Synopses & Reviews
Bruno Dante has fled Los Angeles for New York City. With its cold, hard edge, it's his kind of town. . . . But the string of deadbeat temporary telemarketing gigs is getting to Bruno and the steady work he can stand is hard to come by. Bruno's trying everything: hotel night manager, window cleaner, and cab driver, all the while punctuating his unsatisfying employment experiments with meaningless affairs and intense drinking binges. Then something totally unexpected pops up and Bruno finds himself in a position to act responsibly, to start writing again, and to get his life back on track. But like his drinking, screwing up might be a habit that's too deeply ingrained to shake.
Review
“As we trawl with him through deadbeat and dead-end jobs, this unsettling novel is haunted by the spectre of Charles Bukowski.” The Times (London)
Review
“It gives an honest misfits view of America far too few know.” John Fowles
Review
“A truly great American novel.” Scotland on Sunday
Review
“Moments which brush the genius of Bukowski and Hubert Selby.” Elle (France)
Review
“Dan Fantes novel does an excellent job of delivering this tale of depraved despair with a steady one-two-punch rhythm that hurts like hell while still being impossible to put down.” Sacramento Book Review
Review
“Evokes brutally and skillfully the violently numb condition of his alter ego.” The Times (London)
Synopsis
Bruno Dante -- aspiring playwright, part-time depressive, and full-time drunk -- has hitchhiked cross-country, escaping the sunshine, have-a-nice-day culture of L.A. for the more cynical climate of New York. It seems to be his kind of town. But he's Bruno Dante, and things are always bound to go wrong.
He finds himself in the rut of deadbeat temping jobs, but they don't last. Dante won't play office politics or kiss ass. Longer stints as the night manager of a run-down hotel, a window cleaner, and, finally, a cabbie are punctuated by a number of meaningless affairs, drinking binges, and the customary bouts of depression.
Beautiful and brutal in equal measures, Fante's insights are once again fiercely compelling, desperately compassionate, and obscenely funny. Unmissable.
Synopsis
Now back in print to coincide with the publication of his new novel, 86d, Dan Fantes Spitting Off Tall Buildings is the story of aspiring writer and part-time drunk Bruno Dante, who leaves sunny Los Angeles for cold, hard New York City. Falling into a string of temporary, dead-end jobs, punctuated by meaningless affairs and intense drinking, Bruno has almost had enough when a sudden event offers him the opportunity to get his life back on track—unless screwing up, like drinking, proves a habit too difficult to shake. In prose steeped with rage and surprising humor, Fante presents a point of view of America that only the true outlaw will recognize.
About the Author
The son of novelist John Fante (Ask the Dust), Dan Fante is the author of the novels 86'd, Chump Change, and Mooch; the short story collection, Short Dog; two books of poetry; and the plays The Boiler Room and Don Giovanni. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he lives in Arizona with his wife and son.