Ask The Dust by John Fante

This novel, written by the relatively little-known John Fante and published in 1939, was a strong influence on Charles Bukowski, who wrote the introduction for this edition, published in 1998 by Canongate, Edinburgh. The novel concerns Arturo Bandini, a young, struggling writer staying in a seedy LA hotel and his strained, and ultimately tragic, relationship with a waitress named Camilla Lopez.  A must-read for any serious admirer of Bukowski's work.