Willy Vlautin has a lot of fans here in the Northwest, and the upcoming release of the film version of his 2006 novel The Motel Life might just mean a lot more for the Scappoose, Oregon writer/musician/everyman, who took home two Oregon Book Awards last year for Lean on Pete. Europeans are long onto Vlautin. His band, Richmond Fontaine, has been playing successful tours across the pond for years, and his books have received international critical acclaim, and the royal treatment. Vlautin just announced that The Motel Life has been published in Sweden as a beautifully produced hardback collectible by Bakhall publishing, and 2008’s Northline is next in line. In conjunction with the release of Motel, Sweden’s biggest music magazine, Sonic, has published a really cool, photo-heavy spread on Reno, and as far as we can tell, having trouble with the Swedish and all, Reno native Vlautin is their tour guide. Have a look at, we’re pretty sure here, “Fear, Loathing and Free Drinks in Reno.”
Borrowed Copy
He's Big in Europe
March 1, 2012
— posted by
Brian Juenemann
Oh, my this is a good book. Sometimes it looks like everyone is reading the latest book (but I am much too slow), or calling attention to the classics, or something written long ago. The Motel Life is reason to just not worry about keeping up, but go back just a few years to something really, really good. I was talking with Willy about being drawn to road trips and the brilliant grit of Dave Alvin’s “Any Rough Times Are Now Behind You.” He said I needed to read The Motel Life and pressed a copy into my hands. Oh, my.