Dusting Old Angels: Boosterism and the L.A. Dream in John Fante’s "Ask the Dust" and its Film Adaptation

L.A. boosterism is one of the longest-running and most effective city advertising campaigns, shaping much of the imagery associated with this West Coast metropolis since the late nineteenth century. Against this backdrop, this paper analyzes John Fante’s 1939 novel Ask the Dust and its debunking of L.A. myths, alongside Robert Towne’s 2006 film adaptation. The study examines how Fante’s critique of boosterism translates to the screen, exploring the parallels and divergences between the two works. Adaptation is here approached as a dialogical process, where films reinterpret and expand on their sources, rendering questions of (in)fidelity secondary to their ability to open new dimensions. On these grounds, the paper seeks to determine if, how, and to what extent Fante’s critique of L.A. boosterism resonates in Towne’s cinematic vision.