Italian immigrants living in Colorado during the Great Depression.
With its powerful and evocative account of tragic love affairs, grinding poverty and adolescence in turmoil, this first novel from the Bandini quartet is a much-neglected masterpiece of modern American literature.
If you haven't yet discovered John Fante, you're in for a wonderful treat
John Fante knew how to make words sing
A lost classic of American literature . . . Evocative of a time with great parallels to our own, Fante's novel portrays youthful ennui and young love brilliantly
John Fante knew how to make words sing. When he was on form, he could write sentences that stopped time.
John Fante
View profileBorn in Denver on 8 April 1909, John Fante migrated to Los Angeles in his early twenties. Classically out of place in a town built on celluloid dreams, Fante’s literary fiction was full of torn grace and redemptive vengeance. Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1938), his first novel, began the saga of Arturo Bandini, a character whose story continues in The Road to Los Angeles, Ask the Dust and Dreams from Bunker Hill – collectively known as The Bandini Quartet. Fante published several other novels, as well as stories, novellas and screenplays in his seventy-four years, including The Brotherhood of the Grape (1977) and 1933 Was A Bad Year (posthumously, 1985). He was posthumously recognised in 1987 with a Lifetime Achievement Award by PEN in Los Angeles, four years after his death from diabetes-related complications.
John Fante
View profileBorn in Denver on 8 April 1909, John Fante migrated to Los Angeles in his early twenties. Classically out of place in a town built on celluloid dreams, Fante’s literary fiction was full of torn grace and redemptive vengeance. Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1938), his first novel, began the saga of Arturo Bandini, a character whose story continues in The Road to Los Angeles, Ask the Dust and Dreams from Bunker Hill – collectively known as The Bandini Quartet. Fante published several other novels, as well as stories, novellas and screenplays in his seventy-four years, including The Brotherhood of the Grape (1977) and 1933 Was A Bad Year (posthumously, 1985). He was posthumously recognised in 1987 with a Lifetime Achievement Award by PEN in Los Angeles, four years after his death from diabetes-related complications.
