A short life of the author
Willy Vlautin (b. 1967) was born on 14 December 1967 in Reno, Nevada. He dropped out of high school and worked various jobs. He is the frontman of the alt-country band Richmond Fontaine (1994–2016) and the Delines. He lives in Scappoose, Oregon.
Life and Career
The Motel Life (2006) — about two brothers on the run in Reno after a hit-and-run — established his voice: plain, direct, and deeply empathetic toward characters who live on the margins.
Northline (2008) — about a young woman fleeing an abusive boyfriend — and Lean on Pete (2010) — about Charley Thompson, a fifteen-year-old Portland boy who gets a job at a horse track and runs away with a retired racehorse named Lean on Pete — expanded his readership. Lean on Pete was adapted into a 2017 film by Andrew Haigh.
The Free (2014), Don’t Skip Out on Me (2018) — about a half-Paiute ranch hand who dreams of becoming a boxer — and The Night Always Comes (2021) — about a woman trying to buy the Portland house she rents before gentrification displaces her — are all short, tightly constructed novels about people fighting not to go under. The Horse (2023) continued this project.
Key Works
- Lean on Pete (2010)
- The Night Always Comes (2021)
- Don’t Skip Out on Me (2018)
Collecting Vlautin
The Motel Life (2006, Harper Perennial) brings $15–$30. UK editions (Faber) are also collected.