Willy Vlautin crea narrativas profundamente evocadoras que exploran las vidas de individuos en los márgenes de la sociedad estadounidense. Su obra se caracteriza por un crudo realismo, centrándose en temas de pobreza, adicción y los complejos lazos que unen a las personas incluso en sus luchas. La prosa de Vlautin capta la esencia cruda del Oeste americano, retratando personajes que lidian con circunstancias difíciles con una honestidad cruda y sin concesiones. A pesar de las dificultades a las que se enfrentan sus personajes, existe una corriente subyacente persistente de resiliencia y una búsqueda de conexión.
Horace Hopper, raised on a Nevada sheep ranch by the caring Mr. and Mrs. Reese, grapples with feelings of inadequacy stemming from his mixed Paiute and Irish heritage. Despite their intentions to pass the ranch to him, Horace feels he doesn't belong and seeks to forge his own identity. Driven by a desire to prove himself, he leaves behind the only family he's known to pursue a career as a championship boxer, embarking on a journey of self-discovery and ambition.
There's a horse', he whispered. 'An old horse that's standing in front of my
house. He's blind and he won't eat and I don't know what to do.'65-year-old Al
Ward is several years into an isolated stint living on old mining land in
Nevada left to him by his great uncle. One morning, the horse arrives outside
his home, seemingly unable to feed itself or stay safe from coyote attacks.
6000 feet up, 30 miles from the nearest town and broken by alcoholism and
anxiety, Al must decide what to do.Intercut with Al's present-day story are
episodes from his long life as a songwriter and guitarist. Beginning in Reno,
we follow his chequered career as a touring musician, struggling to make ends
meet and to survive the reality of a like devoid of the glitz and glamour of
mainstream success.Vlautin's new novel is a gorgeous homage to the
uncelebrated musicians who make our lives more joyful, and, as always, an
exploration of loneliness, humanity and resilience.
Fleeing Las Vegas and her abusive boyfriend, Allison Johnson moves to Reno, but finds herself haunted by the mistakes of her past, and lacking any self-belief. Her only comfort seems to come from the imaginary conversations she has with her hero, Paul Newman. But, as life crawls on, small acts of kindness do start to reveal themselves and slowly the chance of a new life begins to emerge. Full of memorable characters and imbued with a beautiful sense of yearning, Northline is an extraordinary portrait of small-town America and an emotional tour de force.
Once part of a vibrant racing network, Portland Meadows is now seemingly the
last haven for washed up jockeys and knackered horses, but it's there that
Charley meets Pete, an old horse who becomes his companion as he's forced to
try to make his own way in the world. číst celé
Opening like an early Tom Waits barstool-tale, The Motel Life tells the story of two brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee. Taking to the road in an attempt to escape the hit and run accident caused by Jerry Lee, the novel goes back to tell the story of their unhappy lives. With intense feeling and compassion, Vlautin explores the frustrations and failed dreams of the two brothers - one a natural storyteller, the other an artist - and renders perfectly the sense of entrapment they feel. Will the kid's death shock them out of their torpor or send them ever deeper into trouble? Can Annie James, a girl from their past, offer them any sort of redemption, however slim?Interspersed with drawings that come to form an integral part of the narrative, The Motel Life is a poetic, moving, beautifully naïve and tragic fictional debut. Alongside such seminal works as Annie Proulx's Postcards, Raymond Carver's What we talk about when we talk about love and Denis Johnson's Jesus's Son, it should come to be seen as a classic of downbeat American prose.
While serving in Iraq, veteran Leroy Kervin suffered a traumatic brain injury. Frustrated by the simplest daily routines, and unable to form new memories, he eventually attempts suicide. Lying in a coma, he retreats deep inside the memories locked in his mind. Freddie McCall works two jobs and still can't make ends meet. He's lost his wife and kids, and the house is next. Medical bills have buried him in debt, a situation that propels him to consider a lucrative - and dangerous - proposition. Pauline Hawkins is a nurse at the local hospital. Though she attends to others' needs with practical yet firm kindness, including her mentally ill elderly father, she remains emotionally removed. But a new patient, a young runaway, touches something deep and unexpected inside her.
With "echoes of Of Mice and Men"(The Bookseller, UK), The Motel Life explores the frustrations and failed dreams of two Nevada brothers—on the run after a hit-and-run accident—who, forgotten by society, and short on luck and hope, desperately cling to the edge of modern life.
Opening like an early Tom Waits barstool-tale, The Motel Life tells the story of two brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee. Taking to the road in an attempt to escape the hit and run accident caused by Jerry Lee, the novel goes back to tell the story of their unhappy lives. With intense feeling and compassion, Vlautin explores the frustrations and failed dreams of the two brothers - one a natural storyteller, the other an artist - and renders perfectly the sense of entrapment they feel. Will the kid's death shock them out of their torpor or send them ever deeper into trouble? Can Annie James, a girl from their past, offer them any sort of redemption, however slim?Interspersed with drawings that come to form an integral part of the narrative, The Motel Life is a poetic, moving, beautifully naïve and tragic fictional debut. Alongside such seminal works as Annie Proulx's Postcards, Raymond Carver's What we talk about when we talk about love and Denis Johnson's Jesus's Son, it should come to be seen as a classic of downbeat American prose.
The writing is spare and straightforward...There is intensity in Vlautin's
narration, and also beauty and power...Vlautin's major accomplishment lies in
posing a damning question: How could we, as a society, have allowed this to
happen? Seattle Times
Between looking after her brother, working two low-paid jobs, and trying to take part-time college classes, Lynette is dangerously tired. Every penny she's earned for years, she's put into savings, trying to scrape together enough to take out a mortgage on the house she rents with her mother. Finally becoming a homeowner in their rapidly gentrifying Portland neighbourhood could offer Lynette the kind of freedoms she's never had. But, when the plan is derailed, Lynette must embark on a desperate odyssey of hope and anguish. Written with all Willy Vlautin's characteristic and heart-wrenching empathy, The Night Always Comes holds up a mirror to a society which leaves too many people only a step away from falling between the cracks.
