Customer Reviews

A Gin-Pissing-Raw-Meat-Dual-Carburetor-V8-Son-Of-A-Bitch from Los Angeles

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a premier fan of Dan Fante's work, I thought I'd never read anything that could match the brutal intensity of the Bruno Dante trilogy or the raw dramatic power of his stage plays. But I was wrong. His collected poems, for my money, is his best work yet. In every one of these finely-cut gems you get a glimpse of the Fante you never quite see in his novels and plays -- the philosopher having distilled his wide-ranging experience of life into countless grains of wisdom. I couldn't stop thinking about this book for days, weeks, months after I read it -- and I read it straight through in one shot, hungrily, like a starving dog. Now I know why Dan Fante considers himself a poet first and foremost: because he is, and he's the best. I hope we're going to have more of his poems and soon. This man is a major talent, no question about it -- he can do anything.

hold on to your chair... like other Dan Fante writings it's good ...real good. Cuts to the chase, leaves nothing out, no sugar coating just real down to earth "in your face" life reflections. Written in a straight forward manner, easy and flowing. I read the book in one sitting. It gives the feeling and energy like your driving down a loaded four lane highway going 140 mph!

Mr fante's voice takes hold of you and does not let go long after the book is put down. It is comlete possesion. I was first drawn into this world through Chump Change. There is a truth that gets inside and does not leave.

I guess all the neo-literary, post-post-modern, pseudo-noir, Jonathan Franzen/Dave Eggers-type writers of this sad, sad world (to name just a few) should stop typing their inane "masterpieces" and crack open this very book. Maybe it wouldn't do 'em any good, but you never know. "A Gin-Pissing..." reeks of truth and sweaty dreams, but with a sweet epiphany to boot. Dan Fante's novels (get 'em all) are mighty good, but that's his best.

If you haven't been introduced to the work of Dan Fante, then this is the book to get! Easily some of the best poetry you will ever read. I will even venture to say that some of the pieces here are better than Bukowski... yes, I said it. Whenever I've got writer's block, I pick up this book. Whenever I've in a slump, I pick up this book. Whenever I'm breathing, I pick up this book! Get a copy, hell... get two.

Wrapped in an elegant chocolate colored glossy book cover, like a bottle of a fine liquer, the contents of this book are deadly. I read these poems straight through, I never before read more than two poems in one sitting! Dan Fante's poems are pure dynamite, just like his books. In one poem, he writes that a book by his father cost over thirty bucks, "the real price for a true mad artist is nowhere near that cheap". Life for this " disgusting deviant diabolical dope fiend and alcoholic madman" was all worth it. Dan Fante's work brings new life and meaning to my own life, it is so alive, scary, sad, and funny. I love it, it gives energy to everything.

Nifty little volume. If you like the man's prose you'll want to get this one to add to your collection. I have all four now. Credit also goes to the publisher for the handsome cover.

I am really taken in by the diversity of Dan Fante's writings! He is one step ahead of many authors today that tend to write endless volumns of the same rhetoric.
Fante's writings are very entertaining and seem to make you always wonder what is coming around the corner that you cannot see!
Al Marth
lsudad@dejazzd.com

There are some really great lines in this book. It spans 20 years of writing and so it's not surprising that some pieces are better than others. The really sweet spots kind of overshadow some of the weaker spots. Still, highly recommended stuff especially if you like Bukowski or similar.

You read the first poem and you think it's nice, then you read the second and you think it's ok, then you read the third and you realise that Dan Fante can only write about his father, alcohol and women. His poems are not refreshing, as the book cover and the intros promise (Bukowski wrote about the same things). besides images from a few poems have been recycled in his plays and novels, or is it that lines from plays and novels are recycled to form fractured, meaningless poems? Perhaps Mr Fante should find himself a real job rather than trying to be a poet.