4/24/2007; 206 pages
HarperCollins
The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin is a very highly recommended, honest story of two brothers on the edge of society just trying to get by while down on their luck. This was Vlautin's debut novel and in it you can see the impetus for the novels that followed.
Two Reno, Nevada, brothers, Jerry Lee and Frank Flannigan, go on the run after a Jerry Lee accidentally kills a kid in a hit-and-run accident late at night during a snow storm. After the accident Jerry Lee turns to Frank for help and the two go on the run. They eventually end up back in Reno. Then, overwhelmed with guilt, Jerry Lee tries to kill himself by shooting his already partially amputated leg. He ends up in the hospital where Frank, who is constantly drinking, visits him, telling him stories to take his mind off things. Frank also rescues a dog while worrying about his brother.
Frank is the narrator of this novel that is about more than two brothers making poor choices. Their mom is dead, their father is gone, and all they have is each other. These young men are both talented, Frank with his stories and Jerry Lee with drawing, and given a chance in life could have accomplished more than living in residential motels, taking dead end jobs and drinking too much. The stories Frank tells provide the hope and escapism his brother needs. There is also a story about Frank's previous girlfriend, Annie, that finds closure.
This is a sad, but simple story of two young men living lonely, troubled, bleak lives in an alcoholic haze while walking the thin line between hope and desperation. Reading several of Vlautin's other novels before this debut novel actually made me appreciate it much more because you can see what is to come. I have enjoyed my Vlautin marathon immensely and just have one more left to read.
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