There’s a fine line between a good poetry reading and a bad one. Fortunately, the rare appearance of LA-native/Arizona-based writer Dan Fante at {open}’s “Readings From a Burning Shore” last week falls into the former category. Fante’s real-life persona stands in stark contrast to the characters in his stories; in person, he was clean, articulate and highly likeable.

The same cannot be said for Bruno Dante, the star of Fante’s novels Chump Change and Mooch and his play Don Giovanni. Dante is a downtrodden booze-and-drug-addict who makes every wrong decision. When doors open for him, he takes them off the hinges. His sole motivation is supporting his vices, which he does at every opportunity, even when that means upsetting his wife, girlfriend, father, mother, brother and dog.

Although his work is considered fiction, Fante draws on his past to tell his tales. As any armchair psychologist would diagnose, Fante (and presumably Dante) acts the way he does based on his relationship with his father John Fante, a writer largely unknown during his lifetime—but now enjoying success a quarter-century after his death.

In Dan Fante’s first novel, Chump Change, Dante finds himself in a Venice bookstore asking for a book by his father Jonathan. He explains how his passion to write comes from a desire to give his dad deserved attention. It’s a sentiment Fante has echoed in interviews and at his reading. The writer read from his collection of short stories called Short Dog: Cab Driver Stories From the LA Streets, but it was his poetry that made the biggest splash with the 20-plus people in attendance.

Looking dapper in a black-collared shirt and a tie, Fante’s expressive voice carried his raw poems and added a hint of optimism to his oftentimes bleak stanzas. Afterwards, he answered questions and seemed like a decent fellow, which definitely would have pissed off Bruno.

DAN FANTE’S WORKS ARE AVAILABLE AT {OPEN} 2226 E FOURTH ST | LONG BEACH 90814 | 562.499.6736 | THESTORYOFOPEN.COM | AND AT BURNING SHORE PRESS | BURNINGSHOREPRESS.COM

Tags: dan fante, fiction, john fante, poetry, {open}