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Willy Vlautin

    1. leden 1967

    Willy Vlautin je americký spisovatel a hudebník, jehož díla pronikavě zkoumají životy lidí na okraji společnosti. Jeho próza, silně ovlivněná realisty amerického Západu, se soustředí na témata chudoby, závislosti a složitých mezilidských vztahů. Vlautinův styl je evokativní a drsný, s citem pro zobrazení izolace a bojů těch, kteří se potýkají s nepřízní osudu. Jeho postavy jsou často zmítány okolnostmi, ale i přes svou tíživou situaci si uchovávají křehkou naději.

    Willy Vlautin
    The Motel Life, English edition
    Lean on Pete
    Northline
    The Horse
    Don't Skip Out on Me
    Vždycky přijde noc
    • Vždycky přijde noc

      • 216 stránek
      • 8 hodin čtení
      3,8(4466)Ohodnotit

      Román o sociálních problémech současných generacíRomán Vždycky přijde noc je příběh o snaze získat v nelítostném světě alespoň kousek jistoty. Mít dům, mít se kam vracet, mít něco svého, mít proč žít. Na pozadí dvou hektických deštivých dnů a nocí se před očima čtenáře odehrává celý životní příběh třicetileté Lynette, která je vyčerpaná zoufalým sháněním peněz na hypotéku i soužitím s egoistickou matkou a postiženým bratrem. Lynettinu naději rozpouští déšť, její zoufalství houstne s tmou, volání o pomoc zůstává bez odezvy a v kalném světle dne se ukazuje, že počítat s nejhorším nestačí. Zoufalá situace si žádá zoufalé činy a Lynette je zahnaná do kouta. Vládne tma noci, ale jestli opět vyjde slunce a probudí to lepší v nás, není vůbec jisté. Nezbývá než doufat v poblikávající jiskřičky naděje, jinak by život ztratil smysl.Willy Vlautin navázal na Raymonda Carvera a Johna Steinbecka a stvořil příběh o lidech s problémy, kteří se pokoušejí vyškrábat ze zaprášených a zdevastovaných koutů současné Ameriky.

      Vždycky přijde noc
    • Don't Skip Out on Me

      • 304 stránek
      • 11 hodin čtení
      4,4(183)Ohodnotit

      Horace Hopper, raised on a Nevada sheep ranch by the caring Mr. and Mrs. Reese, grapples with feelings of inadequacy stemming from his mixed Paiute and Irish heritage. Despite their intentions to pass the ranch to him, Horace feels he doesn't belong and seeks to forge his own identity. Driven by a desire to prove himself, he leaves behind the only family he's known to pursue a career as a championship boxer, embarking on a journey of self-discovery and ambition.

      Don't Skip Out on Me
    • There's a horse', he whispered. 'An old horse that's standing in front of my house. He's blind and he won't eat and I don't know what to do.'65-year-old Al Ward is several years into an isolated stint living on old mining land in Nevada left to him by his great uncle. One morning, the horse arrives outside his home, seemingly unable to feed itself or stay safe from coyote attacks. 6000 feet up, 30 miles from the nearest town and broken by alcoholism and anxiety, Al must decide what to do.Intercut with Al's present-day story are episodes from his long life as a songwriter and guitarist. Beginning in Reno, we follow his chequered career as a touring musician, struggling to make ends meet and to survive the reality of a like devoid of the glitz and glamour of mainstream success.Vlautin's new novel is a gorgeous homage to the uncelebrated musicians who make our lives more joyful, and, as always, an exploration of loneliness, humanity and resilience.

      The Horse
    • Northline

      • 208 stránek
      • 8 hodin čtení
      4,1(1873)Ohodnotit

      Fleeing Las Vegas and her abusive boyfriend, Allison Johnson moves to Reno, but finds herself haunted by the mistakes of her past, and lacking any self-belief. Her only comfort seems to come from the imaginary conversations she has with her hero, Paul Newman. But, as life crawls on, small acts of kindness do start to reveal themselves and slowly the chance of a new life begins to emerge. Full of memorable characters and imbued with a beautiful sense of yearning, Northline is an extraordinary portrait of small-town America and an emotional tour de force.

      Northline
    • Lean on Pete

      • 288 stránek
      • 11 hodin čtení
      4,1(3667)Ohodnotit

      Once part of a vibrant racing network, Portland Meadows is now seemingly the last haven for washed up jockeys and knackered horses, but it's there that Charley meets Pete, an old horse who becomes his companion as he's forced to try to make his own way in the world. číst celé

      Lean on Pete
    • The Motel Life, English edition

      • 224 stránek
      • 8 hodin čtení
      3,9(79)Ohodnotit

      Opening like an early Tom Waits barstool-tale, The Motel Life tells the story of two brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee. Taking to the road in an attempt to escape the hit and run accident caused by Jerry Lee, the novel goes back to tell the story of their unhappy lives. With intense feeling and compassion, Vlautin explores the frustrations and failed dreams of the two brothers - one a natural storyteller, the other an artist - and renders perfectly the sense of entrapment they feel. Will the kid's death shock them out of their torpor or send them ever deeper into trouble? Can Annie James, a girl from their past, offer them any sort of redemption, however slim?Interspersed with drawings that come to form an integral part of the narrative, The Motel Life is a poetic, moving, beautifully naïve and tragic fictional debut. Alongside such seminal works as Annie Proulx's Postcards, Raymond Carver's What we talk about when we talk about love and Denis Johnson's Jesus's Son, it should come to be seen as a classic of downbeat American prose.

      The Motel Life, English edition
    • The Free

      • 274 stránek
      • 10 hodin čtení
      4,0(2646)Ohodnotit

      While serving in Iraq, veteran Leroy Kervin suffered a traumatic brain injury. Frustrated by the simplest daily routines, and unable to form new memories, he eventually attempts suicide. Lying in a coma, he retreats deep inside the memories locked in his mind. Freddie McCall works two jobs and still can't make ends meet. He's lost his wife and kids, and the house is next. Medical bills have buried him in debt, a situation that propels him to consider a lucrative - and dangerous - proposition. Pauline Hawkins is a nurse at the local hospital. Though she attends to others' needs with practical yet firm kindness, including her mentally ill elderly father, she remains emotionally removed. But a new patient, a young runaway, touches something deep and unexpected inside her.

      The Free
    • Motel Life, The

      • 206 stránek
      • 8 hodin čtení
      3,9(3349)Ohodnotit

      With "echoes of Of Mice and Men"(The Bookseller, UK), The Motel Life explores the frustrations and failed dreams of two Nevada brothers—on the run after a hit-and-run accident—who, forgotten by society, and short on luck and hope, desperately cling to the edge of modern life.

      Motel Life, The
    • The Motel Life

      • 206 stránek
      • 8 hodin čtení
      3,9(131)Ohodnotit

      Opening like an early Tom Waits barstool-tale, The Motel Life tells the story of two brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee. Taking to the road in an attempt to escape the hit and run accident caused by Jerry Lee, the novel goes back to tell the story of their unhappy lives. With intense feeling and compassion, Vlautin explores the frustrations and failed dreams of the two brothers - one a natural storyteller, the other an artist - and renders perfectly the sense of entrapment they feel. Will the kid's death shock them out of their torpor or send them ever deeper into trouble? Can Annie James, a girl from their past, offer them any sort of redemption, however slim?Interspersed with drawings that come to form an integral part of the narrative, The Motel Life is a poetic, moving, beautifully naïve and tragic fictional debut. Alongside such seminal works as Annie Proulx's Postcards, Raymond Carver's What we talk about when we talk about love and Denis Johnson's Jesus's Son, it should come to be seen as a classic of downbeat American prose.

      The Motel Life
    • The writing is spare and straightforward...There is intensity in Vlautin's narration, and also beauty and power...Vlautin's major accomplishment lies in posing a damning question: How could we, as a society, have allowed this to happen? Seattle Times

      Lean on Pete (Movie tie-in)