mjp
Founding member
I'm just getting around to reading Cooper's Fante biography (hey, I like to let books age properly before consuming), and I can't believe how easily Fante waltzed into his writing career.
He got a book offer from Knopf after publishing one short story in American Mercury! One. And by the time he starts complaining about the rough life of a professional writer he has published a grand total of five stories.
But the thing that really charred my meat was the way Cooper described the $100 a week Fante was working for in 1935 as a "shamefully low salary." Really? That's like making $1500 a week in today's dollars. $78k a year. Jesus, how did poor Fante ever survive on such a pittance! I guess it seemed shameful compared to what he was getting from the studios the previous year; $250 a week ($3800 a week today - almost $200k a year).
One of his editors described him as "a spoiled child" early on, and from what I've read so far, that's a good description. I'm only 130 pages into the book though, so maybe I haven't got to the part where he stops being such a whining, entitled little cocksucker.
But the way he made connections was really impressive. He was ambitious, no doubt about that. And it really is all about who you know. Especially in this town, and to a certain extent, in writing as well.
He got a book offer from Knopf after publishing one short story in American Mercury! One. And by the time he starts complaining about the rough life of a professional writer he has published a grand total of five stories.
But the thing that really charred my meat was the way Cooper described the $100 a week Fante was working for in 1935 as a "shamefully low salary." Really? That's like making $1500 a week in today's dollars. $78k a year. Jesus, how did poor Fante ever survive on such a pittance! I guess it seemed shameful compared to what he was getting from the studios the previous year; $250 a week ($3800 a week today - almost $200k a year).
One of his editors described him as "a spoiled child" early on, and from what I've read so far, that's a good description. I'm only 130 pages into the book though, so maybe I haven't got to the part where he stops being such a whining, entitled little cocksucker.
But the way he made connections was really impressive. He was ambitious, no doubt about that. And it really is all about who you know. Especially in this town, and to a certain extent, in writing as well.