"Ask the Dust" by John Fante

Recommended to me by my love, "Ask the Dust" is set in the mid world war years of Los Angeles. Seemingly autobiographical, the story follows the budding author Arturo Bandini as he scrapes odds and ends together in an attempt to kickstart his writing career. I loved how this book described the Los Angeles of it's time with such specificity. It made me wish I could travel in time to visit the streets and sights of the era. Some of the references still exist and others have changed greatly but, nearly 90 years later, it was thrilling to imagine a day in the life of a migrant living hand to mouth in LA. Bandini has a complex relationship with his romantic counterpart Camilla. They only seem to enjoy one another when they behave terribly. He has his first sexual encounter with a woman who is then almost immediatly killed in a earthquake. Page by page, seeing how Bandini's relationships ebb and flow from intense need to overpowering hate, the reader develops a very real understanding of the life and times. Fante writes with strong prose and unparrelled transparency.

"The Guermantes Way" by Marcel Proust

I recently finished the third installment of Marcel Proust's epic novel "In Search of Lost Time". "The Guermantes Way", as the name indicates, delves deeply into the Guermantes family, inasmuch as it existed while Proust was a youth. He becomes fascinated by Madame Guermantes, becomes introduced to their social circle, paints a thorough picture of their complexities and begins, what seems to be, a storied relationship with Messeiur Charlus. "The Guermantes Way" is truly like the 19th century version of a reality housewives show. All the characters are outlandishly self involved, obsessed with maintaining the status quo and, constantly trying to one up each other. I read almost the entire edition in english two years ago and started over to read it simultaneously with the french version to best aid in my french comprehension. This is a thick read, overflowing with references to works of the era and historical pieces, some obscure and others well known. My sweetheart and I have begun our plunge into the next edition "Sodom and Gommorah". Here comes the hedonism!