Wait Until Spring, Bandini

Synopsis

The first novel in John Fante's Arturo Bandini saga, Wait Until Spring, Bandini is a vivid portrait of an Italian American family struggling through the depths of the Great Depression in a small Colorado town. As winter settles in, Svevo Bandini, a proud bricklayer unable to find work, wrestles with poverty, frustration, and dreams of escape, while his wife Maria holds the family together through faith and determination. Watching it all is their son Arturo, whose restless imagination and longing to become a writer foreshadow one of American literature's most unforgettable protagonists.

Written with warmth, humour, and extraordinary emotional honesty, Wait Until Spring, Bandini explores family, ambition, immigration, and the quiet dignity of ordinary lives. It marks the beginning of the Arturo Bandini novels, the work that would later inspire generations of writers, including Charles Bukowski.

About the Author

John Fante (1909–1983) was an American novelist and screenwriter whose work drew heavily from his experiences growing up in an Italian immigrant family in Colorado. Though underappreciated during much of his lifetime, he is now regarded as one of the essential voices of twentieth-century American literature. His Arturo Bandini novels, including Ask the Dust, have become modern classics.

Publisher
Black Sparrow Press

Publication Date
1985 (Black Sparrow edition)

Format
Paperback

Pages
192

Subjects
Literary Fiction · American Literature · Classics · Coming-of-Age

ISBN
9780876855546