Le opere di john fante biography

Ettore is a lively boy, very sensitive to the ideals of socialism, which are also spreading in Abruzzo. Like other young socialists, he is an “interventionist “. And in fact, as soon as he graduated from high school, when he was just over eighteen, he volunteered on 9 November 1916. He was sent to the operations area on 5 February 1917 and took part, as a gunner, in the ¬war operations taking place in Cadore and in the upper Cordevole , on the VI Army front. On the night of 12 February 1917, while he was inspecting an advanced observatory at Passo Rolle, on the Piccolo Col¬ Bricon , following a violent attack launched by selected Austro-  Bavarian troops against the Italian lines, was taken prisoner. But only ¬after a few days can he be freed, together with about fifty ¬fellow soldiers, thanks to a successful counterattack by the Italian infantry. Sent to the Student Officers course of the Artillerymen in Susegana, he is caught, during the course itself, by the retreat of Caporetto and experiences the whole painful odyssey of those dramatic days for Italy.  On 20 November 1917 he was sent to Monte Grappa, where he remained until 30 April 1918. Located on Monte Tomba, he took part in the war operations carried out in that sector of the front until the day of the armistice.  Once hostilities ceased ¬, he was in charge of recovering materials on the Piave, where he served until the day of his leave, which took place on 20 April 1920. After three and a half years, he became a corporal and received his small awards: the special commemorative medal of ‑the 1917-1918 campaign and a War Merit Cross.

In the Alpine trenches Troilo met many men of the left – among others, Emilio Lussu, author of the unforgettable ” A year on the plateau”, who was to become one of his best friends – and he transformed his instinctive attraction for socialism into a mature political awareness. In Torricella, where he returned for

The road to Italy and the United States: La creazione e diffusione delle opere di John Fante edited by/a cura di Teresa Fiore TERESA FIORE INTRODUCTION: “FANTEASTICHERIE” During one of our many pleasant conversations on books, people, and destinies, Stephen Cooper – renowned biographer of John Fante and an especially generous and inspiring colleague in the development of this project – shares his own interpretation of Fante’s success in Italy: “He is like the rich emigrant who goes back to his Italian village: his literary reception in the country of his ancestors reads to me like the parable of the returned emigrant.” Cooper’s remarks on the unexpected routes of Fante’s literature, whose fortune has paved the way for the publication of several Italian American authors in Italy, resonate with the subject that unpredictably lay at the core of my recent green card interview. I recall the cautious exchange of comments that took place between the officer and myself, as we discussed the contents of the bulky application that was assembled to prove my “eligibility for America.” He flipped through the numerous pages, but eventually chose to peruse the main form on top of the file, and lingered on the “field of study” box: “So you write on Italian American authors?” I nodded. “Which one is your favorite?” he timidly inquired. I avoided splitting hairs over the nature of the question, and simply said “John Fante.” The rest of our conversation consisted of a series of questions related to Fante’s life and works, a ten-minute talk about literature culminating in the reminder he jotted for himself on a yellow Post-it when I recommended Ask the Dust and The Brotherhood of the Grape. “I’ll look for these titles next time I go to a bookstore,” he firmly concluded, as he stamped my application: “Green card approved.” John Fante: a passport for (Italian) Americans to Italy or for Italia

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American writer (1909–1983)

John Fante (April 8, 1909 – May 8, 1983) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his semi-autobiographical novel Ask the Dust (1939) about the life of Arturo Bandini, a struggling writer in Depression-era Los Angeles. It is widely considered the great Los Angeles novel, and is one in a series of four, published between 1938 and 1985, that are now collectively called "The Bandini Quartet." Ask the Dust was adapted into a 2006 film starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek. Fante's published works while he lived included five novels, one novella, and a short story collection. Additional works, including two novels, two novellas, and two short story collections, were published posthumously. His screenwriting credits include, most notably, Full of Life (1956, based on his 1952 novel by that name), Jeanne Eagels (1957), and the 1962 films Walk on the Wild Side and The Reluctant Saint.

Early life

Fante was born in Denver, Colorado, on April 8, 1909, to Nicola Fante from Torricella Peligna (Abruzzo), and Mary Capolungo, a devout Catholic of Lucanian descent who was born in Chicago, Illinois. Nicola Fante was a bricklayer and stonemason, who drank and gambled to excess, leaving the Fante family to experience bouts of poverty. Fante attended various Catholic schools including Regis High School, before briefly enrolling at the University of Colorado. He dropped out of college in 1929 and “hitchhiked to Los Angeles at age 24” to focus on his writing.

Fante and Joyce Smart met on January 30, 1937, and were married on July 31 of that same year in Reno, Nevada.

Career

After many unsuccessful attempts at publishing stories in the highly regarded literary magazine The American Mercury, his short story "Altar Boy" was accepted conditionally by the magazin