Ask the Dust

• Discussing the author and book“he wrote a book called ask the dust”
  2FE

• Neil Strauss1 episode · recommended in 1
• FEFelipe Esparza1 episode
• Joe Rogan1 episode
• Ryan Holiday1 episode
• TDTimothy Denevi1 episode

Why people recommend it

John Fante's celebrated novel captures the grit, struggles, and desperation of a young, aspiring writer navigating the harsh realities of Depression-era Los Angeles. On How I Write, Neil Strauss strongly recommended the novel as one of his absolute favorite books of all time, urging listeners to pick it up. On The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday and Timothy Denevi praised the story as one of the great novels in literary history. Denevi extensively detailed the tumultuous publication history of the book, explaining how it was meant to be the author's major breakthrough, only for its marketing budget and distribution to be severely derailed after the publisher became entangled in expensive legal battles over Mein Kampf, leaving the work largely forgotten for years. On The Joe Rogan Experience, Felipe Esparza and Joe Rogan discussed the book while talking about famous Los Angeles authors and publishers, noting its vivid depiction of the protagonist Arturo Bandini and its status as a literary inspiration for later writers like Charles Bukowski. Throughout these podcasts, speakers repeatedly emphasized both the narrative brilliance of the protagonist's delusional and narcissistic journey and the unfortunate historical circumstances that initially hampered the novel's widespread distribution and success.