The Motel Life: A Novel (P.S.)
by Willy Vlautin
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Read in July, 2008
I've been a sort-of fan of Willy Vlautin's band, Richmond Fontaine, since moving to Portland, though I've never really paid attention to the lyrics in his alt-countryish narrative tunes. Part of the problem is Vlautin's singing voice, which is raspy and weary in that whiskey-soaked kind of way that usually appeals to me, but is also oddly bland, with little differentiation in range or tone from track to track. His music just k...more
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Read in January, 2008
An excellent first novel. Vlautin's language is sparse, but in an engaging manner that never interferes with his storyline. I was reminded of a quote from Adolfo Bioy Casares, who said, "---in writing the new novel, I don't strive to make a big hit, just to avoid errors." And in this novel that method works.
The only real bothersome points for me were Vlautin's writing habit of stories within stories, which take one of two forms in this novel. The first is flashback events, where s...more
The only real bothersome points for me were Vlautin's writing habit of stories within stories, which take one of two forms in this novel. The first is flashback events, where s...more
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Read in November, 2007
Vlautin's "The Motel Life" is a darkly hilarious, gritty, and honest novel about two brothers living in Nevada. Their lives are hard. They make mistakes, or as one of the brothers, Jerry Lee says, they're "fuck-ups." But they're not bad people. And as Jerry Lee summarizes at the end of the novel (summarization of quote, don't have book with me): even though they're fuck-ups, they're not bad people. They shouldn't have to be alone. (I need to grab my book so I can do thi...more
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Read in January, 2008
The blurb describes Willy Vlautin as writing like "the secret love child of Raymond Carver and Flannery O'Connor," which isn't far from accurate. Heavier on the Carver than on O'Connor, though.
The bad luck tale of Frank and Jerry Lee, two directionless Nevada brothers who inadvertently and tragically fuck up ju...more
The bad luck tale of Frank and Jerry Lee, two directionless Nevada brothers who inadvertently and tragically fuck up ju...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Marie by:
Brian (not Brain)recommends it for: people that like orphaned boys
2 adolescent, semi-orphaned, boys get caught up in a hit and run and muddle their way through the aftermath.
the structure of the story was interesting, one of the brothers told elaborate, and sometimes hilarious in their ridiculousness, stories to people in times of stress to calm things. Which i'm sure if you were into it, you could over analyze it and talk about how that might speak to the societal role of artists in general or the artists need to deal with realities by creating worlds wher...more
the structure of the story was interesting, one of the brothers told elaborate, and sometimes hilarious in their ridiculousness, stories to people in times of stress to calm things. Which i'm sure if you were into it, you could over analyze it and talk about how that might speak to the societal role of artists in general or the artists need to deal with realities by creating worlds wher...more
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recommends it for:
winter drunks
This is one of the best novels I read this year, and one of the best I've read in a long time. It brought me back to the days of harder fictions from Denis Johnson and Raymond Carver, which seems to be the unanimous vote going round. Those were some of the first authors I ever fell in deep with and it was nice to go back there.
Don't mistake though, this novel was authentic. You never got the sense the author was rubbing your face in it, or winking at you. It was bleak and beautiful and one he...more
Don't mistake though, this novel was authentic. You never got the sense the author was rubbing your face in it, or winking at you. It was bleak and beautiful and one he...more
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4 comments
The Motel Life (Harper Perennial, 2006) is writer/musician (or is it musician/writer?) Willy Vlautin’s first foray into novel writing, and the result is solid yet underwhelming. It’s important to note, however, that this first appeared in the U.K. in 1999, courtesy of Faber and Faber Limited, so the Harper Perennial edition is actually the U.S. copy, which comes with bonus features that shed light on the author, story, and artwork....
Read the rest in the October 2007 issue ...more
Read the rest in the October 2007 issue ...more
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Read in June, 2007
This was the most depressing book about what it means to be poor and forgotten in this country. Living hand to mouth in hotels with only the drink to keep you going. All about two brothers whose mother (and only relative) dies by the time they're 17 and 15. Out on their own, they move from hotel to hotel. I read an article in Willy Week years ago about people living on the edge that moved around the hotels on 82nd in Portland. They didn't have the credit or the money to afford a month's ren...more
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Read in June, 2007
I was intrigued by this book when I saw it because I recognized the author as a member of the alt-country group Richmond Fontaine. I feel unqualified to write a review given that I rarely read fiction but I was impressed with this book of two down and out brothers whose lives spiral even further out of control after one kills a teenager in a hit and run accident. My main criticism is that it is a bit slight and that the trope of one brother telling stories to comfort the other is used more as ...more
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this story is about drinking too much and feeling bad. it's about rumination on the past and it's about accidental murder. i could almost hear the slot machines when reading. i could feel the timelessness that occurs in dark gambling towns. what i liked: this story is so Reno, it's ridiculous. it envokes the very feeling of sordid hopelessness that one feels just walking down the dirty streets there. what i didn't like: if this book is about drinking, thinking about the past, and murder, ...more
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Read in November, 2007
i didn't know what to expect out of this book when i started reading. i love richmond fontaine....but wasn't sure how rock and roll related to fiction writing....it is something i am exploring more. i appreciated that the writer was able to give a life to the characters albeit a sad life. i felt like these peoples lives were very close to the lives of some people i have known. yet there was an uplifting, creative spark that made these unfortunate characters extremely real and likeable. grea...more
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Read in July, 2007
After hearing Richmond Fontaine's album "Thirteen Cities," I found out that the lead singer of that band, Willy Vlautin, wrote this novel. It is of a literary mold that Raymond Carver and Denis Johnson from which carved. Simple language with characters struggling with their livelihoods, they never know where the rent money is going to come from. When unexpected things happen, it becomes even more difficult for them to deal with it. This was a quick read, but well worth it.
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this book really touched me. it is lonesome, gritty, and honest. there is nothing fancy in the language, which is completely appropriate for the story, and it is well-told. it's the simple story of two brothers who are down on their luck, maybe have been their whole lives, and are trying to find their way after a devastating hit-and-run accident. the setting of reno plays a large part in the story and greatly contributes to much of their circumstance and failures.
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A really excellent first novel. I've never been to Reno and have no idea what it's like, but this book successfully got across what lifes like for some in Nevada. It definitely felt authentic.
The story itself is simple but poignant. It deals with hope, fate, tragedy and bad luck. Both Jerry and Frank have their lives turned upside down due to the death of a boy. As the consequences play out one of them seems to have a chance of a future and the other...
The story itself is simple but poignant. It deals with hope, fate, tragedy and bad luck. Both Jerry and Frank have their lives turned upside down due to the death of a boy. As the consequences play out one of them seems to have a chance of a future and the other...
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Read in March, 2008
I'm a sucker for sad stories about down and out guys and this one was a good one. I thought the voice was perfect. I liked all the characters, even if I wanted to know more about them. I think I wanted to know more because I cared. I liked the way that Frank told stories. Just one crazy thing happening after another (Willie Nelson? Wow. Cool!)I also really liked the descriptions of Reno. It seemed like a big truck stop where nobody ever gets to leave.
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Read in January, 2007
Couldn't recommend this book more highly. Vlautin is the leader of Portland alt-country mainstays Richmond Fontaine, and he's always been a storyteller, even in song. This book is so simple, so finely wrought, and so brutal and honest that it's hard to believe it's Vlautin's first. The lost lives he details are ones you may have known yourself, especially if you've ever crossed the country on a Grayhound bus or set foot in Reno, Nevada.
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Read in April, 2007
I live in Reno, knew Willy in the nineties, and drive by many of the places he writes about, nearly every day. This book was instantly engaging to me. Nevada really does tend to be the lonesome place he describes. The characters never really complain about their hard times. Seems they are used to it by now. Everything that happens is endearingly communicated through a simple universal language.
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Read in April, 2008
The story is very much like an extended Richmond Fontaine song...reason why I love Richmond Fontaine and other singer/songwriters who take the listener through a story. I have been a Richmond Fontaine fan from the beginning and have really noticed and enjoyed the evolution of story telling in the music. I enjoyed The Hotel Life immensely and look forward to reading Vlautin's most recent book now out.
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Read in April, 2008
So I loved this book. It's kind of dark and depressing but also really nice somehow. The main characters aren't really that good (I mean they kill an innocent kid...not a spoiler, don't worry about it) but you love them and root for them anyways.
This is an awesome book if you like down-and-out hard-luck characters struggling through a hard existence that doesn't really seem fair. Read it!
This is an awesome book if you like down-and-out hard-luck characters struggling through a hard existence that doesn't really seem fair. Read it!
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I love this book. And I'm beginning to fall in love with the author's band, Richmond Fontaine. With 'The Motel Life,' Vlautin takes the reader into the lives of two down-and-out brothers, exploring their personal tragedies, and into the desperate world of living a hand-to-mouth existence in flop-house type motels. The book is a sorrowful, beautiful old country song come to life.
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