Someone described Dan Fante to me as a man more Bukowski-esque than Bukowski himself despite the illogicalness of that statement they were kind of right.
Dan’s father – Jon Fante was a big influence on Bukowski, especially through the character of Arturo Bandini who appears in a quartet of stories as a struggling writer. A cliche yes, struggling writer writes about being a struggling writer but it’s heartfelt prose.
John’s books ar esp. Ask the Dust. His son’s novels take the angry, raw, alcoholic life story of Bruno Dante (Dan himself) of soul destroying jobs, damaged relationships but with a need to create that isn’t always forthcoming.
The only book on Kindle Unlimited is 86’d which is actually one of his weaker ones -it’s still good but I would introduce myself to his output with
Chump Change
Mooch
Also if you haven’t read them – basically anything by John Fante is great especially: