Motel Life

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Average customer rating 4.7 (9 comments)

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This was the third Willy Vlautin novel I've read, though it was the first he published. I like his style - "Lean on Pete" was the one that drew me in. "The Motel Life" was so straightforwardly written and heartfelt; I'd say "simple" and it is, but there a depth underneath the simplicity that's anything but simple - more like an ache. I appreciate the way Vlautin never resorts to gimmicks or stylistic contrivances. There's an integrity and humility here that, ironically, brings the book to a higher level. Very moving. And there were even drawings at the head of every chapter - which were organic to the characters.

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If you haven't yet experienced a Willy Vlautin book, you are in for a real treat. Willy has been rightly compared to greats like John Steinbeck and Raymond Carver for his depiction of characters on society's fringes. What isn't stressed enough is his deft, light touch that gives even the bleakest subject matter hope and sweetness. Vlautin brings this light touch to 'The Motel Life', and I can't recommend it enough. If you enjoy his books, I would also recommend his band, Richmond Fontaine, for which he is the principal singer and songwriter. Enjoy!

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This novel reads like a delta blues song. Haunting and beautiful, it sucks you in and the first paragraph. It sits you down and says "listen. hear. feel." Put the words to a guitar tune and you got yourself a hit. Loved it.

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Author Willy Vlautin is best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for the the Portland, OR based al-country band "Richmond Fontaine." His songs are stories of people both real and imagined, most often down and depressed and just trying to get by. His debut novel is essentially an extended version of his song lyrics, the same hopeless wrecks haunt this book, but we feel somehow that we know them and want to see them succeed. We meet Frank and Jerry Lee Flannigan, down on theirluck brothers who can't seem to catch a break. After an accident involving a young man on a bike, the brothers take off on the run...from the law, their past, maybe even themselves. From this simple plot Vlautin chooses to focus on the relationship of Frank and Jerry Lee and chronicles their wanderings with spare prose. You can sense that their journey is leading them somewhere dark, somewhere they don't want to go, but you can only hope that they'll be okay once they get there. The book starts off right away without any set up, dropping you into the middle of a story already in progress. You come to know and love the Flannigan brothers...they're good kids that bad things keep happening to. You'll probably see someone you know in them, or maybe even a little of yourself. I read this novel after it was first released and I've read it three times since, it's become like an old friend, someone I look to when I'm feeling down. And after reading the book again, I don't feel quite so bad.

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This is a story about the underbelly of American life. Centered around the lives of two brothers whose luck cannot be worse than anyone I've ever heard of, The Motel Life is a series of dialogues and tales of life on the run. It is gritty and at many times, very sad. However, the hope that was also displayed in Lean on Pete surfaces and the reader is left with a sense that despite being handed a lifetime of crumbs, there are those who survive on their inner strength.

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Again another great book I am glad I read. Just one thing, not the best book to do a book report on. The local Portland, writter Willy Vlautin, wrote a funny but intresting story. Anyone who likes books where people must runaway because something dramatic, this is the book for you.

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I loved this book. The story of the Flannigan brothers is sad, at times bittersweet, and real. Reading this book is experiencing the way in which they float around their sad, small town and what life is like when the universe doesn't give you a break. Overall, it's very touching and well-written. I'm looking forward to reading Vlautin's next novel, Northline.

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I found this novel to be so gritty, dirty, seedy, and yet - beneath all the grime - wonderfully sentimental. The brothers foster in each other a buoyancy that contradicts their "on the fringe" lives. It was such a sad story that was uplifting at the same time, something that speaks to a realistic set of characters struggling to achieve happiness despite the odds stacked against them.

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This is an incredible novel. I don't read much fiction these days, but I ran with a current member of Richmond Fontaine years ago, and my boss recommended and lent this book to me. I read it on the bus, and particularly in the evenings, when fatigued, worried what would happen if I burst into tears after laughing out loud in some passages. Would fellow passengers think I was crazy? The critical reviews are right - this is an honest book, a hard and yet compassionate book, and truly American in its style. One particular stylistic reference (that goes against the Americana comment I've already made, I guess): Willy pulls some very cool story-within-a-story stuff in this book, not unlike some of Celine's narrative distractions, that allow the author the freedom to briefly explore even looser, less edited territory than the already unfiltered narrative of the main thread. Very few authors that I have experienced pull this off as well as it appears in this book.