The Night Always Comes

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I used to always ask myself, Why would a man in his twenties want to live on the street when he could work? The answer is: why not? Why should they bust their ass all day when they know no matter what they do they'll never get ahead?' Set over two days and two nights, The Night Always Comes follows Lynette’s frantic search—an odyssey of hope and anguish that will bring her face to face with greedy rich men and ambitious hustlers, those benefiting and those left behind by a city in the throes of a transformative boom. As her desperation builds and her pleas for help go unanswered, Lynette makes a dangerous choice that sets her on a precarious, frenzied spiral. In trying to save her family’s future, she is plunged into the darkness of her past, and forced to confront the reality of her life. Whether or not that dream is worth the risk and if it's even the right dream to nurture is the novel's central mystery. The combination of fate and circumstance that hurtle Lynette to the book's wrenching, breathless end will keep you on the edge of your seat. This was different than anything I’ve read before. It’s hard for me to explain. It was detailed and interesting and each person was complex. This author showed me so much with his words. How he said them. The way he brought the characters to life. I had to finished it in one day. I was intrigued. I wanted closer and I couldn’t put it down.

Published in the US, several European and Asian countries, Vlautin's first book, The Motel Life was well received. It was an editor's choice in the New York Times Book Review and named one of the top 25 books of the year by the Washington Post. Lake Oswego Library - Lake Oswego Library Presents: Willy Vlautin - with Bill Kenower – on The Free and Don’t Skip Out on Me – video - 34:42a lot of it, particularly the scenes between lynette and her mother, reads like a play, their dialogue unfurling in long alternating speeches dredging up all the old grievances of the past; fraught and emotional but also expositionally resonant. this would be a powerhouse drama if anyone ever took it upon themselves to stage this. Now it’s all fancy buildings and skinny people who look like they’re in magazines.’ ‘ They whole time we’re wondering who can afford to live in these fancy new high-rises and where do they get the money to eat in all these new restaurants...for the life of me, I just don’t understand where so many people get their money.’ I’m not sure how author/songwriter/bandleader, Willy Vlautin, wants us to perceive his protagonist, Lynette, an early thirties three-job hustler. Courageous? Hapless? Victim? Self-sacrificing? Psychotic? Or a representative of a class that is systematically being ground down by the success of others? For a lot of years the only way I used to know how to get control of my life was to get mad. It was the only way I knew how to stand up for myself.

I thought of another film a lot, too. TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT by the Dardenne Brothers. In fact, watching that film was probably the last time I cried as hard as I did reading THE NIGHT ALWAYS COMES. Sandra, played by Marion Cotillard, has a lot in common with Vlautin's Lynette. They're both trying to survive. They're both treading water in a world that seems content to let them drown. They're both on an odyssey--Sandra takes two days and one night to try to convince her coworkers to give up their bonuses so she can keep her job, while Lynette takes two days and two nights to scrape dirt out of the darkest corners of her past. Both the film and book are rooted in concepts of compassion and forgiveness. They're both beautiful in their sympathetic portraits of shattered women trying to piece themselves together again. I think this book might work better as a book to be read rather than listen to. I felt for Lynette and it was very well written, but it was a depressing book to listen to. That’s not to say Christine Larkin isn’t a strong narrator. She imparts all the necessary emotion. Lynette has made some serious mistakes in her life, and she has issues that she may or may not be able to control, but she is working as hard as she possibly can. And a large part of that is her love of her brother. She wants to buy the house, not just for herself and her mother, but for Kenny, who needs that stability a lot more than she or her mother does. And when kindness does shine through, from an unexpected source, it is the relief we have been pining for, a beacon in the gloom, a desperately needed recognition in a world of people turning away. But the problem remains. What does gentrification look like for people who are being pushed out, whether they are good people or not? ( For my wife and me, it was being driven out of Brooklyn for affordable housing 125 miles away. No criminality involved, at least none that I will admit to.)but other people get to have dreams, too, and her mother suddenly wants to carve out a different future for herself, one that doesn't involve living in a house with so many bad memories, and one that doesn't involve living with lynette anymore. she announces that she's made other arrangements and the rest of the book is a real-time scramble as lynette tries to wrangle enough money to buy the house on her own.

For a lot of years the only way I used to know how to get control of my life was to get mad. It was the only way I knew how to stand up for myself.’ Willy Vlautin is not known for happy endings, but there’s something here that defies the downward pull. In the end, Lynette is pure life force: fierce and canny and blazing through a city that no longer has space for her, and it’s all Portland’s loss.”—Portland Monthly Magazine Life is beyond tough for Lynette, as she works numerous low-paid jobs while looking after her disabled brother and hapless mother in an impoverished area of Portland, Oregon. She embarks on a desperate and perilous journey of ambition and misery in the hope for a better life. Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love.Over the course of two days, Lynette goes about collecting debts she's owed from the sketchiest of characters, risking her life to salvage a dream. And money sets us against each other rather than brings us together to fight for a common good. Vlautin tells us a story of late-capitalism, in all its ugliness and cruelty, eating us alive. A powerful, sad book, beautifully written, in the rich vein of noir writing from Dostoevsky onward.

In his sixth novel, The Night Always Comes, Vlautin explores the idea of the American dream and the impacts of gentrification, greed, and opportunism on ordinary, working class lives. This scorching, noir-ish tale follows a young woman, Lynette, over the course of two days and nights as she endeavors to secure the money needed to buy the house she rents with her mother and developmentally disabled brother. the story is tight cutting perfection, and it keeps the reader very close; i felt lynette's exhaustion and frustration deep in my bones, and the smallness of her asks—that debts be repaid, that promises be kept, that hard work and sacrifice count for something—was heartbreakingly real. The Night Always Comes” is a taut Modern American Noir Fiction set in the modern American West. The author is Willie Vlautin. This is the second novel of his that I have read, the first being “Northline”. Both of these novels are excellent but dark. The novel under review can be a tough emotional experience. I really like this novel and the author, but this is not a light fun read. It is the kind of novel of which, I hesitate to use the word “enjoy”. It is excellent but intense, at times, very intense. I've long thought Kelly Reichardt would be the perfect director to adapt one of Vlautin's books. I think she might've even been attached to NORTHLINE or LEAN ON PETE at some point. But, man, if ever one of his books was tailor made for her, it's this one. Tonally, THE NIGHT ALWAYS COMES doesn't feel that different than Reichardt's recent masterpiece, FIRST COW, which also concerns itself with goodness and greed. This book surprised me, mostly in a bad way. I'm a big fan of Willy Vlautin's novels. I love his unflinching look at the underbelly of the USA. His protagonists always have been dealt a hard hand, and his writing style is clear, sparse and concise. To a degree, all of this is true for "The Night Always Comes" too, but something's missing.

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Willy Vlautin is not known for happy endings, but there's something here that defies the downward pull. In the end, Lynette is pure life force: fierce and canny and blazing through a city that no longer has space for her, and it's all Portland's loss." -- Portland Monthly Magazine The Delines are a soul country band from Portland, Oregon formed in 2015 with four previous studio albums to their name. Willy Vlautin is the songwriter for the band and previously with Richmond Fontaine with over 15 albums released and UK, European wide fans where they tour regularly.