Northline ***

By Willy Vlautin.
First published by Faber and Faber Limited, 2008.
This edition published by Harper Perrenial
192 pages.

Willy Vlautin is the lead singer and songwriter of the alternative country-rock group Richmond Fontaine. His songs are known for the dark tales he tells. This book is like that also. It's gritty and dark, my favorite genres (OK not genres, perhaps they're my favorite moods or tones). But this book, unlike his songs (Vlautin admits this himself - something to do with the length of the tales he tells. The shorter format of the songs doesn't allow for moments of sunshine and hope) there is a persistent feeling of hope, humanity and small kindnesses.

It's the story of a young, thin, plain girl who is pregnant with her boyfriend's baby. The problem is that her boyfriend is abusive and racist. So she runs away to a town where she knows no one. There she gets a job as a a waitress and a telephone marketer. She is completely depressed, suicidal and self-destructive. Along the way, she meets people who show her gentleness and kindness. Specifically she befriends her boss at the telemarketing company who is obscenely obese and one of her clients at the diner who has a slightly deformed eye. I mention these 'faults' to demonstrate the type of characters in the book. They are faulty, but good people.

It should also be noted that the book is set in the deserts of Nevada, where the author comes from which lends it its particularly feeling of grittiness. Everything is wore down and fading. Allison is also a drop out from school and has very low self-esteem. Hence she makes many poor choices. Yet her character,in fact all the characters are sympathetic. Even her Nazi boyfriend is shown as human and not ALTOGETHER evil. And let's face it, the most heinous people in history, the criminals, the killers, the gang bangers and the everyday jerks are all human, though sometimes we think of them as animals because of their actions. Usually those actions are a result of poor choices and screwed up mental chemistry.

There is a Cd that comes with the book that is a 'soundtrack' for the book. On first listen, it sounds like a typical soundtrack. It's all instrumental, so it's on the softer side. It's all acoustic also. But is seems nice.

This is Vlautin's second book, and I read his first book a couple of weeks later. I don't want to compare it too much since I'll be reviewing that one later, but I will say that I think it's a better book. It's narrative is a little more linear, though both books are unconventional narratives. Not much really happens in the books. They're episodic. They wander from episode to episode with out much connection and very little happening really. This latter effort is a bit more structured, and hence, I think, better.

here is an excerpt from the book accompanied by a film and music from the soundtrack.