“So fuck you, Los Angeles, fuck your palm trees, and your highassed women, and your fancy streets, for I am going home, back to Colorado, back to the best damned town in the USA - Boulder, Colorado.”
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Analysis of John Fante's Quote
In this quote by John Fante, the speaker expresses a deep sense of disillusionment with Los Angeles and a strong sense of loyalty and yearning for his hometown of Boulder, Colorado. The use of profanity highlights the speaker's intense emotions and adds to the rawness of his sentiments. The contrast between the superficiality of Los Angeles with its palm trees, high-class women, and fancy streets, and the speaker's perception of the genuine beauty and appeal of Boulder, Colorado, emphasizes his preference for a simpler, more authentic way of life. The quote reflects a sense of pride and nostalgia for one's roots and a rejection of the allure of superficial glamour. It speaks to the universal theme of finding one's true home and belonging.
Embracing the Beauty of Home in a World of Glitz and Glamour
In the midst of the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, John Fante's words ring true as he expresses his desire to return to his roots in Boulder, Colorado. The contrast between the superficiality of LA and the authenticity of home highlights the importance of staying true to oneself and finding solace in familiar surroundings. Fante's sentiment serves as a reminder to prioritize personal connection and genuine happiness over the allure of flashy city life.
John Fante's Independence from Los Angeles
In this quote, John Fante expresses his frustration with Los Angeles and his longing to return to his hometown of Boulder, Colorado. He uses vivid language to convey his disdain for the city and highlights his strong sense of pride and love for his hometown.
Reflection Questions
In this quote by John Fante, the speaker expresses a strong dislike for Los Angeles and a longing for their hometown of Boulder, Colorado. This sentiment brings up questions about the concept of home and what makes a place feel like home.
- What do you think constitutes a "home" for a person? Is it the physical location, the people, the memories, or something else entirely?
- Have you ever felt a strong sense of belonging or attachment to a particular place? What was it about that place that evoked such feelings?
- Do you think it's possible for someone to feel at home in multiple places, or is there usually just one true "home" for each person?
- Can you relate to the idea of feeling disillusioned or disconnected from a place that others may find appealing or glamorous, like Los Angeles in this quote? How do you think personal experiences shape our perceptions of different locations?
- How do you think the idea of home and the longing for a specific place shapes our sense of identity and belonging in the world?
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“Dear Woman Who Gave Me Life:The callous vexations and perturbations of this night have subsequently resolved themselves to a state which precipitates me, Arturo Bandini, into a brobdingnagian and gargantuan decision. I inform you of this in no uncertain terms. Ergo, I now leave you and your ever charming daughter (my beloved sister Mona) and seek the fabulous usufructs of my incipient career in profound solitude. Which is to say, tonight I depart for the metropolis to the east — our own Los Angeles, the city of angels. I entrust you to the benign generosity of your brother, Frank Scarpi, who is, as the phrase has it, a good family man (sic!). I am penniless but I urge you in no uncertain terms to cease your cerebral anxiety about my destiny, for truly it lies in the palm of the immortal gods. I have made the lamentable discovery over a period of years that living with you and Mona is deleterious to the high and magnanimous purpose of Art, and I repeat to you in no uncertain terms that I am an artist, a creator beyond question. And, per se, the fumbling fulminations of cerebration and intellect find little fruition in the debauched, distorted hegemony that we poor mortals, for lack of a better and more concise terminology, call home. In no uncertain terms I give you my love and blessing, and I swear to my sincerity, when I say in no uncertain terms that I not only forgive you for what has ruefully transpired this night, but for all other nights. Ergo, I assume in no uncertain terms that you will reciprocate in kindred fashion. May I say in conclusion that I have much to thank you for, O woman who breathed the breath of life into my brain of destiny? Aye, it is, it is.Signed.Arturo Gabriel Bandini.Suitcase in hand, I walked down to the depot. There was a ten-minute wait for the midnight train for Los Angeles. I sat down and began to think about the new novel.”
“IT'S MORNING, TIME to get up, so get up, Arturo, and look for a job. Get out there and look for what you'll never find. You're a thief and you're a crab-killer and a lover of women in clothes closets. You'll never find a job!Every morning I got up feeling like that. Now I've got to find a job, damn it to hell. I ate breakfast, put a book under my arm, pencils in my pocket, and started out. Down the stairs I went, down the street, sometimes hot and sometimes cold, sometimes foggy and sometimes clear. It never mattered, with a book under my arm, looking for a job.What job, Arturo? Ho ho! A job for you? Think of what you are, my boy! A crab-killer. A thief. You look at naked women in clothes closets. And you expect to get a job! How funny! But there he goes, the idiot, with a big book. Where the devil are you going, Arturo? Why do you go up this street and not that? Why go east - why not go west? Answer me, you thief! Who'll give you a job, you swine - who? But there's a park across town, Arturo. It's called Banning Park. There are a lot of beautiful eucalyptus trees in it, and green lawns. What a place to read! Go there, Arturo. Read Nietzsche. Read Schopenhauer. Get into the company of the mighty. A job? fooey! Go sit under a eucalyptus tree reading a book looking for a job. ”
“Ah, Evelyn and Vivian, I love you both, I love you for your sad lives, the empty misery of your coming home at dawn. You too are alone, but you are not like Arturo Bandini, who is neither fish, fowl nor good red herring. So have your champagne, because I love you both, and you too, Vivian, even if your mouth looks like it had been dug out with raw fingernails and your old child's eyes swim in blood written like mad sonnets.”