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Verso Nord
Secondo romanzo di Willy Vlautin, Verso nord, al tempo della sua prima uscita, nel 2008, confermò ciò che in molti avevano già intuito: stava nascendo un autore in grado di dare voce agli emarginati, a quegli individui la cui esistenza è un campo di battaglia senza premi, se non la semplice sopravvivenza. Definito fin da questi esordi il nuovo John Steinbeck – per i temi affrontati ma anche per la prosa secca e cristallina e per lo sguardo compassionevole ma mai troppo sentimentale verso i propri personaggi – Vlautin ha consolidato questa sua vocazione anche con i successivi romanzi.
Dopo avere raccontato, in Motel Life, la storia di due fratelli in fuga per le strade del Nevada, in Verso nord Vlautin si concentra su una figura femminile che con loro ha molto in comune. Anche lei abita un mondo di desolazione e sconfitta, anche lei è aggrappata alla speranza di una nuova vita. Da Las Vegas, dove vive, Allison Johnson fugge da un insoddisfacente lavoro come cameriera e e da un fidanzato violento e si mette in viaggio verso nord, diretta a Reno, Nevada. Appena ventenne, ha un bambino nella pancia, una dipendenza dagli alcolici e una pessima considerazione di sé. Tormentata dagli errori del passato, Allison tenta di ricostruirsi una nuova esistenza in una nuova città, avendo come unico conforto le conversazioni immaginarie che intrattiene con il suo eroe, Paul Newman. Fino a quando, tra i casinò, i diner e le strade di periferia, non troverà qualcuno che combatte la sua stessa battaglia.
Dopo avere raccontato, in Motel Life, la storia di due fratelli in fuga per le strade del Nevada, in Verso nord Vlautin si concentra su una figura femminile che con loro ha molto in comune. Anche lei abita un mondo di desolazione e sconfitta, anche lei è aggrappata alla speranza di una nuova vita. Da Las Vegas, dove vive, Allison Johnson fugge da un insoddisfacente lavoro come cameriera e e da un fidanzato violento e si mette in viaggio verso nord, diretta a Reno, Nevada. Appena ventenne, ha un bambino nella pancia, una dipendenza dagli alcolici e una pessima considerazione di sé. Tormentata dagli errori del passato, Allison tenta di ricostruirsi una nuova esistenza in una nuova città, avendo come unico conforto le conversazioni immaginarie che intrattiene con il suo eroe, Paul Newman. Fino a quando, tra i casinò, i diner e le strade di periferia, non troverà qualcuno che combatte la sua stessa battaglia.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
69 people are currently reading
1586 people want to read
About the author
Willy Vlautin
22 books1,119 followersWilly Vlautin (born 1967) is an American author and the lead singer and songwriter of Portland, Oregon band Richmond Fontaine. Born and raised in Reno, Nevada, he has released nine studio albums since the late nineties with his band while he has written four novels: The Motel Life, Northline, Lean on Pete, and The Free.
Published in the US, several European and Asian countries, Vlautin's first book, The Motel Life was well received. It was an editor's choice in the New York Times Book Review and named one of the top 25 books of the year by the Washington Post.
His second, Northline was also critically hailed, and Vlautin was declared an important new American literary realist. Famed writer George Pelecanos stated that Northline was his favorite book of the decade. The first edition of this novel came with an original instrumental soundtrack performed by Vlautin and longtime bandmate Paul Brainard.
Vlautin's third novel, Lean on Pete, is the story of a 15-year-old boy who works and lives on a rundown race track in Portland, Oregon and befriends a failed race horse named Lean on Pete. The novel won two Oregon Book Awards: the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and the Peoples Choice Award.
As a novelist, Vlautin has cited writers such as John Steinbeck, Raymond Carver, Barry Gifford, and William Kennedy as influences. HIs writing is highly evocative of the American West; all three of his novels being set in and around Oregon, Nevada and New Mexico. His books explore the circumstances and relationships of people near the bottom of America's social and economic spectrum, itinerant, and often ailed by alcohol addiction.
Published in the US, several European and Asian countries, Vlautin's first book, The Motel Life was well received. It was an editor's choice in the New York Times Book Review and named one of the top 25 books of the year by the Washington Post.
His second, Northline was also critically hailed, and Vlautin was declared an important new American literary realist. Famed writer George Pelecanos stated that Northline was his favorite book of the decade. The first edition of this novel came with an original instrumental soundtrack performed by Vlautin and longtime bandmate Paul Brainard.
Vlautin's third novel, Lean on Pete, is the story of a 15-year-old boy who works and lives on a rundown race track in Portland, Oregon and befriends a failed race horse named Lean on Pete. The novel won two Oregon Book Awards: the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and the Peoples Choice Award.
As a novelist, Vlautin has cited writers such as John Steinbeck, Raymond Carver, Barry Gifford, and William Kennedy as influences. HIs writing is highly evocative of the American West; all three of his novels being set in and around Oregon, Nevada and New Mexico. His books explore the circumstances and relationships of people near the bottom of America's social and economic spectrum, itinerant, and often ailed by alcohol addiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 347 reviews
October 30, 2025
Willy Vlautin combines a hard look at some of society’s fringe members with a whimsical touch that makes it all go down much easier. Allison Johnson is in her twenties, with an abusive, skin-head boyfriend, Jimmy, a bad alcohol dependence and not exactly the highest opinion of herself. When she discovers that she is pregnant, Allison heads for Reno, desperate to get away from Jimmy, wanting to give birth there. She knows she is not up to raising a child, so gives it up for adoption and builds a small life for herself, waitressing, doing telephone solicitation for Curt Vacuum cleaners. As she regains some self-esteem, she collects a group of people in her life, her overweight, pot-smoking boss at Curt, Dan, a damaged customer at her diner. When she is really low, she summons an image of Paul Newman who talks her through her situations.
Willy Vlautin - Image from the NY Times
Despite the harshness of some of the characters, the beautyless surroundings, and the tough situations, this is a lovely book. Vlautin’s style is spare, which works well here. And although Allison is far from wonderful, we come to feel for her and root for her to succeed in her journey of self-reconstruction. It is a short read, but a satisfying one. I am eager to read more of Vlautin’s work.
If this sort of book appeals, you will definitely appreciate his following novel, The Free.
============================EXTRA STUFF
Vlautin’s personal and FB pages
Wiki page on Willy
Other books by Willy
-----2024 - The Horse
-----2021 - The Night Always Comes
-----2018 - Don’t Skip Out on Me
-----2018 - The Free
Willy Vlautin - Image from the NY Times
Despite the harshness of some of the characters, the beautyless surroundings, and the tough situations, this is a lovely book. Vlautin’s style is spare, which works well here. And although Allison is far from wonderful, we come to feel for her and root for her to succeed in her journey of self-reconstruction. It is a short read, but a satisfying one. I am eager to read more of Vlautin’s work.
If this sort of book appeals, you will definitely appreciate his following novel, The Free.
============================EXTRA STUFF
Vlautin’s personal and FB pages
Wiki page on Willy
Other books by Willy
-----2024 - The Horse
-----2021 - The Night Always Comes
-----2018 - Don’t Skip Out on Me
-----2018 - The Free
February 4, 2024
"You used to be alright...I don't see how you can do that to yourself. You should be in AA, at least you'd have respect for yourself then...I'm tired of you embarrassing me, and embarrassing yourself."
Talk about a depressing opening scene. Getting progressively drunk watching a show at the casino, to the point of being unable to stand, Allison is led to a toilet stall to have sex with her boyfriend. She passes out. He continues. This sets the tone of the book. He does bad stuff. He apologises. She forgives him. She drinks too much. It’s a bit of a problem. Allison is all of twenty two. It continues from there.
Dead beat boyfriends, dead end jobs. A ma who’s a borderline alcoholic like herself, a younger sister who’s gone AWOL in Mexico with her boyfriend. No wonder Allison has doubts and lacks self worth. And drinks to the point of blacking out, repeatedly.
There’s a ragged tiredness, a futility to her life. And the lives of those closest to her. A resignation. As if things can’t change, that’s just the way it is. This is as good as it’s going to get. May as well have another drink, another smoke, another toke. The sun will still rise, and it’ll all be the same.
“I can't help it...I'm just so tired...I make so many mistakes. All I ever do is screw up…"
Allison leaves town to escape her abusive boyfriend and undergoes a traumatic event, which is perhaps a turning point for her. No spoilers, though possibly other reviews go into detail. Suffice to say, it’s beyond tough. And for a long while Allison berates herself, and her guilt places her in situations she shouldn’t be in. Her anxiety goes into overload, and she quells her instincts and feelings with more liquor.
"Everything makes me nervous."
But slowly, slowly, things come together. In eeny steps. It’s not easy to trust when you’ve been knocked down not just physically but emotionally too. A new city, a new job. Everything isn’t suddenly sparkling and shiny. But it’s a change. And a chance of a new direction. Maybe even a new friend or two. And despite it all, the wish for love.
" ' Love seems nice. Like in the movies, like with Paul Newman.'
'There aren't too many of him out there!' "
The conversations she has with Paul Newman showed what was on her mind. And in her heart. Whenever things got too much, too unbearable, she’d talk to her crush. Her daydreams and conversations with him are vivid. In return, he gives her encouragement, the boost she needs, the belief in herself. But most of all, some sage advice.
"Remember kid, there ain't no place where you can escape to. There's no place where there aren't weirdos, where there's no death and violence and change and new people….You run into yourself."
I loved the ending. I was surprised. It made me happy, though that’s probably such an odd word to put with a story that has so much sadness in it. But it made me feel hopeful. And that’s always a good thing.
Again, Vlautin has blown me away. How can a guy write so sensitively yet realistically about such tough subjects?
As an aside, I’ve created a virtual bookshelf for Willy Vlautin, “just because”. I don’t know what it is or why, as my life is so far removed from the characters that he writes about. But his books really speak to me. They’re honest.
Trigger warnings: Rape, strong swearing, sexually explicit, partner abuse, racism, violence, self harm.
"She grabbed his hand and kissed him. She kissed him with desperation. She kissed him with fear, and uncertainty. And in weakness, she gave everything to him, right then and there."
Shout out to Randwick City Library for having this audio book. Thank you.
Talk about a depressing opening scene. Getting progressively drunk watching a show at the casino, to the point of being unable to stand, Allison is led to a toilet stall to have sex with her boyfriend. She passes out. He continues. This sets the tone of the book. He does bad stuff. He apologises. She forgives him. She drinks too much. It’s a bit of a problem. Allison is all of twenty two. It continues from there.
Dead beat boyfriends, dead end jobs. A ma who’s a borderline alcoholic like herself, a younger sister who’s gone AWOL in Mexico with her boyfriend. No wonder Allison has doubts and lacks self worth. And drinks to the point of blacking out, repeatedly.
There’s a ragged tiredness, a futility to her life. And the lives of those closest to her. A resignation. As if things can’t change, that’s just the way it is. This is as good as it’s going to get. May as well have another drink, another smoke, another toke. The sun will still rise, and it’ll all be the same.
“I can't help it...I'm just so tired...I make so many mistakes. All I ever do is screw up…"
Allison leaves town to escape her abusive boyfriend and undergoes a traumatic event, which is perhaps a turning point for her. No spoilers, though possibly other reviews go into detail. Suffice to say, it’s beyond tough. And for a long while Allison berates herself, and her guilt places her in situations she shouldn’t be in. Her anxiety goes into overload, and she quells her instincts and feelings with more liquor.
"Everything makes me nervous."
But slowly, slowly, things come together. In eeny steps. It’s not easy to trust when you’ve been knocked down not just physically but emotionally too. A new city, a new job. Everything isn’t suddenly sparkling and shiny. But it’s a change. And a chance of a new direction. Maybe even a new friend or two. And despite it all, the wish for love.
" ' Love seems nice. Like in the movies, like with Paul Newman.'
'There aren't too many of him out there!' "
The conversations she has with Paul Newman showed what was on her mind. And in her heart. Whenever things got too much, too unbearable, she’d talk to her crush. Her daydreams and conversations with him are vivid. In return, he gives her encouragement, the boost she needs, the belief in herself. But most of all, some sage advice.
"Remember kid, there ain't no place where you can escape to. There's no place where there aren't weirdos, where there's no death and violence and change and new people….You run into yourself."
I loved the ending. I was surprised. It made me happy, though that’s probably such an odd word to put with a story that has so much sadness in it. But it made me feel hopeful. And that’s always a good thing.
Again, Vlautin has blown me away. How can a guy write so sensitively yet realistically about such tough subjects?
As an aside, I’ve created a virtual bookshelf for Willy Vlautin, “just because”. I don’t know what it is or why, as my life is so far removed from the characters that he writes about. But his books really speak to me. They’re honest.
Trigger warnings: Rape, strong swearing, sexually explicit, partner abuse, racism, violence, self harm.
"She grabbed his hand and kissed him. She kissed him with desperation. She kissed him with fear, and uncertainty. And in weakness, she gave everything to him, right then and there."
Shout out to Randwick City Library for having this audio book. Thank you.
June 2, 2025
Perhaps I love this book, because I once was a 19-year-old truck stop waitress, working the midnight shift in rural Eastern Oregon.
One night, while working the midnight shift, I stood at the front window and watched the snowfall in the parking lot. The yellow orbs of light casting down from the parking lot lights, showed drifting snow accumulating under the lamps. The snow drifting up the poles, where the wind would catch it and take it swirling away.
A few semi-trucks sat idling in the huge lot. The truckers, who chose to wait out the storm, were fast asleep in their cabs. The rest of the truckers had already made it across Cabbage Hill, or were on an eastern route taking them to SLC or through Reno.
Standing in the dark dining room, which was always closed after the dinner rush, leaving just the coffee shop open, I stared at the drifting snow and wondered WTF I was doing with my life. Waiting for my then-boyfriend to return from deployment in the Navy to...do what exactly?
My whole life felt like it was on hold. I was sad, lost, and most nights, honestly, drunk off my ass.
Deep in this reverie (a word I did not know then) the Frogger machine behind me started its 'ribbit-ribbit' song and startled me so badly, that I jumped forward. I slammed into the window with enough force that my friend, the cook on midnights with me, ran in to make sure I was ok. Then she laughed her ass off at how loud I screamed while hurling myself into the window.
Northline is all that dark, sad, lostness, with a lot of alcohol and hard jobs and a few good humans to light the way, but with no bawdy laughter or mirth to break the despondency. There is hope, but it is all reader supplied: a woeful hope that this young girl, this young, young- damn she is so fucking young- girl will keep her ballast.
Northline took me home and I loved every hard, heavy, true word of it.
I knew, and know, men like Jimmie Bodie: abusive men with weirdly good intentions. Good intentions cloaked in ignorance and anger and alcohol. I went to school with Allison. Hell, I was Allison. Maybe that's why I love this book so much.
Allison is my ghost ship. A ghost ship being the life you may have had, but you made a different decision, a different turn, a different choice and that life, the life you did not lead was launched.
A ghost ship floating along beside you.
Allison's ghost ship was wanting to become a librarian. I am a librarian, but I just as easily could have lived in a double-wide trailer in Payette, ID with three kids, a 16-year-old Subaru and several unfortunate tattoos; standing in the backyard watching the stars while I smoked my last cigarette of the day, wondering what other life could have awaited me...if only I would have...
Instead, I finished reading Northline while sitting in the Dubai Mall eating humous at Wafi Gourmet wondering how in the hell this life happened, instead of Allison's.
One night, while working the midnight shift, I stood at the front window and watched the snowfall in the parking lot. The yellow orbs of light casting down from the parking lot lights, showed drifting snow accumulating under the lamps. The snow drifting up the poles, where the wind would catch it and take it swirling away.
A few semi-trucks sat idling in the huge lot. The truckers, who chose to wait out the storm, were fast asleep in their cabs. The rest of the truckers had already made it across Cabbage Hill, or were on an eastern route taking them to SLC or through Reno.
Standing in the dark dining room, which was always closed after the dinner rush, leaving just the coffee shop open, I stared at the drifting snow and wondered WTF I was doing with my life. Waiting for my then-boyfriend to return from deployment in the Navy to...do what exactly?
My whole life felt like it was on hold. I was sad, lost, and most nights, honestly, drunk off my ass.
Deep in this reverie (a word I did not know then) the Frogger machine behind me started its 'ribbit-ribbit' song and startled me so badly, that I jumped forward. I slammed into the window with enough force that my friend, the cook on midnights with me, ran in to make sure I was ok. Then she laughed her ass off at how loud I screamed while hurling myself into the window.
Northline is all that dark, sad, lostness, with a lot of alcohol and hard jobs and a few good humans to light the way, but with no bawdy laughter or mirth to break the despondency. There is hope, but it is all reader supplied: a woeful hope that this young girl, this young, young- damn she is so fucking young- girl will keep her ballast.
Northline took me home and I loved every hard, heavy, true word of it.
I knew, and know, men like Jimmie Bodie: abusive men with weirdly good intentions. Good intentions cloaked in ignorance and anger and alcohol. I went to school with Allison. Hell, I was Allison. Maybe that's why I love this book so much.
Allison is my ghost ship. A ghost ship being the life you may have had, but you made a different decision, a different turn, a different choice and that life, the life you did not lead was launched.
A ghost ship floating along beside you.
Allison's ghost ship was wanting to become a librarian. I am a librarian, but I just as easily could have lived in a double-wide trailer in Payette, ID with three kids, a 16-year-old Subaru and several unfortunate tattoos; standing in the backyard watching the stars while I smoked my last cigarette of the day, wondering what other life could have awaited me...if only I would have...
Instead, I finished reading Northline while sitting in the Dubai Mall eating humous at Wafi Gourmet wondering how in the hell this life happened, instead of Allison's.
September 10, 2025
5 stars
short review for busy readers:
Willy Vlautin's best novel to date. Hands down.
in detail:
I'm partial to The Night Always Comes and The Free but this one tops out both of them for elegance and balance. Possibly because, for the most part, Vlautin doesn't indulge too much in his predilection for "stories within stories" in this one and keeps to a clear structure and forward narrative.
The plot is rather simple: Allison, a young impoverished woman, falls in with an abusive boyfriend, finds herself pregnant and takes off for Reno, Nevada to escape him and the mess she's made of her life. She's smart and resilient, even if depressed and skirting the edge of alcohol addiction, and we know she'll pull through somehow.
That's rather unique for a Vlautin character, to know they'll be okay in the end. But he does tend to give his female characters more bright spots in their lives than his doomed-from-the-start male characters.
And Allison has a number of bright spots. Kind people who pick her up off the ground and carry her home when she's dead drunk and passed out. People who will give her jobs --even if it is telesales for vacuum cleaners. Nice guys she can talk to over coffee as she starts healing from the trauma.
Allison's journey is not an easy one. She slips and falls several times. But it's a joy to watch her pick herself back up and keep walking. Inspirational? Somewhere in there, yes. And probably Vlautin's most positive novel to date.
I'm personally grateful that the pregnancy, birth and adoption take up only a few paragraphs, and I'll chalk that up to Vlautin being a guy. A woman writer would have dwelt there for much longer and I'd have tried to look away while skimming fast, which doesn't work so well. Thanks for that, Willy. Appreciated!
short review for busy readers:
Willy Vlautin's best novel to date. Hands down.
in detail:
I'm partial to The Night Always Comes and The Free but this one tops out both of them for elegance and balance. Possibly because, for the most part, Vlautin doesn't indulge too much in his predilection for "stories within stories" in this one and keeps to a clear structure and forward narrative.
The plot is rather simple: Allison, a young impoverished woman, falls in with an abusive boyfriend, finds herself pregnant and takes off for Reno, Nevada to escape him and the mess she's made of her life. She's smart and resilient, even if depressed and skirting the edge of alcohol addiction, and we know she'll pull through somehow.
That's rather unique for a Vlautin character, to know they'll be okay in the end. But he does tend to give his female characters more bright spots in their lives than his doomed-from-the-start male characters.
And Allison has a number of bright spots. Kind people who pick her up off the ground and carry her home when she's dead drunk and passed out. People who will give her jobs --even if it is telesales for vacuum cleaners. Nice guys she can talk to over coffee as she starts healing from the trauma.
Allison's journey is not an easy one. She slips and falls several times. But it's a joy to watch her pick herself back up and keep walking. Inspirational? Somewhere in there, yes. And probably Vlautin's most positive novel to date.
I'm personally grateful that the pregnancy, birth and adoption take up only a few paragraphs, and I'll chalk that up to Vlautin being a guy. A woman writer would have dwelt there for much longer and I'd have tried to look away while skimming fast, which doesn't work so well. Thanks for that, Willy. Appreciated!
August 23, 2025
Vlautin's trademark:
Sad as hell, but really, really good!⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sad as hell, but really, really good!⭐⭐⭐⭐
May 22, 2016
This was a bleak little tale of troubled Alison Johnson who flees Las Vegas for Reno and a new start after issues with an abusive boyfriend and alcoholism, we also discover she has very low self esteem and a serious case of anxiety for which she strikes up imaginary conversations with actor Paul Newman to help calm her nerves, but could the friendliness of some town folk she meets lead to some sort of salvation?.This was tough going and Vlautin certainly portrays a vision of american life in such a harsh way where for many everyday is simply a struggle, but it's told with some compassion and shows just the small acts of kindness can have a massive impact on the well being of others.
March 14, 2022
Still collecting my thoughts on this one. I can say that I enjoyed it more than Don't Skip Out on Me but not nearly as much as The Night Always Comes. From the blurb it sounded more similar in plot to the latter so I thought it would make a good next choice from Vlautin’s back catalogue, and whilst the two novels are thematically similar - both follow a young working class woman in small town America who has a troubled past and is trying to find her way whilst being troubled by abusive men and events from her past - it just isn't as strong in plot or pacing as TNAC. I hate to be so critical, because Northline made for a propulsive read and I did feel for Allison but I just wanted everything fleshed out and development a little bit more than it was.
August 2, 2016
My copy came with a CD that gives you an instant feeling for the mood.
Melancholy. Lonesome. Spare. Downcast.
It’s also beautiful—a strumming guitar and a sorrowful pedal steel.
Willy Vlautin is a musician, too; he heads up the band Richmond Fontaine (a band allegedly now on their farewell tour).
I’ve read four Willy Vlautin novels now and I read them in this order, which I recommend: Lean on Pete, The Free, The Motel Life, Northline.
He wrote them in this order: The Motel Life, Northline, Lean on Pete and The Free.
I’m glad I read Northline last—it’s a sad one.
What I love about Vlautin is his empathy for the downtrodden, those shuffling around in the dark corners. There’s always hope, however, and Vlautin’s characters hang by the thinnest thread. In Northline, for young woman on the run and would-be waitress Allison Johnson, it’s her fantasy conversations with Paul Newman and the characters he played.
The title comes from her boyfriend, who wants her to join him on a trek to a new life. “I’ve decided I really am gonna be moving North,” he writes to her in a letter. “Like I always wanted. Just draw a line and go. A Northline. The farther north, the better. Away from everyone.” Around the corner in all of Vlautin's work is the hope of a new life, of cutting loose, of starting over.
But Jimmy Bodie is a racist. He’s a hater. He’s abused her. He’s taken her to skinhead parties. There’s no reason to think he would care. Allison is on the run, and hiding, throughout Northline. She works the graveyard shift as a waitress, takes a job doing cold calls trying to sell vacuum cleaners.
I won’t go into all the gritty situations she encounters. Allison is up against life. It’s battering her around. And we get some familiar Vlautin themes—thoughts of suicide, cold streets, bleak motel rooms, limited choices, bad decisions, bad company. But not all. There’s a touch of warmth here, a splash of humanity here. Always.
Vlautin’s prose is some of the most unvarnished, plain stuff around. I highly recommend listening to Vlautin read The Free (the only book on audio so far) if you want an idea of the plain-spoken way he intends for it to be read.
Willy CD“The room had a double bed, a desk, a dresser, a TV, and a bathroom. She’d never been in a motel room by herself, let alone in a city. She’d barely even left Las Vegas and now she’d done so by herself. The crying wouldn’t stop. She shut off the lights in the room and go in bed still wearing her clothes. Pictures of Jimmy appeared in her mind. The time he had gotten them a suite at Caesars, or when they’d go swimming in the lake. Times when he was decent to her, when he was kind. In the darkness she found the phone. It sat on a bedside table and she held it. She wanted to call him, to give in, but she also hated herself for not wanting to so badly.”
Check the range of praise for Vlautin—from mystery writer Craig Johnson to sci-fi legend Ursula K. Le Guin, from Tom Franklin to Ann Patchett, from George Pelecanos to Cheryl Strayed.
Vlautin’s stuff is addictive but heroes are few and far between.
As the fantasy “Paul Newman” tells Allison Johnson, “People do their worst when they’re weak.”
And Willy Vlautin likes to watch. And write.
Melancholy. Lonesome. Spare. Downcast.
It’s also beautiful—a strumming guitar and a sorrowful pedal steel.
Willy Vlautin is a musician, too; he heads up the band Richmond Fontaine (a band allegedly now on their farewell tour).
I’ve read four Willy Vlautin novels now and I read them in this order, which I recommend: Lean on Pete, The Free, The Motel Life, Northline.
He wrote them in this order: The Motel Life, Northline, Lean on Pete and The Free.
I’m glad I read Northline last—it’s a sad one.
What I love about Vlautin is his empathy for the downtrodden, those shuffling around in the dark corners. There’s always hope, however, and Vlautin’s characters hang by the thinnest thread. In Northline, for young woman on the run and would-be waitress Allison Johnson, it’s her fantasy conversations with Paul Newman and the characters he played.
The title comes from her boyfriend, who wants her to join him on a trek to a new life. “I’ve decided I really am gonna be moving North,” he writes to her in a letter. “Like I always wanted. Just draw a line and go. A Northline. The farther north, the better. Away from everyone.” Around the corner in all of Vlautin's work is the hope of a new life, of cutting loose, of starting over.
But Jimmy Bodie is a racist. He’s a hater. He’s abused her. He’s taken her to skinhead parties. There’s no reason to think he would care. Allison is on the run, and hiding, throughout Northline. She works the graveyard shift as a waitress, takes a job doing cold calls trying to sell vacuum cleaners.
I won’t go into all the gritty situations she encounters. Allison is up against life. It’s battering her around. And we get some familiar Vlautin themes—thoughts of suicide, cold streets, bleak motel rooms, limited choices, bad decisions, bad company. But not all. There’s a touch of warmth here, a splash of humanity here. Always.
Vlautin’s prose is some of the most unvarnished, plain stuff around. I highly recommend listening to Vlautin read The Free (the only book on audio so far) if you want an idea of the plain-spoken way he intends for it to be read.
Willy CD“The room had a double bed, a desk, a dresser, a TV, and a bathroom. She’d never been in a motel room by herself, let alone in a city. She’d barely even left Las Vegas and now she’d done so by herself. The crying wouldn’t stop. She shut off the lights in the room and go in bed still wearing her clothes. Pictures of Jimmy appeared in her mind. The time he had gotten them a suite at Caesars, or when they’d go swimming in the lake. Times when he was decent to her, when he was kind. In the darkness she found the phone. It sat on a bedside table and she held it. She wanted to call him, to give in, but she also hated herself for not wanting to so badly.”
Check the range of praise for Vlautin—from mystery writer Craig Johnson to sci-fi legend Ursula K. Le Guin, from Tom Franklin to Ann Patchett, from George Pelecanos to Cheryl Strayed.
Vlautin’s stuff is addictive but heroes are few and far between.
As the fantasy “Paul Newman” tells Allison Johnson, “People do their worst when they’re weak.”
And Willy Vlautin likes to watch. And write.
June 4, 2023
Northline is Willy Vlautin’s second novel and it borders on perfect. Whereas his debut novel, the Motel Life was patchy, here all those problems have disappeared, In fact there are some twists which were a bit unexpected.
Allison lives with an abusive partner. After a particularly bad episode, whe she finds out that she is pregnant she finally leaves him and goes to Reno in order to start life. Unfortunately all her past mistakes catch up and she has to cope with them while facing the new challenges presented by the two jobs she undertakes. She also learns a couple of lessons in the process.
Northline is an unpretentious look at the lengths people go to in order to survive. it’s also a look into abusive relationships and how cyclical the problems are. Allison herself is a strong character despite all the hurdles she has to overcome, one of the more gruelling parts of the novel is what Allison decides to do to her child and how it psychologically affects her.
In it’s odd way Northline is a positive novel. Allison does finally manage to be ‘rewarded’ for all the suffering she goes through and does reach some sort of closure. This is not to say that all lives are like this in reality but it works in this book.
Northline is also an enjoyable read. Not once did my interest flag and I sympathised with the more vulnerable characters and the tenderness Willy Vlautin approaches them with. There were happy moments crossed with sadder ones. It’s also a perfect starting point into Vlautin’s world of down and out characters who are just trying to do their best a world filled with obstacles.
Allison lives with an abusive partner. After a particularly bad episode, whe she finds out that she is pregnant she finally leaves him and goes to Reno in order to start life. Unfortunately all her past mistakes catch up and she has to cope with them while facing the new challenges presented by the two jobs she undertakes. She also learns a couple of lessons in the process.
Northline is an unpretentious look at the lengths people go to in order to survive. it’s also a look into abusive relationships and how cyclical the problems are. Allison herself is a strong character despite all the hurdles she has to overcome, one of the more gruelling parts of the novel is what Allison decides to do to her child and how it psychologically affects her.
In it’s odd way Northline is a positive novel. Allison does finally manage to be ‘rewarded’ for all the suffering she goes through and does reach some sort of closure. This is not to say that all lives are like this in reality but it works in this book.
Northline is also an enjoyable read. Not once did my interest flag and I sympathised with the more vulnerable characters and the tenderness Willy Vlautin approaches them with. There were happy moments crossed with sadder ones. It’s also a perfect starting point into Vlautin’s world of down and out characters who are just trying to do their best a world filled with obstacles.
December 21, 2008
Northline by Willy Vlautin is the kind of book that makes me wonder if I will ever truly love a book again, or if I'm destined for reading purgatory, where everything gets three stars on Goodreads: Not quite bad enough to ditch it in the toilet tank at a truck stop, but not good enough to dangle it over someone's head, taunting "You know you want to read it!"
This one stars Allison Johnson, a high school drop out with an abusive boyfriend who dabbles in white supremacy, brands her with a swastika tattoo and leaves her chained to the bed when she's naughty. After passing out at a Vegas desert party, and waking just long enough to see her boyfriend making out with another woman, Allison, or "the girl" as she's usually referred to as, sets out, hitchhiking to a better life in Reno.
Oh, and she's pregnant.
From there, the story follows Allison as she meets people, gives her baby up for adoption, lies about her past, hyperventilates, takes on two jobs, passes out in the bathtub, cuts herself and turns to conversations with Paul Newman in her head.
This is exactly the kind of cliche, mediocre plotline with a kitchy quirk that I want to watch a movie version of on the Lifetime Network the Sunday after one too many Grainbelts. It is that movie "Waitress" in the way that every story about a woman and her abusive boyfriend and an unplanned pregnancy and getting a GED are the 2007 movie "Waitress" that starred Felicity.
I will say this, though. Willy Vlautin is a pretty interesting writer. He is really scientific and unemotional and no-frills. And I'm not just saying this because Vlautin is in a rock/americana/country band from Portland that sounds like the Gear Daddies, but this story is a lot like an epic, hard luck, Springsteen song. Maybe this whole plot would work better as a song? All I know is that I'm giving myself a month to fall in love with a book again, or else I'm going to find a new hobby.(1)
(1) This is an empty threat.
This one stars Allison Johnson, a high school drop out with an abusive boyfriend who dabbles in white supremacy, brands her with a swastika tattoo and leaves her chained to the bed when she's naughty. After passing out at a Vegas desert party, and waking just long enough to see her boyfriend making out with another woman, Allison, or "the girl" as she's usually referred to as, sets out, hitchhiking to a better life in Reno.
Oh, and she's pregnant.
From there, the story follows Allison as she meets people, gives her baby up for adoption, lies about her past, hyperventilates, takes on two jobs, passes out in the bathtub, cuts herself and turns to conversations with Paul Newman in her head.
This is exactly the kind of cliche, mediocre plotline with a kitchy quirk that I want to watch a movie version of on the Lifetime Network the Sunday after one too many Grainbelts. It is that movie "Waitress" in the way that every story about a woman and her abusive boyfriend and an unplanned pregnancy and getting a GED are the 2007 movie "Waitress" that starred Felicity.
I will say this, though. Willy Vlautin is a pretty interesting writer. He is really scientific and unemotional and no-frills. And I'm not just saying this because Vlautin is in a rock/americana/country band from Portland that sounds like the Gear Daddies, but this story is a lot like an epic, hard luck, Springsteen song. Maybe this whole plot would work better as a song? All I know is that I'm giving myself a month to fall in love with a book again, or else I'm going to find a new hobby.(1)
(1) This is an empty threat.
September 7, 2019
This is a great book which shows a small sliver of modern American life. Set in Nevada, the story follows a young woman struggling to get through life. She has abusive relationships, works crappy jobs and makes plenty of bad decisions, but she's the kind of "unlikable" character which I love. I understand her life, and spent the book rooting for her to improve her life by even the smallest amount.
Willy Vlautin's writing was atmospheric and drips with Americana. The setting is split between Las Vegas and Reno, and both cities are shown at their best and at their worst. Same goes for the characters - some are hopeful, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, while others are downtrodden, pessimistic and full of hatred. I've already added the author's other works to my wishlist.
Willy Vlautin's writing was atmospheric and drips with Americana. The setting is split between Las Vegas and Reno, and both cities are shown at their best and at their worst. Same goes for the characters - some are hopeful, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, while others are downtrodden, pessimistic and full of hatred. I've already added the author's other works to my wishlist.
December 16, 2025
brilliantly brutal.
beautifully tender.
trademark Vlautin.
beautifully tender.
trademark Vlautin.
October 8, 2021
Vilken upptäckt! Willy Vlautin
August 5, 2020
You should read this book! Maybe one of my favourite books ever, I've been thinking about it a lot recently. I met Willy once a couple of years back when he came into work, he was flying back home from the Dalkey book festival. He seemed genuinely surprised that someone had recognised him, I gave him staff discount on his lunch and he was delighted. Such a nice man, and has written this incredible novel that captures so much about America, about life, longing, and belief in more. Willy is also a musical talent, his band Richmond Fontaine broke up a few years ago, I was lucky enough to see them live a couple of times. Listen to The High Country, The Fitzgerald, and You Can't Go Back. Read this, The Free, and The Motel Life. Amazing art from an amazing man, I really can't recommend this one enough.
February 5, 2018
Northline is the story of Allison Johnson, a young woman who escapes her life in a rundown part of north Las Vegas, to Reno, trying to deal with her pregnancy and alcoholism. Only in her 20s, and now without her alcoholic mother and White Supremist boy friend, she has no one, and tries to rebuild her life. This is Vlautin at his very best and on his home ground of Reno, though there are few times when he makes it sound in anyway appealing. Often with one step forward and two back Allison meets Dan Mahony (a scarred customer at the diner she works at) and Penny Pearson (a telephone sales rep), characters whose lives also have suffered and struggle similarly, and steadily the future seems brighter.
Amidst the gloom and despondency that he has created Vlautin’s skill is to enable the reader to see warmth in his characters, and some light at the end of the tunnel, a chance of redemption, and along with that, every now and then, a smile. In her worst moments for example, Allison consults her hero, Paul Newman. Penny, Dan and her make each other smile:
Let me tell you, it’s hard when you’re fat and you’re buying a four scoop sundae. People look at you like you just ran over their grandma.
This is a wonderful book.
So take my advice and stay off the booze, go to school, and most of all keep on the lookout for Jimmy. Him and his damn Northline. Remember, kid, there ain’t no place where you can escape to. There’s no place where there aren’t weirdos and death and violence and change and new people. You head up to Wyoming or Montana and you’ll run into the same things as you do in Vegas or New Orleans. You’ll run into yourself.
Amidst the gloom and despondency that he has created Vlautin’s skill is to enable the reader to see warmth in his characters, and some light at the end of the tunnel, a chance of redemption, and along with that, every now and then, a smile. In her worst moments for example, Allison consults her hero, Paul Newman. Penny, Dan and her make each other smile:
Let me tell you, it’s hard when you’re fat and you’re buying a four scoop sundae. People look at you like you just ran over their grandma.
This is a wonderful book.
So take my advice and stay off the booze, go to school, and most of all keep on the lookout for Jimmy. Him and his damn Northline. Remember, kid, there ain’t no place where you can escape to. There’s no place where there aren’t weirdos and death and violence and change and new people. You head up to Wyoming or Montana and you’ll run into the same things as you do in Vegas or New Orleans. You’ll run into yourself.
February 16, 2025
In a pleasant ‘sober’ writing style of his novel ‘North line’ Willy Vlautin brings us the story of Allison Johnson, a young woman with a distorted past and a boyfriend who doesn’t treat her well, who has all kinds of ptsd-effects of her past. She tries allright but not all efforts bring success, yet she, in reality or in virtuality, meets friendly people who make her fate bearable.
It sometimes was a sort of hardship to get through the book, but on the other hand Vlautin’s way of telling made it a sort of easy read as well, with all the atmosphere and couleur locale he brings forward. JM
It sometimes was a sort of hardship to get through the book, but on the other hand Vlautin’s way of telling made it a sort of easy read as well, with all the atmosphere and couleur locale he brings forward. JM
October 18, 2010
disclaimer in the first 2 paragraphs of this review:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
This is a book that was better than his first book and maybe not as good as his third book will be.
He's stories are rich in plot and character and strong in realistic dialog.
Here is an author that rarely gets spoken of w/o his band being mentioned. so here's the mention, I recommend the following songs by Richmond Fountaine:
polaroid
Hallways
Barely losing
come to think of it, those are all from the same album Post to Wire, so why don't you just suck up and buy the whole dang thing?
*personal note: the first time sarah and I heard Willy speak it was with his friend, and Brian got all chocked up and proud by how many people showed up at Powell's to hear him and so, how sweet is that? and how can you fault a person for anything else when they are the kind of person that gets chocked up about their friends growing notoriety?
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
This is a book that was better than his first book and maybe not as good as his third book will be.
He's stories are rich in plot and character and strong in realistic dialog.
Here is an author that rarely gets spoken of w/o his band being mentioned. so here's the mention, I recommend the following songs by Richmond Fountaine:
polaroid
Hallways
Barely losing
come to think of it, those are all from the same album Post to Wire, so why don't you just suck up and buy the whole dang thing?
*personal note: the first time sarah and I heard Willy speak it was with his friend, and Brian got all chocked up and proud by how many people showed up at Powell's to hear him and so, how sweet is that? and how can you fault a person for anything else when they are the kind of person that gets chocked up about their friends growing notoriety?
April 23, 2014
This small book is very potent. The main character, Allison, is only 23, and facing a bleak future. To escape an abusive boyfriend, she moves from Las Vegas to Reno. Allison struggles throughout the book. She suffered a trauma in the past, and we learn how that continues to haunt her. She's an alcoholic, and we know that children and youth in their early adolescence can develop this disease. But she has a strong inner core. Though her mother and sister, her only family, are pretty indifferent to her, she rises above her family situation. She's a survivor, and senses hurt in others. She runs into people who take care of her. This is an aspect of Vlautin's novel that lifts it above despair. Vlautin sees minor heroes in these characters who help save Allison from herself at her worst moments. However, without her own desire to rise above, their efforts would be in vain. In the end, Allison saves herself by saving someone else. All in all, a sad and happy, an ugly and beautiful story.
October 20, 2019
Wow. Just wow.
This little novel convinces with a beautiful, tender, at times almost poetic language, and this although its characters are losers, neo-nazis, alcoholics, and although its topics are violence, abuse, mental illness, desperation.
Vlautin sketches his characters with love and understanding, leading us through the underbelly of modern America, showing us its ugly side, giving us and his characters hope and smashing it on the next page. The CD (enclosed in the original edition) with beautiful guitar tracks underlines the reading experience.
I can only repeat: wow.
This little novel convinces with a beautiful, tender, at times almost poetic language, and this although its characters are losers, neo-nazis, alcoholics, and although its topics are violence, abuse, mental illness, desperation.
Vlautin sketches his characters with love and understanding, leading us through the underbelly of modern America, showing us its ugly side, giving us and his characters hope and smashing it on the next page. The CD (enclosed in the original edition) with beautiful guitar tracks underlines the reading experience.
I can only repeat: wow.
February 22, 2015
Vlautin has a deceptively simple writing style and a really good grasp of important details. This is a simple story of a girl who drinks too much, has an awful, abusive boyfriend, and just is downtrodden in every way. Vlautin has you understanding her tragic situation and seeing how she occasionally encounters nice people.
You really want to see better things come her way.
You really want to see better things come her way.
January 17, 2023
2.5 stars
This book let me down; while Vlautin writes good prose, the novel lacks the character depth to pull off the kind of down-and-out-people story he’s trying to tell. The main character (who he obnoxiously calls “the girl” for no reason about 95% of the time for no obvious reason) is an abused young woman who gets pregnant by her white supremacist boyfriend, leaves Las Vegas for Reno to escape him, and gives the baby up for adoption. Vlautin lacks the nuance of his obvious heroes (Denis Johnson, Larry McMurtry, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few) to pull off a convincing narrative from this tortured woman’s perspective. It sometimes seems like he’d rather be writing about the scumbag boyfriend, who he gives more than one long monologue about how Las Vegas has changed. The best parts of the book are the main character’s imagined conversations with Paul Newman, with whom she’s anachronistically obsessed. I still intend to check out his more often talked about Motel Life at some point, but Northline was a miss for me.
This book let me down; while Vlautin writes good prose, the novel lacks the character depth to pull off the kind of down-and-out-people story he’s trying to tell. The main character (who he obnoxiously calls “the girl” for no reason about 95% of the time for no obvious reason) is an abused young woman who gets pregnant by her white supremacist boyfriend, leaves Las Vegas for Reno to escape him, and gives the baby up for adoption. Vlautin lacks the nuance of his obvious heroes (Denis Johnson, Larry McMurtry, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few) to pull off a convincing narrative from this tortured woman’s perspective. It sometimes seems like he’d rather be writing about the scumbag boyfriend, who he gives more than one long monologue about how Las Vegas has changed. The best parts of the book are the main character’s imagined conversations with Paul Newman, with whom she’s anachronistically obsessed. I still intend to check out his more often talked about Motel Life at some point, but Northline was a miss for me.
July 22, 2017
I read some good things about Willy Vlautin’s writing so I gave Northline a go. He is the lead singer in a band called Richmond Fontaine and the edition of the book I borrowed comes with a ‘limited edition soundtrack CD’ so I will listen to his music soon. This book is around 190 pages and I’m sure many people would get through it in one session. In my view it’s well written and I was hooked into Allison’s life and the situations and predicaments she finds herself in straight away and I was eagerly turning the pages and hoping and hoping that things would turn out OK for her. For me the characters and the story are completely believable and I would almost call it social realist in nature. It’s difficult at times reading what happens to Allison, the violence and sexual abuse and also what she does to herself, the drunken binges, the self-loathing and self-harming so it’s pretty grim but Allison has great self-awareness of what’s happening to her and what she needs to do to break the cycle. I was a little put off by Allison often being referred to as ‘the girl’ and the constant use of she in sentences rather than using Allison’s name. I just didn’t see the point of writing like this and at times I felt slightly distanced from the story but overall I did enjoy Northline and I will definitely read another of Willy Vlautin’s books in the not too distant future.
May 18, 2021
Som att läsa en film!
January 14, 2021
I'm not sure if gritty is the right word, but a grittier book than I've read recently. Also a really fast read coming in at under 200 pages.
Allison, the main character, is a 22-year-old alcoholic in Las Vegas who is desperate for a new life, but hindered by addiction, an abusive relationship, and bad decisions. Paul Newman is a spot of hope, a spirit guide even for Allison. She converses with him throughout the book, talking to him about his movies while he encourages her to not give up.
A lot of this book is heavy and bleak. There's just about every trigger warning — sexual abuse, domestic abuse, rape, bad parenting — but there is also some sweet hopefulness. Really enjoyed this book.
My copy came with a CD (which you can also find online and was scored by the author) as well as great interviews with the author. I enjoyed reading about the origins of the book and the emotional toll of writing it.
Allison, the main character, is a 22-year-old alcoholic in Las Vegas who is desperate for a new life, but hindered by addiction, an abusive relationship, and bad decisions. Paul Newman is a spot of hope, a spirit guide even for Allison. She converses with him throughout the book, talking to him about his movies while he encourages her to not give up.
A lot of this book is heavy and bleak. There's just about every trigger warning — sexual abuse, domestic abuse, rape, bad parenting — but there is also some sweet hopefulness. Really enjoyed this book.
My copy came with a CD (which you can also find online and was scored by the author) as well as great interviews with the author. I enjoyed reading about the origins of the book and the emotional toll of writing it.
June 4, 2008
I love Willy Vlautin's writing. Totally straightforward, unpretentious stories that rightly get compared to Carver. His last two books were set in Reno, and are about dead end people who you care about because they really want to be better than the alcoholics and fuck-ups that they've become in their early 20s. There's no romance to their rootless lifestyle, just a sadness that's real without being depressing. His books are heavily dialog based, which I think is a real skill too..the conversations really move the stories along. Northline specifically is about a girl named Allison who just kinda takes what life gives her, making small successes along the way. She's a damaged girl but she's no cookie cutter character. Quick read, and the book comes with a beautiful soundtrack written by Vlautin (who also is a musician in the band Richmond Fontaine).
May 26, 2008
I loved this book. Allison Johnson is a young,battered, scared woman who moves to Reno. "Haunted by the mistakes of the past, and lacking any self-belief, her only comfort seems to come from the imaginary conversations she has with Paul Newman and the characters he played." That might sound kind of affected but it is a great literary devise in this novel. The working class people who do show her kindness and caring, stick with you after their characters go from the story. I really likes this book.
June 26, 2008
Vlautin's 2nd book is another gem. I didn't fall in love with it as much as Motel Life but it's still pretty great. I've even heard some people say they like it better than his debut (which was my fave book of 07). Although the book has a darkly slow and steady flow through the first half (some would call it "depressing"), the last third of the story really got to me emotionally and ends strong and open-ended.
December 7, 2009
Granted, I illustrated and designed the cover, but I love this book. There's something deliciously satisfying about the descriptions of starting from scratch, moving to a new town and setting up camp so to speak. Willy is a natural storyteller.
November 13, 2018
A sad and sometimes frustrating story that leaves you rooting for the main character throughout the book. An easy read, but I want to know how the character’s life played out. Felt like there was more story to tell when the book ended.
March 21, 2024
Maybe not as refined as other Vlautin works but anyone else writing this I'd probably rate it higher. As good and as typically bleak as ever
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