Ask The Dust
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Ask The Dust
''Ask the Dust'' is the most popular novel of Italian-American author John Fante, first published in 1939 and set during the Great Depression era in Los Angeles. It is one of a series of novels featuring the character Arturo Bandini as Fante's alter ego, a young Italian-American from Colorado struggling to make it as a writer in Los Angeles. The novel is widely regarded as an American classic, regularly on college syllabi for American literature. The book is a ''roman à clef'', much of it rooted in autobiographical incidents in Fante's life. The novel influenced Charles Bukowski significantly. In 2006, screenwriter Robert Towne adapted the novel into a film, ''Ask the Dust'', starring Salma Hayek and Colin Farrell. Publication Initial publication of the novel followed Fante's successful publication of ''Wait Until Spring, Bandini'' and his short stories in prominent publications such as ''The American Mercury''. Only 2,200 copies of the first edition of the novel were printed. ...
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John Fante
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 D ...
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Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is also part of Central Los Angeles. Downtown Los Angeles is divided into neighborhoods and districts, some overlapping. Most districts are named for the activities concentrated there now or historically, e.g. the Arts, Civic Center, Fashion, Banking, Theater, Toy, and Jewelry districts. It is the hub for the city's urban rail transit system plus the Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink commuter rail system for Southern California. Banks, department stores, and movie palaces at one time drew residents and visitors of all socioeconomic classes downtown, but the area declined economically especially after the 1950s. It remained an important center—in the Civic Center, of government business; on Bunker Hill, of banking, and along Broadway, of ...
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Torricella Peligna
Torricella Peligna is a ''comune'' and town in the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region of[Italy. History The foundation of Torricella dates back according to local tradition to an exodus from the exiles of Juvanum, during the Byzantine Wars of the sixth century AD, a Roman town near the nearby municipality of Montenerodomo, however the first certain news is given since XII century when it was a fief of Orsini and, later, of Accounts of Manoppello and Marchesi Celaia of Chieti. The country was destroyed during World War II. The current name of the municipality is improper, as are the others of Taranta Peligna and Lama dei Peligni, as these centers rise in the eastern part of the mountain Majella, and sit rovano lapped by the Rivers Sangro and Aventine. In ancient times the centers that existed on site, were inhabited by the Samnite tribes of Carricini, and bordered with the Peligni near Field of Jupiter and the Frentani from Guardiagrele (the ancient Grele) to Lanciano ...
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California Legacy Project
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territories of the United States by population, most populous U.S. state and the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 3rd largest by area. It is also the most populated Administrative division, subnational entity in North America and the 34th most populous in the world. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous Statistical area (United States), urban regions respectively, with the former having more than 18.7million residents and the latter having over 9.6million. Sacramento, California, Sacramento is the state's capital, while Los Angeles is the List of largest California cities by population, most populous city in the state and the List of United States cities by population, ...
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The Broom Of The System
''The Broom of the System'' is the first novel by the American writer David Foster Wallace, published in 1987. Background Wallace submitted the novel as one of two undergraduate honors theses at Amherst College, the other being a paper on Richard Taylor's fatalism. He had begun study in philosophy at Amherst, interested in math and logic, and developed an interest in Ludwig Wittgenstein before beginning the novel. A professor commented that Wallace's philosophy writing tended to have the quality of an unfolding story, leading Wallace to explore literature. Having submitted ''Broom of the System'' to the Department of English, he decided to focus his career on fiction. ''Broom'' was published in 1987 as Wallace completed a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of Arizona. He had also sold his first short-story collection '' Girl with Curious Hair'', leaving him in an enviable position among MFA students. Wallace stated that the initial idea for the novel spr ...
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David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', which ''Time'' magazine cited as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. His posthumous novel, '' The Pale King'' (2011), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2012. The ''Los Angeles Times''s David Ulin called Wallace "one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last twenty years". Wallace grew up in Illinois and attended Amherst College. He taught English at Emerson College, Illinois State University, and Pomona College. In 2008, he died by suicide at age 46 after struggling with depression for many years. Early life and education David Foster Wallace was born in Ithaca, New York, to Sally Jean Wallace (' Foster) and James Donald Wallace. The family moved to Champaign-Urbana, Illino ...
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Pan (novel)
''Pan'' is an 1894 novel by Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. He wrote it while living in Paris and in Kristiansand, Norway. It remains one of his most famous works. Plot summary Lieutenant Thomas Glahn, a hunter and ex-military man, lives alone in a hut in the forest with his faithful dog Aesop. Upon meeting Edvarda, the daughter of a merchant in a nearby town, they are both strongly attracted to each other, but neither understands the other's love. Overwhelmed by the society of people where Edvarda lives, Glahn has a series of tragedies befall him before he leaves forever. Symbolism The changing seasons are reflected in the plot: Edvarda and Glahn fall in love in spring; make love in the summer; and end their relationship in the autumn. The contradicting symbols of culture and nature are important in the novel: Glahn belongs to nature, while Edvarda belongs to culture. Much of what happens between Glahn and Edvarda is foreshadowed when Glahn dreams of two lovers. The lovers' ...
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Hunger (Hamsun Novel)
''Hunger'' ( no, Sult) is a novel by the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun published in 1890 by P.G. Philipsens Forlag. The novel has been hailed as the literary opening of the 20th century and an outstanding example of modern, psychology-driven literature. ''Hunger'' portrays the irrationality of the human mind in an intriguing and sometimes humorous manner. Description Written after Hamsun's return from an ill-fated tour of America, ''Hunger'' is loosely based on the author's own impoverished life before his breakthrough in 1890. Set in late 19th-century Kristiania (now Oslo), the novel recounts the adventures of a starving young man whose sense of reality is giving way to a delusionary existence on the darker side of a modern metropolis. While he vainly tries to maintain an outer shell of respectability, his mental and physical decay are recounted in detail. His ordeal, enhanced by his inability or unwillingness to pursue a professional career, which he deems unfit for someone of his ...
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Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective and environment. He published more than 20 novels, a collection of poetry, some short stories and plays, a travelogue, works of non-fiction and some essays. Hamsun is considered to be "one of the most influential and innovative literary stylists of the past hundred years" (''ca.'' 1890–1990). He pioneered psychological literature with techniques of stream of consciousness and interior monologue, and influenced authors such as Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, Maxim Gorky, Stefan Zweig, Henry Miller, Hermann Hesse, John Fante and Ernest Hemingway. Isaac Bashevis Singer called Hamsun "the father of the modern school of literature in his every aspect—his subjectiveness, his fragmentariness, his use of flashbacks, his lyricism. The whole modern sc ...
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Mein Kampf
(; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. Volume 1 of was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926. The book was edited first by Emil Maurice, then by Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess. Hitler began while imprisoned following his failed coup in Munich in November 1923 and a trial in February 1924 for high treason, in which he received a sentence of five years. Although he received many visitors initially, he soon devoted himself entirely to the book. As he continued, he realized that it would have to be a two-volume work, with the first volume scheduled for release in early 1925. The governor of Landsberg noted at the time that "he itlerhopes the book will run into many editions, thus enabling him to fulfill his financial obligations and to defray the expenses incurred at the t ...
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Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the Chancellor of Germany, chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated European theatre of World War II, World War II in Europe by invasion of Poland, invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of Holocaust victims, about six million Jews and millions of other victims. Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz. He lived in Vienna later in the first decade of the 1900s and moved to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his Military career of Adolf Hitler, service in the German Army in Worl ...
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The New York Times Best Seller List
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times bestsellers since the first list, 50 years ago'', Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1992. Since October 12, 1931, ''The New York Times Book Review'' has published the list weekly. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and non-fiction, hardcover, paperback and electronic. The list is based on a proprietary method that uses sales figures, other data and internal guidelines that are unpublished—how the ''Times'' compiles the list is a trade secret. In 1983 (as part of a legal argument), the ''Times'' stated that the list is not mathematically objective but rather editorial content. In 2017, a ''Times'' representative said that the goal is that the lists reflect authentic best selle ...
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