Book Giveaway For The Left and the Lucky

Release date: Apr 14, 2026

“One of America’s greatest storytellers.”—Jonathan Evison

The acclaimed Willy Vlautin returns with a heartbreaking and tender novel about two young bro “One of America’s greatest storytellers.”—Jonathan Evison

The acclaimed Willy Vlautin returns with a heartbreaking and tender novel about two young brothers, the vicissitudes of fate, and unexpected connection—a beautiful and bittersweet portrait that illuminates the power of friendship and how it can save lives in multiple ways.

Eddie Wilkens is a workaholic house painter in his early forties. His wife has left him to her regret, and his main employee, Houston, is a loafer and scoundrel who barely shows up for work. Unassuming and self-reliant, Eddie is a thoughtful man who rarely gets angry, despite life's frequent provocations, but he is ruled by a guilt that he has carried for nearly twenty years.

Next door, a woman and her two sons move in with her frail and aging mother. The youngest boy, Russell, eight years old, is quiet and small for his age and lives in constant terror of his increasingly lost and troubled fifteen-year-old brother, Curtis. As their mother struggles to keep the family together and the grandmother’s health begins to falter they find themselves unable to protect Russell and themselves from Curtis’s cruelty, which threatens to explode in frenetic violence.

Though neither knows it, Russell and Eddie will become each other’s saving grace.

While Russell’s home life disintegrates he begins waiting in Eddie’s backyard for him to get off work. Eddie offers the boy small acts of he feeds him, gives him jobs to do, listens to his dreams of escape, and offers Russell a glimpse into a world of hope and humor. A world of misfit painters, a derelict muscle car, an old dog, and the comradery and companionship of Eddie and his crew. In return, Russell gives Eddie a reason to carry on and helps him lay to rest the guilt that has plagued him for half of his life.

Together, this makeshift father and son begin to build a better life, daring to trade the bleakness and cynicism around them for hope and friendship.

From a writer revered for his thoughtful and compassionate portrayal of realistic American life, The Left and the Lucky is a heartbreakingly honest examination of how circumstance shapes our lives, and how the luck of finding someone who needs us can transcend bitter loneliness and prevent us from giving up on dreaming of a better life. ...more

Winners have been selected

Format: Print book

Number of copies: 50

Giveaway dates: Nov 16 - Dec 16, 2025

Countries available: U.S.

About Willy Vlautin

Willy 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 ...more

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Winners

Chad, Tawni, Julie B. (readingonthebrink), Pamela, Courtney, jennifer Booth, Samantha Ballard, Madison Jacobi, Mary Tharp, Steph, maria, Iva Jones, Kelly Fitch, Tina Stacy, Alice, Vitus Liske, Kellie, ThePlasterKing, Sharene True Obrey, Nhi, Sara, Emerson Andrews, J, Kylie G, Jessica, Emily, Megan, Lrlane318, Ashley, SK Hinkley, Caleb Ball, Cerissa Nowell, Lorrie Knight, C.M. Stenquist, Amy, Mark Heike, Rachel, Donna, Toni, Joyce, Barbara, Rosa, June, Kyle DeLaney, Jason Gatlin, Sean Chamberlain, Rex, Michelle Bourne, Danny, Nikki 🐦‍⬛

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