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    Northline: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Northline: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Northline: A Novel
    Ebook254 pages3 hours

    Northline: A Novel

    By Willy Vlautin

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Fleeing Las Vegas and her abusive boyfriend, Allison Johnson moves to Reno, intent on making a new life for herself. Haunted by the mistakes of her past, and lacking any self-belief, her only comfort seems to come from the imaginary conversations she has with Paul Newman, and the characters he played. But as life crawls on and she finds work, small acts of kindness start to reveal themselves to her, and slowly the chance of a new life begins to emerge. Full of memorable characters and imbued with a beautiful sense of yearning, Northline is an extraordinary portrait of contemporary America from a writer and musician whose work has been lauded as "mournful, understated, and proudly steeped in menthol smoke and bourbon" (New York Times Book Review).

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 27, 2011
    ISBN9780062127297
    Unavailable
    Northline: A Novel
    Author

    Willy Vlautin

    Willy Vlautin is the author of the novels The Motel Life, Northline, Lean on Pete, The Free, Don’t Skip Out on Me, and The Night Always Comes. He is the founding member of the bands Richmond Fontaine and The Delines.

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    Reviews for Northline

    4/5

    82 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I have previously declared my interest in reading novels by musicians and this one is by the lead singer and writer for one of my favourite bands, Richmond Fontaine, so it has a head start. I actually brought this book at a gig!
      The rating is really four stars for the book and one extra for the "soundtrack" CD bound into the back cover.
      I think that this is a step up from his first book. It tells the story over a year or so of Allison, a loser with a bad taste in boyfriends, but she knows this, so moves from Las Vegas to Reno to escape her past. It is very sympathetically told in a sad tone with hints of optimism. I particularly enoyed her "conversations" with Paul Newman!
    • 4/5
      Low key novel that I wasn't so sure about at first, as it portrayed a self-destructive waitress in Las Vegas with an abusive boyfriend--and an imaginary Paul Newman who gives her advice and encourages her. As it goes on, it grows on you, and the various characters are well drawn. The scenes in and around Las Vegas and Reno are convincing and give you a great idea of the hopelessness of many in such places--but there are always those who persevere, such as the woman setting up appointments for vacuum cleaner demonstrations. In the end I was won over.The audiobook was well read. At first, the narrator sounded a bit amateurish, but it is all in keeping with the character of the girl, and the narration, like the book itself, gets better as it goes along.Recommended.
    • 5/5
      Excellent novel; have read both Northline and Motel Life and enjoyed every word of each. Willy Vlautin's work was a great discovery for me at the end of 2014; can't wait to start 2015 by reading his other two novels.
    • 4/5
      Another fantastic book by Vlautin and this one comes with a soundtrack which both adds to the mood of the story and is equally great on its own. My only complaint about Vlautin's books? Not long enough, I never want the writing to end.
    • 4/5
      Jimmy Bodie’s a brooding presence. No telling what he is capable of. Well, we know some things he’s capable of, but probably not everything. In weakness, Jimmy Bodie is our fears. Jimmy Bodie fills the void left from where our self confidence has fled.To combat Jimmy Bodie, Allison adopts Paul Newman as her Father Confessor and Protector, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy, Fast Eddie Felson, Murphy from Fort Apache the Bronx….even old Frank Galvin. ‘So take my advice and stay off the booze, go to school, and most of all keep on the lookout for Jimmy. Him and his damn Northline. Remember, kid, there ain’t no place where you can escape to. There’s no place where there aren’t weirdos and death and violence and change and new people. You head up to Wyoming or Montana and you’ll run into the same things as you do in Vegas or New Orleans. You’ll run into yourself.’Allison is just looking for a place where she can get by and live in safety, without fear. Same for Dan Mahony. This place could be anywhere, though, It begins in your heart. Or on a line North, in flight from all that.
    • 4/5
      Vlautin's second book is similar in feel to the first, being at times dark, moody and disturbing. But there is hope here for main character Allison, and there are many rays of light in the darkness. I enjoyed this book, and may even check out the actual published edition (I read a proof) as Vlautin wrote a CD of music to be included with it.