Wait Until Spring, Bandini

A poignant book, wonderfully written. In my opinion, this was his first and best novel. Even better than "Ask the dust", regarded as his masterpiece... A brilliant beginning for such a writer!

This book is great. Fante not only shows the plight of poor immigrants, but how children deal with growing up... poor or otherwise. I love how he writes from the perspective of a adolescent but makes it art. All this without sounding too high-toned to make you think that this is the smartest kid in the history of the world.This is a great book and I would read it before Ask the Dust. John Fante is a wonderful writer who paints lush pictures with simple sentences.

...and I read a lot of books...in my opinion Fante beats the pain of Dostoevski being as simple in words as Bukowski..."Wait until Spring, Bandini" is probably the best although one of the simplest books I read in my life...I think Fante deserves the Nobel post-mortum...Hamsun and Marquez got it, why not Fante?

Wait Until Spring, Bandini is a masterfully crafted novel by an amazingly underapreciated author. John Fante's name is like a password, those who know it cannot deny their bookishness. His writing is powerful and touching in its simplicity as he tells the tale of Aurturo Bandini, the son of Italian immigrants living in Colorodo. There are no wars, explosions, or black holes in this book. Its a tiny little story about one winter in a boy's life. Its power is in the realization that it provokes, the realization that growing up is something we all had to go through, that we've all made mistakes, and we're all human.