Willy Vlautin

Severely wounded in the Iraq war, Leroy has lived a half-life in a group home for eight years. Unable to bear it any longer, he commits a desperate act which helps him to disappear to another place. Freddie is the night porter at the home, who works two jobs yet can't make ends meet. Buried in debt from his younger daughter's medical bills, he's forced to consider a criminal proposition. Pauline is the nurse who tends Leroy, who lives her life in an uncomplicated way, emotionally removed, until she meets a young runaway. An extraordinary portrait of contemporary America, and a testament to the resilience of the human heart, The Free is Willy Vlautin's most moving and affecting novel to date.

The life he knew before the bomb no longer existed. That Leroy Kervin was gone. Willy Vlautin's stunning fourth novel opens with Leroy, a young, wounded, Iraq veteran, waking to a rare moment of clarity, his senses flooded with the beauty of remembering who he is but the pain of realising it won't last. When his attempt to end his half-life fails, he is taken to the local hospital where he is looked after by a nurse called Pauline, and visited by Freddie, the night-watchman from his group home for disabled men. As the stories of these three wounded characters circle and cross each other, we come to learn more of their lives. The father who caused her mother to abandon them both, and who Pauline loves and loathes in equal measure, the daughters Freddie yearns to be re-united with and, in a mysterious and frightening adventure story, the girlfriend Leroy dreams of protecting. Evoking a world which is still trying to come to terms with the legacy of a forgotten war, populated by those who struggle to pay for basic health care, Vlautin also captures how it is the small acts of kindness which can make a difference between life and death, between imprisonment and liberty. Haunting and essential, The Free is an unforgettable read.

Meet Horace Hopper, a twenty-one-year-old farm hand in Tonopah, Nevada, who works for Mr Reece and his wife, the nearest thing hes had to family in years.But Horace, half-white half-Paiute Indian, dreams of bigger things. Leaving behind the farm and its fragile stability, he heads South to re-invent himself as the Mexican boxer Hector Hidalgo. Slowly, painfully, the possibility emerges that his dreams might not just be the delusions of a lost soul. but at what cost, and what of those hes left behind?Exploring the fringes of contemporary America, Dont Skip Out on Me is an extraordinary work of compassion - a novel about the need for human connection and understanding - and essential reading, now more than ever.

Meet Horace Hopper, a twenty-one-year-old farm hand in Tonopah, Nevada, who works for Mr Reece and his wife, the nearest thing he's had to family in years. But Horace, half-white half-Paiute Indian, dreams of bigger things. Leaving behind the farm and its fragile stability, he heads South to re-invent himself as the Mexican boxer Hector Hidalgo. Slowly, painfully, the possibility emerges that his dreams might not just be the delusions of a lost soul. but at what cost, and what of those he's left behind? Exploring the fringes of contemporary America, Don't Skip Out on Me is an extraordinary work of compassion - a novel about the need for human connection and understanding - and essential reading, now more than ever.

Allison Johnson huye. Quiere alejarse de Las Vegas y de su novio, y se traslada a Reno en un intento por construir una nueva vida. No obstante, acosada por los errores que ha cometido en el pasado y carente de todo amor propio, solo consigue encontrar consuelo en las conversaciones imaginarias que mantiene con Paul Newman. Pero la vida sigue. Allison encuentra un trabajo y, poco a poco, empiezan a brotar pequeños actos de amabilidad y parecen emerger nuevas oportunidades. Un libro contundente. Una historia pura. Real. Dura. Todo ello combinado con el personal estilo del autor que, mediante la suavidad del texto, consigue crear una luz tibia, un sopor y un colorido que la convierten, al mismo tiempo en una dulce balada triste, inquietante y extrañamente hermosa, como la describe John Connolly.

Pacey and visceral.' Sunday Times'Imbued with the noirish urgency of a page-turning thriller.' Irish Times'Terrific.' Richard Russo'A revelation.' Megan AbbottBetween looking after her brother, attending night classes, and the combination of jobs she juggles, Lynette is dangerously tired. And when, after years of trying to scrape together enough for a mortgage, her plan is derailed, she must embark on a desperate odyssey through a city of greed.

Between looking after her brother, working two low-paid jobs, and trying to take part-time college classes, Lynette is dangerously tired.

Once part of a vibrant racing network, Portland Meadows is now seemingly the last haven for washed up jockeys and knackered horses, but its there that Charley meets Pete, an old horse who becomes his companion as hes forced to try to make his own way in the world.

The life he knew before the bomb no longer existed. That Leroy Kervin was gone.Willy Vlautins stunning fourth novel opens with Leroy, a young, wounded, Iraq veteran, waking to a rare moment of clarity, his senses flooded with the beauty of remembering who he is but the pain of realising it wont last. When his attempt to end his half-life fails, he is taken to the local hospital where he is looked after by a nurse called Pauline, and visited by Freddie, the night-watchman from his group home for disabled men.As the stories of these three wounded characters circle and cross each other, we come to learn more of their lives. The father who caused her mother to abandon them both, and who Pauline loves and loathes in equal measure, the daughters Freddie yearns to be re-united with and, in a mysterious and frightening adventure story, the girlfriend Leroy dreams of protecting. Evoking a world which is still trying to come to terms with the legacy of a forgotten war, populated by those who struggle to pay for basic health care, Vlautin also captures how it is the small acts of kindness which can make a difference between life and death, between imprisonment and liberty. Haunting and essential, The Free is an unforgettable read.

Vlautin is nothing less than the Dylan of the dislocated.Independent on SundayAt twenty-two, Allison Johnson is a lost young woman in need of a new start. Down among the lowlifes in Las Vegas, clinging to drink and to Jimmy, the abusive boyfriend whose child she is expecting, she has hit rock bottom. So when the opportunity arises to escape, Allison knows she must take it. She reaches Reno with just a few dollars and her ever-present best friend - Paul Newman. And as she struggles to start a better life it is imaginary conversations with the movie stars greatest characters and real acts of kindness from people she barely knows that might just rescue her from the difficult world she has found herself in.Vlautin has written the American novel Ive been hoping to find. George PelecanosA compassionate look at everyday, ordinary people struggling to make a new life for themselves in America.Herald

The night it happened I was drunk, almost passed out, and I swear to God a bird came flying through my motel room window . . . Narrated by Frank Flannigan, The Motel Life tells the story of how he and his brother Jerry Lee take to the road in a bid to escape the hit-and-run accident which kick-starts the narrative. Written with huge compassion, and an eye for the small details of life, it has become one of the most talked about debuts of recent years. That rare beast: a book with the cadence of an old, well-loved song. Sad, haunting, and strangely beautiful. John Connolly, author of The Black AngelA serene and assured piece of minor-key Americana . . . Not many people do anything similar over here, with the same sense of small town big-sky melancholy. So British readers looking for a shot of post-Beat generation blues should reach with confidence for Vlautins book. Jonathan Gibbs, Independent

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARDNOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM A24An unforgettable story of a friendship and of hope in dark times.Catch-your-breath good. EILEEN BATTERSY, IRISH TIMESPowerful, heartbreaking stuff. MARK BILLINGHAMA cult classic.METROThis guy is a real discovery. COLM TOIBINFifteen-year-old Charley Thompson wants a home; food on the table; a high school he can attend for more than part of a year; and some structure to his life. But as the son of a single father working at warehouses across the Pacific Northwest, hes been pretty much on his own for some time.Lean on Pete opens as he and his father arrive in Portland, Oregon and Charley takes a stables job, illegally, at the local race track. Once part of a vibrant racing network, Portland Meadows is now seemingly the last haven for washed up jockeys and knackered horses, but its there that Charley meets Pete, an old horse who becomes his companion as hes forced to try to make his own way in the world.

NOW A NETFLIX FILM STARRING VANESSA KIRBYPacey and visceral.Sunday TimesImbued with the noirish urgency of a page-turning thriller.Irish TimesA tear-struck revelation.MEGAN ABBOTTBetween looking after her brother, working two low-paid jobs, and trying to take part-time college classes, Lynette is dangerously tired. Every penny shes earned for years, shes 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 shes never had. But, when the plan is derailed, Lynette must embark on a desperate odyssey of hope and anguish.Written with all Willy Vlautins 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.What readers are saying:Amazing . . . Vlautin hit the nail on the head with this. I could not stop thinking about the characters and where the story would take them.WOW. This book hit me hard . . . I was on the edge of my seat.The book pulls you into the story and you cant wait to find out what happens next.Fabulous . . . part suspenseful action and part deep character study.

WINNER OF THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZEExtraordinary. ANN PATCHETT Tremendously compelling.GUARDIANBruised and beautiful. BEN MYERSTranscendent. LA TIMESWilly Vlautins most personal novel yet - a poetic and deeply moving story about what it really takes to be a musician.Al Ward, an ageing musician, is living on old mining land in Nevada. One morning, a horse arrives outside his home, unable to feed itself or stay safe from coyotes. Six thousand feet up, thirty miles from the nearest town, and broken by alcoholism and anxiety, Al must decide what to do.A gorgeous journey of a novel, and an unforgettable character study of a lifelong songwriter, The Horse masterfully explores ideas of loneliness, creativity and resilience.Another classic from one of Americas greatest storytellers. JONATHAN EVISONA terrific parable of art and aging. JESS WALTER

Opening like an early Tom Waits barstool-tale, ''The Motel Life'' tells the story of two brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee, who take to the road in an attempt to escape the hit and run accident caused by Jerry Lee. With intense feeling and compassion, Vlautin explores the lives and frustrations of the two brothers - one a natural storyteller, the other an aspiring 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 form an integral part of the narrative, ''The Motel Life'' is a moving and beautifully naive debut that should come to be seen as a classic of downbeat American prose. In a gritty debut, Vlautin explores a few weeks in the broken lives of two working-class brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee Flannigan, who abruptly ditch their Reno motel after Jerry Lee drunkenly kills a boy on a bicycle in a hit-and-run. The two are case studies in hard luck: their mother died when they were 14 and 16, respectively; their father is an ex-con deadbeat; neither finished high school. Frank has had just one girlfriend, motel neighbor Annie, whose mother is an abusive prostitute. An innocent simpleton, Jerry Lee is left feeling suicidal after the accident, despite his younger brother''s efforts (a la Of Mice and Men''s Lenny and George) to console him: ''It was real quiet, the way he cried,'' says Frank, ''like he was whimpering.'' On returning to Reno, an eventual reckoning awaits them. Vlautin''s coiled, poetically matter-of-fact prose calls to mind S.E. Hintona writer well-acquainted with male misfit protagonists seeking redemption, no matter how destructive. Despite the bleak story and its inevitably tragic ending, Vlautin, who plays in the alt-country band Richmond Fontaine, transmits a quiet sense of resilience and hopefulness. (May)

"Supe que la mala suerte nos había encontrado a mi hermano y a mí. Y nosotros tomamos la mala suerte y nos atamos los pies con ella, como si los hubiésemos hundido en cemento fresco. Hicimos lo peor que se le podria ocurrir a nadie: huimos.Como si Tom Waits nos susurrara relatos apoyado en la barra de un bar, Vida de motel cuenta la historia de dos hermanos, Frank y Jerry Lee, que se echan a la carretera en un intento de huir del atropello que ha cometido Jerry Lee. Con una enorme dosis de sentimiento y compasion, Willy Vlautin explora las vidas y las frustraciones de los dos hermanos -uno, narrador de historias nato; el otro, aspirante a artista-, y transmite a la perfeccion la sensacion de opresion que sienten

One of Americas great writers. RODDY DOYLEVlautins characters are a vast chorus of broken hearts, reaching for grace. COLIN WALSHNo one writes with such empathy and insight as Willy Vlautin. BEN MYERSVlautin writes about people overlooked by society and overlooked by literature. ANN PATCHETTThe moving, large-hearted story of a young boy in danger of slipping through societys cracks and the unlikely father figure who takes him under his wing.And try to breathe, man. You gotta remember to breathe. You wont get so panicky if you can remember that.Eddie Wilkens runs his own house-painting business. Forty-something and living alone, he just wants to take life one day at a time. When his eight-year-old neighbour, Russell, starts hanging around, Eddie sees that this small kid - with his single mother working nights and his violent older brother - is struggling to keep his head above water, and so tries to help.Equal parts heart wrenching and uplifting, The Left and the Lucky is a portrait of this unusual friendship - the ways hurt shatters people and the compassionate acts that can, maybe, hold some of those pieces together.

Una gran novela de suspense con alma de clásico contemporáneo, de la mano de uno de los autores más celebrados por la crítica en Estados Unidos.«Uno de los libros más conmovedoramente humanos que he

«Más directo que Carver, menos ingenuo que Bukowski, Vlautin reclama hábilmente ese mismo territorio difuso y lo hace nuevo.» New York Times Book Review«Intensa y visceral.» Sunday Times«Vlautin es u