Dreams from Bunker Hill

by John Fante

Book Overview

My first collision with fame was hardly memorable. I was a busboy at Marx's Deli. The year was 1934. The place was Third and Hill, Los Angeles. I was twenty-one years old, living in a world bounded on the west by Bunker Hill, on the east by Los Angeles Street, on the south by Pershing Square, and on the north by Civic Center. I was a busboy nonpareil, with great verve and style for the profession, and though I was dreadfully underpaid (one dollar...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B001E3TVLG
• ISBN13: 9780876855287
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 152 Pages
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

They don't write like this anymore

This is the second Fante novel I've read and it was a beauty. I just recenlty discovered Fante, too, and all I can say is I'll be reading more of him. The novel follows Arturo Bandini, a twenty-something from Colorado who's struggling to make it as a writer in Los Angeles. He meets all kinds of morons in the business, and his talent pretty much goes unrecognized. Fante's writing is just awesome. It far surpases the trash that's written today. If you're into a good story, one that has depth, action and killer prose, you can't go wrong with Fante. It's too bad they don't write like this anymore. Also recommended: How to Lose Your Faith in Divinity School

Fante's Best

Many Fante fans will vehemently disagree that this is his best work. That is probably because they are really Bukowski fans, and Bukowski liked Ask the Dust better. Of course, many Buk fans are as conformist as anyone, and they now follow him blindly as Pat Boone fans probably do Mr. Boone. These are the same people who think Buk could do no wrong (then what was up with Women?). I say that as a huge Buk fan, but as somebody who is not looking for a hero, but a good writer (which is what Buk was). Ask the Dust is great, and it has a better ending, but Dreams of Bunker Hill is Fante's best work. Here he lays bare the soul of a struggling writer in a world that does not care one bit for talented people. He gets a glimpse into the sophistication of Hollywood, and sees it for its falsity. The scene where he confronts Sinclair Lewis had me laughing for hours. And the strange relationship he has with his landlady is Fante at his best: love can be such a strange thing that it is wonderful. Fante should get much more academic notice, as should his follower Buk. What could help would be to realize that he, like Buk, was not always a "party-down wild man." Fante, like Buk, was VERY well steeped in the classics. He was incredibly widely read: from Anderson to Schopenhaur. Writing was hard work to him. For all the posers out there who want to be writers without hard work, please stop using Fante (and Buk's) name in vain. He's just better than you are or will be. When you realize his stuff please realize that the ease with which it reads is related to the difficulty with which it was composed.

Fante's swan-song

This is a great short novel. You can read it in one go. The streets of Los Angeles come alive in Fante's novels. I read this one summer in my early twenties. Every time I re-read I go back there. That's Fante's gift. He makes you feel young again. What's incredible is that he wrote this at the end of his life, his last gasp. Fante works some kind of miracle with the written word. Read him and see if you can work out how.

I loved this book

I am pretty sure the previous reviewer is mistaken about when this book was written. It is my understanding that Fante dictated it to his wife near the end of his life, after he had lost his sight to diabetes. Regardless, I loved it. This was the first Fante I read and it made me want to read everything I could get my hands on.I'm not suggesting it's his best -- I think "Ask the Dust" holds that honor -- but for my money "Dreams from Bunker Hill" is a damned fine book.

Up-beat Catcher in the Rye

Bukowski claims Fante as one of his favorites. It's not difficult to see why. This is a young man's coming-of-age story in Los Angeles circa 1930. Very funny and easy to read.