John Fante’s “Ask the Dust” is a powerful story of the triumphs and struggles of an Italian-American writer in Depression-era Los Angeles. The novel’s main protagonist, Arturo Bandini, is a young man trying to make it as a writer while brimming with both arrogance and insecurity. As he chases his dreams of literary greatness while struggling against racism, poverty, and self-doubt, Bandini must also contend with a fierce romantic rivalry and his own insecurities about his own racial identity.
At its core, “Ask the Dust” is about the creative process and the awe, frustration, and perseverance accompanying efforts to achieve something significant and lasting. The novel begins with Bandini's arrival to Los Angeles from Colorado. His early days in the city are marked by loneliness, poverty, and a desperate but ill-fated longing for recognition as a writer. With a few dollars he scrapes together from odd jobs, Bandini seeks to launch his writing career by spending more than a month attempting to write a story. This is the central portion of the novel, where Bandini engages in a series of internal monologues that lay out his struggles with life’s paralyses, including his insecurity and conflicting emotions over his Italian heritage. Bandini is scorned by nearly everyone, save a few people, including a Mexican girl named Camilla Lopez, with whom he quickly falls in love.
From his empty room at a seedy hotel to the street corners of Los Angeles, Bandini’s journey is as much an internal one as it is an external one. While battling his own inner demons, he is faced with social and political injustices of the time that threaten to further impede his progress. Despite being of Italian descent himself, Bandini is stereotyped by the white middle class of the city and scorned by other immigrants whom he dismisses as inferior. Bandini is able to ignore the racial barriers for some time with help from his constant companion and confidant - the love of his life, Camilla. However, their relationship is far from perfect, and Bandini’s own impulsive behavior and heated arguments start to take a toll.
In the end, the novel culminates with Bandini’s reinvention of himself as a down-trodden would-be warrior and a survivor of an almost unimaginable inner struggle. He has acquired an invigorated sense of self-awareness and understanding of the complexities of the world around him as well as greater recognition as a writer. Ultimately, “Ask the Dust” is a story of a young man striving for success, and the lessons he learns along the way. Through Bandini we get a glimpse of how difficult the creative process can truly be, and a reminder of how hard people had to fight for the basic human rights we take for granted today. It’s a classic story that still resonates in modern times, and a reminder of the strength of the human spirit.
