Struggling writer, Arturo Bandini, fights to scrape by, living in the Bunker Hill area of 1930's Los Angeles, as he is distracted from his work by his infatuation with Camilla Lopez, a local waitress who flirts with him by insulting him, uninterested in him treating her like a "Mexican princess".
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The review of this Book prepared by Michelle Yusuf
In this Fante's second novel his creation Arturo Bandini is living in a seedy LA hotel as a struggling writer. He arrives at the hotel as a proud published writer having had a short story published in a magazine. He scrapes by eating oranges and living from the promises that his next advance cheque is on the way. He falls for a waitress Camilla Lopez in a local bar. Theirs is a relationship of alternating despise and love. Unfortunately disturbed Camilla is in love with a dying waiter who himself ill treats Camilla and is trying unsuccessfully to write. Bandini the bum eventually achieves literary success but his relationship with Camilla is doomed.
Bandini at times tough is also poignantly tender and this beautifully rendered tale was an inspiration to Charles Bukowski, Fante was his god.
The review of this Book prepared by John Marcel
