Willy Vlautin - Lean on Pete - signed first edition
Willy's third novel and as many people are saying his best.
Fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson wants a home. Food on the table and in the cupboard; a high school he can attend for more than part of a year; and some structure to his life. But as the son of single father working at warehouses across the Pacific Northwest, Charley’s been pretty much on his own for sometime. Lean on Pete opens as Charley and his father arrive in Portland, Oregon and Charley takes a stables job, illegally, at the local race track. Once part of a vibrant racing network, Portland Meadows is now seemingly the last haven for washed up jockeys and knackered horses, but it’s there that Charley meets Pete, an old horse who becomes his companion as he’s forced to try and make his own way in the world. A portrait of a journey - populated by a vivid cast of characters against a harsh landscape - Lean on Pete is also the unforgettable story of a friendship and of hope in dark times. The Independent says "Lean On Pete is an archetypal American novel, Huck Finn for the crystal-meth generation" You can see a promo video for it here