Tropic of Cancer
Another broke writer turning humiliation, appetite, and self-belief into literature.
Read our take
Ask the Dust
by John Fante
John Fante’s novel of a broke, arrogant young writer chasing literary glory and love in Depression-era Los Angeles.
- 1939
The story, briefly
Spoiler-freeArturo Bandini lives in a cheap Los Angeles hotel, survives on almost nothing, and is convinced he is destined to become a great writer. His hunger, pride, humiliation, desire, and volatile relationship with Camilla Lopez make the novel a foundational story about turning an undignified life into literature.
What's inside
A penniless young writer tries to make a name for himself in Los Angeles while his confidence, poverty, desire, and cruelty repeatedly collide.
Why we recommend it
The broke-writer novel
Bandini’s poverty, ego, hunger, and absolute belief in his talent make him one of Miller’s closest fictional relatives.
What this book explores
Book editions
- Paperback
- Harper Perennial
- 2006
- 9780060822552
Reader reviews
Readers may also like
On the Road
Another autobiographical American novel powered by voice and restless self-invention.
Read our takeIf you like John Fante
Explore authors with a similar voice, perspective, and influence.
Ernest Hemingway
Author of The Sun Also Rises and A Moveable Feast; his pared-down style, developed in 1920s Paris, became the most imitated in American prose.
View author
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
The doctor of the Paris slums who wrote the century's blackest, funniest novel — and changed the sound of French prose.
View author
Henry Miller
The Brooklyn dropout who arrived in Paris broke at thirty-eight and wrote the exuberant, banned books that ended American censorship.
View author
References
References
The sources below include the primary text, editions, scholarship, archival materials, and other records that informed this page. They document Ask the Dust, its publication, and its place in literary history.
1Ask the Dust
NovelStackpole Sons, 1939Used forPrimary source for the novel, characters, and publication record.
i
Why these sources are here
The primary text is the baseline reference for every book page. Additional references document publication history, interpretation, and historical context where that evidence is available.
Explore more resources