An entirely plotless book carried by a smooth style with a punch. Bandinis are poor, full of shame, and they gamble with sin, but they are a family, and that love is felt.
I was really surprised by how much I liked this book. The prose was unassuming but able to communicate the inner and outer lives of each character with seamless transition. Fante had such a natural command of voice and character that the novel's structure just sort of fell into place. He may dazzle with high modernist pretensions of language play and aureate description but those literary foundations are all here in humble, utilitarian expression. You could actually draw a line from Henry James to this novel if you wanted to be all highfalutin about it.
I highly recommend this book. It is a quick and unassuming read but the narrative machinations are sophisticated lessons in how to erase oneself as an author.
