by John Fante
Recommended by Patrick O'Shaughnessy and Neil Strauss
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Recommended by 4 sources and appears in Most Recommended Books and Fiction.
Ask the Dust is the story of Arturo Bandini, a young ItalianAmerican writer in 1930s Los Angeles who falls hard for the elusive, mocking, unstable Camilla Lopez, a Mexican waitress. Struggling to survive, he perseveres until, at last, his first novel is published. But the bright light of success is extinguished when Camilla has a nervous breakdown...
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Why recommended
Recommended by 4 sources and appears in Most Recommended Books and Fiction.
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
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Consider City of Quartz by Mike Davis. Recommended by 3 sources.
“City of Quartz reads like a forensic excavation of Los Angeles: archival reportage, policy history and polemical analysis piled together to show who benefits from growth and who gets pushed aside. Its useful part is the dense catalog of examples — land deals, policing, urban renewal episodes — that tie local institutions to broader economic forces. Annoyances are the repeated rhetorical flourishes and a sometimes fierce, judgmental tone; readers seeking detached description or step-by-step policy prescriptions may find it unsatisfying.”
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.
