Chump Change [Paperback]

Dan Fante (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998

Fiction. The book follows the exploits of Bruno Dante. In New York his life is a train wreck and is turned into an upheaval when he gets the call from Los Angeles that his screenwriter father is in a coma and not expected to live. The next three weeks on the streets on the streets of L.A. will change Bruno Dante's life forever. The book expresses the bewilderment of its hero and its author with rawness, crudeness, and shock, and also serves as a very beautiful and touching homage to Fante's famous father John Fante.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

About the Author

Dan Fante was raised in L.A. At twenty he hitchhiked to New York where he survived for over a decade on cheap whiskey, wrote thousands of unpublished poems, and failed at three suicide attempts. After getting sober, Fante returned to Los Angeles where he published his first novel in 1996. Today he lives in Venice, California with his tall wife Ayrin Leigh and a 2-year-old, blue-eyed son named Michelangelo Giovanni Fante.

Product Details

• Paperback: 198 pages
• Publisher: Sun Dog Press; 1st edition (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941543234
• ISBN-13: 978-0941543231
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,332,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The son of novelist John Fante (Ask the Dust), Dan Fante is the author of the novels 86'd, Chump Change, and Mooch; the short story collection, Short Dog; two books of poetry; and the plays The Boiler Room and Don Giovanni. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he lives in Arizona with his wife and son.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Down and Out in L.A., June 25, 2001

By 

Kirk Alex - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chump Change (Paperback)

It becomes harder and harder to find anything good to read these days, the no b.s. real thing--and in Dan Fante's Chump Change I am happy to say that I have discovered a real winner! The man can write. Once it arrived in the mail from SPD and I started reading there was no way to put it down--always a good sign. Powerful tale that rings true and authentic--I know, because I once lived in that hellhole called L.A. No disrespect meant towards his diceased father, the also fine writer John Fante, but the son is even better. The writing is so strong and hard-hitting that I put it right up there with John O'Brien's Leaving Las Vegas (although story is entirely different ); the all out style and way of telling his story places this author in the same unique league as Pleasant Gehman, Charles Bukowski, Clarence Cooper, Jr., Robert Beck (Iceberg Slim) Celine, Nat West, etc. Can't wait to get my hands on Mooch, his latest. To any other book lovers out there, fans of great fiction, who are like me and gave up on the b.s. that is tv and Hollywood flicks a long time ago, I suggest to look up Small Press Distribution or Last Gasp Press for the hard to find well-written gems--as this is how I discovered Dan Fante's Chump Change. Why should it be so difficult for us to find works of art like this book and others like it when so much tripe is out there and placed on bestseller lists by the major publishing houses? you got me there--because I never believe the bestseller lists and never, ever buy anything that is placed right there on tables in the lobby of the major chain stores--because I know it is pure crap, and because it bothers me to know that the true talents like Mr. Dan Fante and others like him have to "sneak in" the back door of publishing by first being published by the smaller indie houses in order to get any recognition at all. So if you can relate to what I'm saying here ignore the junk the big houses are putting out and go for the real thing like this certified modern classic. We loved Chump Change and wish Mr. Fante all the best in the future. Give us more!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More please!, July 13, 2002

By 

Sheelagh O'Connor (Santa Monica) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chump Change (Paperback)

Genius, Dan you write what we think but didn't realise we thought, and do things my own insanity never took me to but could have and it is hysterically funny. I am blown away by the magic, insight, humor and genius writing of Mooch and Chump Change. More more!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dan Fante Tells It Straight, May 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Chump Change (Paperback)

If you've ever been on a booze binge, you'll know that Dan Fante is not kidding. Once you've read this book, you'll be thinking about it for the rest of your life. His father may be the one you know, but if its an open outlook on the nineties your after, look no further.