The Motel Life
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"'A future classic of American down-beat prose.' Dazed and Confused"
David Peace, author of GB84
'The finest American novel I’ve read in some time, so simple, so spare and so honest.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm sure a lot of people will come upon this new novel from Willy Vlautin because they cherish the sublime music he has put out over the years with his bandmates in Richmond Fontaine. Even if this is not the case I would urge readers who enjoy this book to make a beeline for the nearest record store & dig into the rich seam that is the Richmond Fontaine back catalogue.
A coldness pervades the pages of The Motel Life, you can really feel the biting chill of the harsh North American winter and the slow, cold desperation of the characters in this story, as they face up to & look back at the harsh hands life has dealt them.
Yet there is also a warmth, the warmth of the bond between brothers, the warmth that exists between neighbours out here in the chilly, little towns dotting this great continent & the warmth sometimes created by even the most passing of human relationships.
A beautifully rendered story, from a writer with more talent than is possibly fair. Fans of Richmond Fonatine will not be dissapointed.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It been a long time since I read a book that was so brutally honest and heartbreaking. This is a story of love, not of your sentimental boy\girl type, but of two brothers trying to survive in a harsh world.
The themes that run through this book will be familiar to fans of Richmond Fontaine; loss, abandonment, betrayal, but most of all understanding and compassion. This book is such a natural extension to Willy Vlautin's songwriting, that for the first chapter it felt I was reading lyrics for Richmond Fontaine's next album.
The themes that run through this book will be familiar to fans of Richmond Fontaine; loss, abandonment, betrayal, but most of all understanding and compassion. This book is such a natural extension to Willy Vlautin's songwriting, that for the first chapter it felt I was reading lyrics for Richmond Fontaine's next album.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Willy is a natural born story teller! His usual creative outlet Richmond Fontaine a group of alt-country rockers from Portland Oregan have has produced some of the best narative songs I've ever heard. This novel is no exception. I loved every second i spent with this book and missed the characters when I put it down. This is mainly due to the protagonist, Frank, the youngest of the Flanegan brothers who has a penchant for a tall tail. Frank's imagination draws on a rich seam of fanciful and outrageous characters. His vivid descritption and use of the absurd are a stark contrast to the real lives of the brothers as they attempt to deal with a chilling incident that sets them on a self-destrucive trip across America. It is Vlautins ability to weave a beautifully crafted story that propelles this novel and his juants into fantasy fully transport the reader. He has the ability to make the mundane sublime and the ridiculus tangible.
I recomend this novel to anybody with an interest in modern American fiction. In my humble opinion it's an instant downbeat, black hummoured indie classic.
I only hope that Willy will publish another book if his lyrics and his first novel are anything to go by.
Take me to the nearest Casino !!!!!!!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
COULD BE BETTER
I read rave reviews and was looking forward to a good read . I was disappointed .
It started well with Jerry Lee confessing to brother Frank that he had drunkenly run over and... Read more
It started well with Jerry Lee confessing to brother Frank that he had drunkenly run over and... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Alexander Bryce
Open a can of beer, watch TV, drift aimlessly.....
The down and out directionless lifestyle novel is a genre I would not normally read. If this book had been longer I would most probably have given up but I am glad I finished it. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Kiwifunlad
Hard to fault
Like many others, I bought this book because I went to a Richmond Fontaine gig and was blown away by the sheer poetic misery of the songs. Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2009 by Honor
Great debut
I've never heard of Willy Vlautin's band, but my goodness he can write. "The Motel Life" is a fairly bleak novel in places but is an effortless read, and one of the better debuts... Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2009 by Peter Lee
Loved the book, and I haven't even heard any Richmond Fontaine
This is a very good book. I came to this cold, I've never heard any of Mr Vlautin's music. Beautifully written, with at the heart of the story the essentially tragic relationships... Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2008 by Robert I. Campbell
literary gold
As someone who normally avoids fiction, I was attracted to reading the motel life through a love of willy's band Richmond Fontaine, there is an honesty and haunting beauty to his... Read more
Published on 2 May 2008 by John F Rowan
Great book
The Motel Life is written in a simple and sparse style that makes it a very easy read. But this ease of reading doesnt take away any drama from the plot which I found engaging from... Read more
Published on 21 April 2008 by Dillinger
I can only agree.............................
Having set out to praise this offering from Willy Vlautin I find that all of my thoughts have been encapsulated in the previous Amazon reviews....... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2008 by enjaybee
Of Mice and Men for this generation
Not one third of the way through this book, I was reminded of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. I read that one in just over an hour at the airport waiting for a flight to Nice almost... Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2007 by M. Y. Ker
The birth of a quiet genius.
Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Charles Bukowski and Townes Van Zandt all sprung to mind after blasting through the first four chapters of the book un-interuppted over my lunch hour... Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2007 by Mr. A. J. Quaeck
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