From the Editorial Note:

This novel introduces Fante's alter ego Arturo Bandini who reappears in Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1938), Ask the Dust (1939), and Dreams from Bunker Hill (1982).

The manuscript was discovered among John Fante's papers after his death in May, 1983 by his widow Joyce, and now may be included in that short, distinguished list of important first novels by American authors.