Lean on Pete

by Willy Vlautin

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.

(From Publisher).

Described by Mojo as ‘one of America’s most fundamental artists in words and music’ Willy Vlautin is the author of two highly acclaimed novels, The Motel Life (2005) and Northline (2007). He is also the frontman of the band Richmond Fontaine, whose albums include 'Post to Wire' and most recently ‘We Used to think the Freeway Sounded Like a River’. An avid fan of horseracing, he can often be found writing behind a closed circuit monitor at Portland Meadows racetrack.

Adolescent Charley does what he has to survive in Portland, Oregon, in a world where the line between crime and daily life is always blurred. Vlautin offers an utterly authentic and nihilistic vision of 21st century America.