Mooch: A Novel (P.S.) [Paperback]

Dan Fante (Author)

Book Description

Series: P.S. | Publication Date: December 1, 2009

Bruno Dante is the best boiler-room salesman in Los Angeles. There's only one problem: he can't keep a good thing going. When he becomes involved with a beautiful but dangerous fellow Orbit Computer Supplies employee—sexy ex-stripper, gangbanger, and crackhead Jimmi Valiente—Bruno's ready to chuck his job and his most recent twelve–step program. Leaping headfirst into an impossibly destructive love-hate relationship with the addictive Jimmi, Bruno finds it's not long at all before his world begins to spiral out of control . . . again.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Dark and bleak, dirty and real. . . . Dan Fante’s style is raw, insightful, and deftly realized.” (Time Out New York )

“Breathtaking writing. . . . Angry, acerbic, self-pitying and often painfully funny. . . Read it at your peril.” (Anthony Bourdain )

“This devastating and terrifying book . . . sees Fante writing the kind of emotionally tormented novel that his father would surely have written if he’d been born into Dan’s generation.” (Uncut )

About the Author

Dan Fante is the son of novelist John Fante. He is the author of several books of poems, short stories, and plays, and the novels 86’d, Chump Change, Mooch, and Spitting Off Tall Buildings. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061779253
• ISBN-13: 978-0061779251
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #563,520 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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fante's MOOCH, August 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Mooch (Paperback)

I first came upon Dan Fante's work three years ago while picking up a copy of his father's (John Fante) Ask The Dust for a friend. It was then that I reluctantly bought and read his first novel, CHUMP CHANGE. I say reluctantly because I was sure that the son could not come close to the skill of his brilliant father? Then I opened the book and began my awakening. Reading Dan Fante was like discovering matches and gasoline at the same moment. Dan is every inch the equal of his great father. What I read was page after page of passion, rage, and unrestrained power. Now comes Dan fante's new novel, MOOCH. Plainly, the book is a stunner! The most powerful American novel I have read in the last ten years. MOOCH traces a year in the life of an alcoholic telemarketer, Bruno Dante, through the steaming intestines of southern California - and spares the reader nothing. Fante's hero (?) Bruno Dante has a gift; he can seemingly sell anything to anyone over the telephone. But his love for the beautiful and destructive lap dancer Jimmi Valiente and his obcession for alcohol outweigh all else. The resultant mix is a flaming and unrestrained human train wreck. Dan Fante's gift for black humor and his passion for his characters stain and exhault every page. Here Los Angeles is a major character too, as is the American Dream. I cannot recommend MOOCH enough. I could not put it down.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a sealed tuna sandwich with a wrapper..., September 11, 2001

By 

John Scialli (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mooch (Paperback)

There are books made of words and there are books made of the spaces between the words. Mooch is the latter. There is such a paper thin buffer between the reader and the actor that there is a compulsion to read Mooch as if it were happening in real time. I read this is close to one sitting. There is no way to put the book down just as there is no way to put life on hold. The story line is much less chaotic than Chump Change, Fante's first novel in the Bruno Dante trilogy (Mooch is actually the third with the second published only overseas as yet). The elements of the plot are mundane, office supply boiler-room washed-up and dressed-out SALESbeings, for gawds sake. Yet the setting makes sense for the parallels developed between men and their cold calls. Face it, this is the story behind those infomercials you pretend to yourself you're not watching and, face it, infomercials are the mythology of the day. Mooch is a cracked open skull of a book in which the author is fearless in writing about your dirty little secrets. You say you never masturbated into the coffee mug of the woman you love? I don't believe you.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last ...the sequel to Chump Change, August 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Mooch (Paperback)

I couldn't wait for this US publication and a friend bought a UK import edition for me a little while ago. I devoured it in a day. The good news is that not only is Dan still alive and writing, he's even living a little... ok, so he falls off the wagon a few times and creates a few scenes, he's human. There's some episodes here that are downright painful to read and you wonder if he's actually going to make it through to complete his story. It takes guts to write this kind of stuff and Dan has them. I wish there were more writers like this. He's intelligent and he's not afraid to tell it like it is. I can only recommend this book. It's not a fashionable book, nor is it likely to become a highly publicized best-seller. But more often than not, these are the best books. I can't help wondering as well if it was Dan that called me one time trying to sell me office supplies.