Northline
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
'Vlautin is nothing less than the Dylan of the dislocated.' Independent on Sunday
At twenty-two, Allison Johnson is a lost young woman in need of a new start. Down among the lowlifes in Las Vegas, clinging to drink and to Jimmy, the abusive boyfriend whose child she is expecting, she has hit rock bottom. So when the opportunity arises to escape, Allison knows she must take it. She reaches Reno with just a few dollars and her ever-present best friend - Paul Newman. And as she struggles to start a better life it is imaginary conversations with the movie star's greatest characters and real acts of kindness from people she barely knows that might just rescue her from the difficult world she has found herself in.
'Vlautin has written the American novel I've been hoping to find.' George Pelecanos
'A compassionate look at everyday, ordinary people struggling to make a new life for themselves in America.' Herald
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Singer-novelist Vlautin's second novel (after The Motel Life) reads more like a movie treatment than a novel. Allison Johnson, 22, is a high school dropout with a destructive lifestyle (alcoholism, self-mutilation, vituperative boyfriend who knocks her up early in the novel); the only positive influence in Allison's life is her favorite actor, Paul Newman, who appears to her during traumatic moments. Their banal conversations center on Newman's movie roles and how they equip him to continually bail Allison out of her sorry situation. She takes his advice ("get the hell out of Dodge, as they say, and most of all, kid, buck up") and moves from Las Vegas to Reno. But pregnant Allison's life isn't much better in Reno: the cycle of self-loathing continues, and even though Newman implores Allison to turn her life around, the damage is all but done. Much of the writing reads like stage direction, and the abbreviated chapters give the narrative a rushed, slapdash feel.
Customer Reviews
Class act
4.5 stars
Author
American. Born and raised in Reno, Nevada. Lead singer and songwriter of Portland, Oregon alt-country band Richmond Fontaine, which has released nine studio albums since the late nineties. When the naughties rolled around, Willy turned his hand to writing novels: The Motel Life (2006), Northline (2008), Lean on Pete (2010, The Free (2014), and Don't Skip Out on Me (2018). Writer George Pelecanos, whom I think is great, stated that Northline was his favourite (he said favorite, because he's American) book of the decade. The first edition came with an original instrumental soundtrack performed by Vlautin and longtime bandmate Paul Brainard.
Plot
When high school dropout, mininum wage earning, drug taking (when she can) Allison finds out she's pregnant to her physically and emotionally abusive BF Jimmy, she decides it's time to get out of Dodge, or in this case Vegas, and start a new life. In Reno! A home for pregnant gals hooks her up with eager adoptive parents. Suffering an appropriate degree of angst and guilt regarding the sprog she never got to hold, she gets a job in a diner, where she meets Dan, a nice, if damaged, man prone to random acts of kindness. Later, she gets a second job as a telephone salesperson for a vacuum cleaner company where she is befriended by her colourful supervisor. She also has frequent imaginary conversations with Paul Newman: her all time fave film star.
Narrative
Third person from Allison's POV
Characters
Allison and Dan are superbly drawn, and the supporting cast is convincing.
Prose
Spare and melancholy with occasional touches of whimsy to lighten things up. I have not listened to Richmond Fontaine yet, but there's a definite Wilco vibe at times.
Bottom line
A class act from start to finish.