West of Rome

West of Rome is excellent Fante. The book consists of a novella and a story story. The former is a thinly-veiled fiction addressing a stray dog's impact on the narrator's life just as his kids are gro...

I was moved. The runaway dog, the grown up children, the dreams of a better place, of something different. So familiar. So true....

What Fante does in just 140 pages (story 1, "My Dog Stupid"), is breathtaking. With straightforward and painfully sincere honesty, we're invited to share a family's experience at a critical time - whe...

I first read Fante some 25 years ago through, of course, the Bukowski connection and I was not disappointed. I bought and read a half dozen Fante books. Then, for some odd reason, I forgot about him. ...

There are two novellas here, the second of which, The Orgy, is a wonderful 5 star read. Having read Wait Until Spring, Bandini, Fante, writing about the Italian immigant experience in the US, reminds ...

My Dog Stupid - 4 starsThe Orgy - 2 starsNow a fan of Fan-te....

I've read a few novels and a story collection by John Fante now and this was the last thing I read by him, well over a year ago now. West of Rome consists of two novellas that he wrote later in his li...

West of Rome is made of two stories: My Dog Stupid and The Orgy. Both stories were published after his death, so you're always rolling the dice in these situations. The first story, Jesus, I hate to s...

Fante's two novellas, "My Dog Stupid" and "Orgy," capture the unavoidable loss of innocence which accompanies enlightenment. In "My Dog Stupid," Fante's narrator confronts the reality of his station i...

Love love love john fante. Underrated as a writer due to political turmoil at the time. Found this book and read anything of fante I could get my hands on. ...