{"title":"Willy Vlautin","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"the-horse-paperback","title":"The Horse - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Joyce Carol Oates Prize \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFinalist for the 2025 Oregon Book Award \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Willy Vlautin writes about people overlooked by society and overlooked by literature. In \u003cem\u003eThe Horse\u003c\/em\u003e, he tells the story of a tenderhearted man who has a steady talent and a crushing addiction. It is both a work of extraordinary compassion and a really great novel.\" -- Ann Patchett, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003ebestselling author of\u003cem\u003e Tom Lake\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A moving tale of suffering and redemption, \u003cem\u003eThe Horse\u003c\/em\u003e portrays the immense gravity of what it takes to be human in tough times, and the elusive grace that might just be grasped from music, animals, and memory.\" -- Geraldine Brooks, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003ebestselling author of \u003cem\u003eHorse\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAward-winning author Willy Vlautin explores loneliness, art, regret, and hard-won empathy in this poignant novel--his most personal to date--that captures the life of a journeyman musician unable to escape the tragedies of his past.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAl Ward lives on an isolated mining claim in the high desert of central Nevada fifty miles from the nearest town. A grizzled man in his sixties, he survives on canned soup, instant coffee, and memories of his ex-wife, friends and family he's lost, and his life as a touring musician. Hampered by insomnia, bouts of anxiety, and a chronic lethargy that keeps him from moving back to town, Al finds himself teetering on the edge of madness and running out of reasons to go on--until a horse arrives on his doorstep: nameless, blind, and utterly helpless.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAl hopes the horse will vanish as mysteriously as he appeared. Yet the animal remains, leaving him in a conundrum. Is the animal real, or a phantom conjured from imagination? As Al contemplates the horse's existence--and what, if anything, he can do--his thoughts are interspersed with memories, from the moment his mother's part-time boyfriend gifts him a 1959 butterscotch blonde Telecaster, to the day his travels begin. He joins various bands--all who perform his songs once they discover his talent-playing casinos, truck stops, clubs, and bars. He falls in love, and finds pockets of companionship and minor success along the way. Never close to stardom or financial success, he continues as a journeyman for decades until alcoholism and a heartbreaking tragedy lead him to the solitude of the barren Nevada desert.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA poignant meditation on addiction, heartbreak, and the reality of life on the road in smalltime bands, \u003cem\u003eThe Horse\u003c\/em\u003e is a beautiful, haunting tale from an author working at the height of his powers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50101127643359,"sku":"9780063346598","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/6dU6_X7LlO9780063346598.webp?v=1781068312"},{"product_id":"the-left-and-the-lucky-hardcover","title":"The Left and the Lucky - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"One of America's greatest storytellers.\"--Jonathan Evison\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe acclaimed Willy Vlautin returns with a heartbreaking and tender novel about two young brothers, the vicissitudes of fate, and unexpected connection--a beautiful and bittersweet portrait that illuminates the power of friendship and how it can save lives in multiple ways.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEddie Wilkens is a workaholic house painter in his early forties. His wife has left him to her regret, and his main employee, Houston, is a loafer and scoundrel who barely shows up for work. Unassuming and self-reliant, Eddie is thoughtful man who rarely gets angry, despite life's frequent provocations, but he is ruled by a guilt that he has carried for nearly twenty years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNext door, a woman and her two sons move in with her frail and aging mother. The youngest boy, Russell, eight-years-old, is quiet and small for his age and lives in constant terror of his increasingly lost and troubled fifteen-year-old brother, Curtis. As their mother struggles to keep the family together and the grandmother's health begins to faulter they find themselves unable to protect Russell and themselves from Curtis's cruelty, which threatens to explode in frenetic violence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThough neither knows it, Russell and Eddie will become each other's saving grace.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile Russell's home life disintegrates he begins waiting in Eddie's backyard for him to get off work. Eddie offers the boy small acts of kindness: he feeds him, gives him jobs to do, listens to his dreams of escape, and offers Russell a glimpse into a world of hope and humor. A world of misfit painters, a derelict muscle car, an old dog, and the comradery and companionship of Eddie and his crew. In return, Russell gives Eddie a reason to carry on and helps him lay to rest the guilt that has plagued him for half of his life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTogether, this makeshift father and son begin to build better life, daring to trade the bleakness and cynicism around them for hope and friendship.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom a writer revered for his thoughtful and compassionate portrayal of realistic American life, \u003cem\u003eThe Left and the Lucky\u003c\/em\u003e is a heartbreakingly honest examination of how circumstance shapes our lives, and how the luck of finding someone who needs us can transcend bitter loneliness and prevent us from giving up on dreaming of a better life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50101956772063,"sku":"9780063346635","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/PVTm-kz5iU9780063346635.webp?v=1781075965"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/willy-vlautin.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}