Arturo Bandini is a vivid example of the degrading power of the Ego which can headlong drive a person away from reality. A reality that is displaced by dreams, where self-love and narcissism reach their limits. Because in his desire to be liked by everyone, Bandini seems to be left alone in his own struggle for recognition. And as the character spins in a vicious circle, Fante reminds us that “the world is a myth, a transparent plain in which everything is only for a little while.. In fact, we are not alive at all. We just approach life, but we never really achieve it…”. The novel “Ask the Dust” was also adapted into a film in 2006 starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek. And Charles Bukowski, who wrote the foreword to the novel “Ask the Dust” says that it was this author who inspired him to become a writer.
