Amazon.com: Dreams from Bunker Hill: John Fante: Books

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars another wonderful job by john fante, December 11, 2002

By

Kirk Alex - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dreams from Bunker Hill (Paperback)

you don't realize just how good john fante is until after you've read (better yet: attempted to read) so much bad writing our nation's bookshelves are filled with. i'd read this one years before and remembered it as being a decent read, etc. but there i was the other night, looking for something to read; i needed a book fix, i had to have something to read. reached up for dreams from bunker hill and began my second reading of it...stayed up all night getting into this warm, compassionate tale. fante had heart, intelligence and the story of old time hollywood moves right along. stayed with it until i was finished about 5 a.m.
fante makes it look easy, but quite a few of us know better: good writing is never easy to write or come by.
we thank buk for making us aware of fante and wish fante's recognition had happened earlier in his life...but you know what they say about wishful thinking... at least people are reading him now, as well as his son dan. i dare say, here and now, dan's prose is even stronger and better than bukowski. try either fante and you'll see what i'm talking about.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This guy is too much!!, June 15, 2007

By

JoeyD (los gatos, ca) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Dreams from Bunker Hill (Paperback)

This story is absolutely hilarious. This guy Fante was nuts! I know I am not a shrink, but I think it's safe to say that his elevator didn't quite go up to the top floor. However, I challenge anyone out there to pick up one of his books and see if they can easily put it down. The guy knows how to write. He may be insane, but the man holds your interest and he makes it real hard to stop reading.

"Dreams from Bunker Hill" takes place in Los Angeles in the late 1930's where Fante's favorite protagonist Arturo Bandini is a struggling writer who is given a job as a Hollywood screenwriter. Obviously, the world of Hollywood is no place for our wacky anti-hero. To me, Bandini seems to be a cross between Howard Stern and Jerry Lewis (obviously not the real Jerry, but the comedic characters he played). Arturo never stops with his antics, each antic seemingly eclipsing the one before it with its stupidity and insanity. There are more than a half dozen scenes in the novel which had me actually keeling over with laughter. Of course, not everyone shares my strange sense of humor. If you are the self-effacing, not too serious type, then you will probably love this guy. This is my third book of his, and so far my favorite. I may not like him as much as Bukowski, but I am really enjoy the majority of his writing and will continue to read more of his work. Like Hank, Fante grows on you, like it or not.

Fante definitely isn't going to be everyone's favorite dish. However, love him or hate him there is definitely no denying this guy was a true original. He was Bukowski's hero (he actually referred to him as 'God') and it is overtly clear after reading one page of Fante where Buke drew his inspiration. If you are a true fan of Hank's, then you positively must read this man. Most of his fans and critics agree that this is one of his better novels. I give it four and a half stars.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Up-beat Catcher in the Rye, April 24, 1998

By

Allen97 (Manhattan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreams from Bunker Hill (Paperback)

Bukowski claims Fante as one of his favorites. It's not difficult to see why. This is a young man's coming-of-age story in Los Angeles circa 1930.

Very funny and easy to read.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 11 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Bandini!!! The great Bandini!!!
I have read all of the Fante books and this is by far my favorite! If you love Bukowski, this is a must! Right from the Bukowski school!

Published on November 6, 2007 by Jack J. Varela

1.0 out of 5 stars Misogynist, Racist, and Dated
Fante seems quaint and offensive by today's standards. Another wholly disappointing offering from a mediocre writer, like a second-rate Steinbeck best left to obscurity.

Published on March 15, 2006 by Queequeg

3.0 out of 5 stars Well written but too male-oriented
It's certainly well written, and it's not that I hated it, but...It's just such a male book that it feels hard to connect to. Read more

Published on September 9, 2005 by MMT

5.0 out of 5 stars Fante's Best
Many Fante fans will vehemently disagree that this is his best work. That is probably because they are really Bukowski fans, and Bukowski liked Ask the Dust better. Read more

Published on December 28, 2000 by Kenneth E. Wagner Jr.

4.0 out of 5 stars Fictionalized account of author's youth in Los Angeles
I'm a big fan of Fante's, and I would only like to clear up one point that the other reviewers have given conflicting information on. Read more

Published on August 8, 1999 by C. S. Winter

5.0 out of 5 stars Fante's swan-song
This is a great short novel. You can read it in one go. The streets of Los Angeles come alive in Fante's novels. I read this one summer in my early twenties. Read more

Published on April 30, 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book
I am pretty sure the previous reviewer is mistaken about when this book was written. It is my understanding that Fante dictated it to his wife near the end of his life, after he... Read more

Published on January 20, 1999

2.0 out of 5 stars There's better Fante
Written when Fante was a young man, this will probably only be interesting to the Fante compleatist.

Published on July 10, 1998

› See all 11 customer reviews...

Inside This Book (learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.

First Sentence:
My first collision with fame was hardly memorable. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sheep men, cattle men

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Los Angeles, Arturo Bandini, Bunker Hill, Jennifer Lovelace, Sin City, Frank Edgington, Cyril Korn, Duke of Sardinia, Harry Schindler, Heinrich Muller, Sinclair Lewis, Ginger Britton, Helen Brownell, Jack Arthur, Reverend Drew, Abe Marx, Biff Newhouse, Richard Lionheart, Sheriff Lawson, The American Phoenix, Thelma Farber, Good God, New Yorker, Third Street, Ginger Rogers

New!
Concordance | Text Stats

Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!