Northline [With CD]

by Willy Vlautin

Book Overview

Fleeing Las Vegas and her abusive boyfriend, Allison Johnson moves to Reno, intent on making a new life for herself. Haunted by the mistakes of her past, and lacking any self-belief, her only comfort seems to come from the imaginary conversations she has with Paul Newman, and the characters he played. But as life crawls on and she finds work, small acts of kindness start to reveal themselves to her, and slowly the chance of a new life begins to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061456527
• ISBN13: 9780061456527
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

I can't wait for the next Willy Vlautin novel

A truly great read. Particularly if you're a fan of Richmond Fontaine like I am.

BEAUTIFUL AND HAUNTING

This book was painful in the best way--the characters moved inside me like ghosts. Beautifully written. Tenderly elegiac.

Haunting, honest, and stark

What a beauty. Allison Johnson is a pregnant alcoholic who flees to Reno to escape her abusive boyfriend. Haunted by a long string of mistakes and with nothing to cling to, she's at the ragged edge; apart from booze, her only support system is Paul Newman, who pops by to have imaginary chats on a regular basis. The wonderful thing about this book--one of them--is the unsentimental way Vlautin writes. Even as he explores serious emotional depths, everything unfolds in simple, matter-of-fact language that tears your heart out. And yet for all the pain, the novel is lit by a deep sense of hope in the possibility of a better day. Highly recommended.

Characterization at its finest

I picked this book up last night knowing nothing about the author or the title. I read it in a matter of hours. Why? I could not put it down. Alison Johnson is a person you've known in your lifetime. A good person who continues to make mistakes. Yet in this novel you don't get angry with her, you are sad for her and begin to root for her to overcome her deep seeded issues. You hate when bad things happen to her and you rejoice at every good decision she makes. This novel works because Mr. Vlautin allows you to "know" his characters in a way that makes you want to read. I read a lot of books, rarely do I come take the time to write a review, but this one's a winner. My copy came with a novel soundtrack. Novel idea, one that I think will catch on perhaps. If we're lucky. The soundtrack has no lyrics, just chill music.

A powerful, quick, moving read

I picked this book up at a librarian convention a few months ago - the publisher had a booth and was giving out preview copies. It's not something I normally would have picked up as I'm more of a chick-lit kind of girl, but I thought I'd give it a whirl. It was well worth it, and I'm definitely a fan of Vlautin now, and will get his other books. Allison Johnson is trapped in a really bad situation in life - she's 22, dropped out of high school, works as a waitress in a Las Vegas casino, has an abusive boyfriend, hurts herself, is an alcoholic, and writes notes to herself about what a horrible person she is. The only thing keeping her going is her imaginary conversations with Paul Newman, who she has a major crush on (her mother and sister do, too). Paul Newman gives her advice based on his movie roles, and begs her to turn her life around, stop hurting herself, and pull it together. There were moments where I really wanted to shake her and get her to come to her senses. Other times, like when she got her own apartment and went shopping at the Salvation Army, I was really proud of her ability to take care of herself. She meets a lot of really horrible people, but she also meets kindness and love, and the story, which runs the gamut of emotion, eventually ends on a hopeful note. It is a really quick read - took me about 3 hours or so - and I definitely recommend it.