About
“The lean days of determination. That was the word for it, determination: Arturo Bandini in front of his typewriter two full days in succession, determined to succeed; but it didn’t work, the longest siege of hard and fast determination in his life, and not one line done, only two words written over and over across the page, up and down, the same words: palm tree, palm tree, palm tree, a battle to the death between the palm tree and me, and the palm tree won: see it out there swaying in the blue air, creaking sweetly in the blue air. The palm tree won after two fighting days, and I crawled out of the window and sat at the foot of the tree. Time passed, a moment or two, and I slept, little brown ants carousing in the hair on my legs.” - John Fante, Ask The Dust
Palm tree, palm tree, palm tree is a website that celebrates one of my favorite art forms, the short story. It includes links to the best short stories (and some essays and other works) that are available to be read online.
Click the “Read…” line to be read the entire work. Click the image to purchase the book.
My name is Steven Salardino. I write, am a founding member of Ukefink (est. 1994), and manage the Los Angeles bookstore Skylight Books.
