Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin

*I read an advance uncorrected proof copy of this novel. It is to be released April 2010.

Grade: A

About the author: Willy Vlautin is the author of The Motel Life and Northline. He is also a singer and songwriter of the band Richmond Fontaine, which is not as successful as his writing has been.

Vlautin’s newest novel, Lean on Pete, is a beautifully heartwrenching novel about a 15-year-old boy who has always had to fend for himself, but is left utterly alone when his deadbeat dad dies.

Broke and friendless, Charley Thompson gets a job with a shady character by the name of Del helping him take care of his race horses. It is with one of these horses, Lean on Pete, that Charley builds a devoted friendship. Charley soon realizes that Del plans to sell Pete to men who will kill him, so he steals the horse and leaves Portland, OR and heads towards Wyoming, where he believes his aunt still lives.

The story is a travel narrative and also a portrait of the degradation of a human being. Everything that could go wrong does for poor Charley, and we as readers are forced to endure every hardship and act of kindness along with him:

“I’d seen a lot of things. I’d seen my dad do things. I’d seen him having sex with women. I’d seen him bending women over our couch and ramming into them and I’d seen them in the kitchen sitting on top of him saying things to him. I’d seen him puking his guts out in the sink and snorting cocaine and smoking weed. I saw a woman passed out in the back of our car in nothing but a bra. I saw her pee on the seat. I saw a guy get a broken beer bottle pushed in his face while we were at a daytime barbeque. I’d seen my dad hit my aunt in the face and call her names when all she did was tell him to come back when he wasn’t so drunk and mean. I’d seen him wreck her car and then abandon it. I’d seen him talk to the police. I saw a kid get hit so hard he began to foam at the mouth and go into seizures and I’d seen a kid shoot a dog in the head with a .22. I’d seen another kid tear the pajamas off his sister just so he could see her down there. She was screaming and crying. And I’d seen Del punch a horse as hard as he could and I’d seen a horse break his leg and wobble around on three while the broke one was held on by only skin.” Lean on Pete, p. 121

This quote is a good example of what kinds of things Charley is faced with throughout his life and the novel. He is pushed to his breaking point and has more than one all-time-low moment. But he is a strong character with integrity and pushes through his tribulations to the end.

Vlautin is a writer who likes to pull out the gritty harsh reality of life for his readers. But in showing all the darkness, the small positives burn even brighter and have an intense effect.

When a stranger shows Charley kindness by providing him with food, this small act really comes through as great, because we know how much suffering Charley has gone through, how the hunger eats at him.

Hunger is a repeated theme throughout the book. Charley is “always hungry” as he explains to almost everyone he meets, and everything he eats is specifically drawn out. The hunger is literal (he is homeless and pennyless) but also metaphorical. Charley hungers for more than just food- he hungers for stability, love, school, and most of all a normal childhood.

Vlautin’s characterization is perfect- Charley is a rich protagonist with a myriad of thoughts, emotions, and desires. He is absolutely lovable, even during his darkest moments. The story line also moves along smoothly, giving us new places and people at every turn, showing a cross-section of America usually obscured or ignored.