The Left and the Lucky
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected 5 May 2026
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- 149,00 kr
Publisher Description
'One of America's great writers.' RODDY DOYLE
'Vlautin's characters are a vast chorus of broken hearts, reaching for grace.' COLIN WALSH
'No one writes with such empathy and insight as Willy Vlautin.' BEN MYERS
'Vlautin writes about people overlooked by society and overlooked by literature.' ANN PATCHETT
The moving, large-hearted story of a young boy in danger of slipping through society's cracks and the unlikely father figure who takes him under his wing.
'And try to breathe, man. You gotta remember to breathe. You won't get so panicky if you can remember that.'
Eddie Wilkens runs his own house-painting business. Forty-something and living alone, he just wants to take life one day at a time. When his eight-year-old neighbour, Russell, starts hanging around, Eddie sees that this small kid - with his single mother working nights and his violent older brother - is struggling to keep his head above water, and so tries to help.
Equal parts heart wrenching and uplifting, The Left and the Lucky is a portrait of this unusual friendship - the ways hurt shatters people and the compassionate acts that can, maybe, hold some of those pieces together.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Vlautin (The Horse) delivers a surprisingly uplifting tale of neighbors helping neighbors while eking out a living in Portland, Ore. Connie works nights as a stripper while raising her two sons, Curtis and Russell, neither of whose fathers live with them. Curtis, 15, bullies his undersized eight-year-old brother, who copes by taking long walks by himself. Their neighbor, Eddie, a kindhearted housepainter, makes sure Russell has good, hot meals to eat, and gets to school each day. After Curtis steals and crashes Eddie's new car, he's locked up in juvenile detention, and Russell is flooded with relief. Eddie's caring and patient nature also extends to his painting crew, which includes frustrating but endearing alcoholic Houston, pompous nonstop talker Cordarrel, and a young punk rock guitarist named Donny. Eddie does his best to keep Houston alive and working, if not sober, and to tune out Cordarrel, while new hire Donny tries to prove himself despite dealing with a tooth infection. The author imbues the novel's gritty setting with radiant light, especially from the perspective of the intrepid Russell, as when he bravely bikes through an industrial wasteland in search of Houston. With genuine affection, Vlautin captures his characters' humanity and longing, showing, for example, how Russell daydreams about escaping to an island where he can live without fear. Readers will fall in love with this ode to a struggling community.
