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| Plot Summary of The Road to Los Angeles |
"This posthumously published novel was way ahead of its time when written in the 1930's. Its ethos still seems contemporary today. It introduces the character Arturo Bandini a young man struggling with his desire to be a great writer. Bandini is forced to work in a fishery cannery by his uncle to support his mother and sister. He is wretchedly alienated from his fellow workers and family by his Nietzchean self proclaimed belief that he is a writer.
Bandini struggles to find sexual fulfillment through his collection of pictures of naked women to his sister's and mother's knowledge. He exacts revenge for his tortured life on crabs, fish and insects. He has a crush on the librarian at the local library and to get closer reads the books that she reads. He uses grandiose vocabulary to gain superiority on everyone he speaks to. He gains inspiration and writes a short novel for hours on end finally feeling fulfilled in his life. Unfortunately both his mother and sister read the novel and his sister finds it silly. Bandini is revenged and embarks on the road to Los Angeles. This brilliant and forgotten coming of age novel of a struggling writer is magnificent!"
John Marcel, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Road to Los Angeles |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1930's-1950's
Poverty, surviving
Yes
Kind of living:
- general poverty story
Family, struggle with
Yes
Struggle with:
- Mother (or standin)
- Uncle
- Sister
Internal struggle/realization?
Yes
Struggle over
- vague finding self/purpose in life (i.e. no plot to book)
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Ethnic/regional/gender life
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- a teen
Eccentric/Mental
Yes
Eccentric:
- deluded
- wild
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Italian
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- none
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 7 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- California
City?
Yes
City:
- Los Angeles
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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John Fante Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
Michelle Yusuf 
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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