Chump Change

A blackout brought on by a Mad Dog binge that ended with a self-inflicted steak knife wound bought Bruno Dante another stint in the nuthouse, no different from all the rest. Now it's done, and his wife, Agnes—taking time off from her personal-trainer lover—has come to pick Bruno up and to deliver a message from the West Coast: his screenwriter father is in the hospital in a coma and is not expected to live. So Bruno heads back to Los Angeles for a fraught family reunion, where the tension and stress force him to dull the pain the only way he knows how—with alcohol. And when he wakes up naked in a stolen car with an underage hooker whose pimp has stolen his wallet, Bruno realizes the trip has just begun.

The son of novelist John Fante (Ask the Dust), Dan Fante is the author of the novels Chump Change, Mooch, and Spitting Off Tall Buildings; the short story collection Short Dog; two books of poetry; and the plays The Boiler Room and Don Giovanni. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he lives in Arizona with his wife and son.