Spitting Off Tall Buildings - by Dan Fante (Paperback)

About the Book

Now back in print to coincide with the publication of his new novel, 86'd, Dan Fante's Spitting Off Tall Buildings is the story of aspiring writer and part-time drunk Bruno Dante, who leaves sunny Los Angeles for cold, hard New York City. Falling into a string of temporary, dead-end jobs, punctuated by meaningless affairs and intense drinking, Bruno has almost had enough when a sudden event offers him the opportunity to get his life back on track--unless screwing up, like drinking, proves a habit too difficult to shake. In prose steeped with rage and surprising humor, Fante presents a point of view of America that only the true outlaw will recognize.

Book Synopsis

Now back in print to coincide with the publication of his new novel, 86'd, Dan Fante's Spitting Off Tall Buildings is the story of aspiring writer and part-time drunk Bruno Dante, who leaves sunny Los Angeles for cold, hard New York City. Falling into a string of temporary, dead-end jobs, punctuated by meaningless affairs and intense drinking, Bruno has almost had enough when a sudden event offers him the opportunity to get his life back on track--unless screwing up, like drinking, proves a habit too difficult to shake. In prose steeped with rage and surprising humor, Fante presents a point of view of America that only the true outlaw will recognize.

From the Back Cover

Bruno Dante has fled Los Angeles for New York City. With its cold, hard edge, it's his kind of town. . . . But the string of deadbeat temporary telemarketing gigs is getting to Bruno and the steady work he can stand is hard to come by. Bruno's trying everything: hotel night manager, window cleaner, and cab driver, all the while punctuating his unsatisfying employment experiments with meaningless affairs and intense drinking binges. Then something totally unexpected pops up and Bruno finds himself in a position to act responsibly, to start writing again, and to get his life back on track. But like his drinking, screwing up might be a habit that's too deeply ingrained to shake.

Review Quotes

"Fante is a brilliantly economical stylist, but what really makes the book is its refusal to take a moral stand; ending as it began, sad, bitter, yet somehow infused with hope." - The Face

"[Dan Fante] is always intense and harrowing, occasionally titillating, and sometimes even funny." - Los Angeles Times

"A truly great American novel." - Scotland on Sunday

"Dan Fante's novel does an excellent job of delivering this tale of depraved despair with a steady one-two-punch rhythm that hurts like hell while still being impossible to put down." - Sacramento Book Review

"Dan Fante, son of the late John, is very much a chip off the old block, which means writing in a pared down, realist style about ordinary low-level life, and drinking lots. . . . Highly recommended." - Time Out London

"Fante makes you understand awfulness." - The Guardian

"Evokes brutally and skillfully the violently numb condition of his alter ego." - The Times (London)

"As we trawl with him through deadbeat and dead-end jobs, this unsettling novel is haunted by the spectre of Charles Bukowski." - The Times (London)

"Moments which brush the genius of Bukowski and Hubert Selby." - Elle (France)

"It gives an honest misfit's view of America far too few know." - John Fowles