Hello librarians!
When the Library Love Fest team loves a book like The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin, we can’t stop talking about it!
If you've followed Library Love Fest over the years, then you know we're HUGE fans of Willy Vlautin's work, whether it's The Motel Life, Northline, Lean on Pete, The Free, or his most recent novel Don't Skip Out on Me, which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and an ALA Notable Book. As Ann Patchett stated, "The straightforward beauty of Vlautin’s writing, and the tender care he shows his characters, turns a story of struggle into indispensable reading."
Truly, Willy Vlautin's combination of beautiful prose, unforgettable characters, and a tender eye for the stories of people struggling to persevere in a world in which they're rarely seen results in heart-wrenching and redemptive reads that earned Willy praise from Ursula K. Le Guin, who compared him to an "unsentimental Steinbeck, a heartbroken Haruf."
In his upcoming book The Night Always Comes, Willy Vlautin confronts many of the anxieties of our changing world, including working-class greed, class division, home ownership, and mental health. Set in contemporary Portland, Oregon, the novel takes place over the course of two days and two nights and follows a young woman on a desperate quest to collect enough funds to put a down payment on her family's long-time home before it's too late.
Click here to read an excerpt from The Night Always Comes
Click here to download The Night Always Comes egalley
and audiobook egalley on Edelweiss+
Click here to download The Night Always Comes egalley on NetGalley
Click here to download The Night Always Comes audiobook egalley on NetGalley
LibraryReads Votes Due: March 1st
Below, you'll find the replay of our Door to Door with Willy Vlautin, where we talk more about the book, his music, and his unforgettable characters. As an added bonus, Willy performs a song he wrote!
The Night Always Comes has received enormous early praise:
"... 'You never give up and you've got a good heart, a damaged heart, but a good heart.’ We concur, of course, and race to the end to see if good hearts can maybe, just this once, make a difference. With Vlautin, you never know for sure."
—Bill Ott, Booklist ⭐ review
"The story resonates, with characters we come to feel we know and dialog that is so natural we hear it, not just read it....This is literary art that will keep readers in their seats until the last page."
—Library Journal ⭐ review
"This gritty page-turner sings with pitch-perfect prose, and Lynette’s desperation is palpable. Vlautin has achieved a brilliant synthesis of Raymond Carver and Jim Thompson."
—Publishers Weekly ⭐ review
"Vlautin has written a soulfulthriller for the age of soulless gentrification."
—Kirkus ⭐ review
"I finished reading this novel dripping with admiration for Willy Vlautin and the tough wonder he has brought forth. The Night Always Comes hits the high-water mark; there is skillful and beautiful objectivity to the writing, characters so real that when they bleed you get a few drops on your sleve, and a story of economic want and desperation and heart."
—Daniel Woodrell, author of Winter’s Bone and The Maid’s Version
Another incredible aspect to Willy Vlautin's literary work is how closely connected it is to his life as a musician. The founding member of the bands Richmond Fontaine and The Delines, Willy has often talked about his novels beginning as songs, and growing from there.
We are very excited to share one of the songs from the upcoming The Night Always Comes book soundtrack, titled "Lynette's Lament," which is performed by Willy's band The Delines and written by band member Cory Gray. Click below to listen!
To learn more about Willy's thoughts on the connection between his music and his writing, check out the short clip below from our interview in 2018 on the publication day of Don't Skip Out on Me:
This was a very special interview, which Willy capped off spectacularly by playing the titular song "Don't Skip Out on Me." You can watch his performance below!
Click here to watch the full interview!
The full book soundtrack for Don't Skip Out on Me is available on Spotify. Click below to listen! You can also read Willy's notes on the soundtrack here.
Listen to the Don't Skip Out on Me book soundtrack on Spotify!
Remember to submit your LibraryReads votes
for The Night Always Comes by March 1st
-Chris
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