“Breathtaking writing. . . . Angry, acerbic, self-pitying, and often painfully funny. . . . Read it at your peril.”
—Anthony Bourdain
SPITTING OFF TALL BUILDINGS
Bruno Dante has fled Los Angeles for New York. A string of deadbeat temporary telemarketing gigs are getting to him, and steady work he can stand is hard to come by. Things get more complicated by the steady stream of meaningless affairs, drinking binges, and blackouts he endures. Then something unexpected comes up and Bruno finds himself in a position to act responsibly. But like his drinking, screwing up is a habit he finds difficult to shake.
“Evokes brutally and skillfully the violently numb condition of Fante’s alter ego, Bruno Dante.”
—The Times (London)
Author’s Note
This book is a work of nonfiction. The events and experiences detailed here are true and have been rendered as best as I recollect them, bearing in mind that I suffered from active alcoholism for many years. Some names, identities, circumstances, and time lines have been altered in order to make the narrative more cohesive, or out of concern for the privacy of the individuals involved. Others have vetted the manuscript to confirm the rendering of its events.
I have led an intense life. For the sake of brevity I have not included every marriage, girlfriend, arrest, job, and beating. Just the more interesting ones.
Also by Dan Fante
86’d
Chump Change
Mooch
Spitting Off Tall Buildings
Short Dog: Cab Driver Stories from the L.A. Streets
Don Giovanni: A Play
The Boiler Room: A Play
A gin-pissing-raw-meat-dual-carburetor-V8-son-of-a-bitch from Los Angeles: Collected Poems 1983–2002
Kissed by a Fat Waitress: New Poems
Credits
Cover design by Milan Bozic
Cover photograph courtesy of the author
Copyright
All photographs are courtesy of the Fante family, except where otherwise noted.
P.S.™ is a trademark of Harper Collins Publishers.
FANTE. Copyright © 2011 by Dan Fante. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-06-202709-2
EPub Edition © AUGUST 2011 ISBN: 9780062027368
Version 04122013
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