JOIN US ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 31 AT 7PM PT WHEN WILLY VLAUTIN JOINS US FOR THE RELEASE OF HIS NOVEL, THE HORSE, WITH BARRY GIFFORD AT 9TH AVE!Masks Encouraged for In-Person Attendance
Or watch online at the link below
https://youtube.com/live/lpM7WabsTq4?feature=share
About The Horse
Award-winning author Willy Vlautin explores loneliness, art, addiction, regret, love, and hard-won empathy in this poignant novel—his most personal to date—that captures the life of a journeyman musician unable to escape the tragedies of his past.
“Willy Vlautin writes about people overlooked by society and overlooked by literature. In The Horse, he tells the story of a tenderhearted man who has a steady talent and a crushing addiction. It is both a work of extraordinary compassion and a really great novel." — Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Tom Lake
“A moving tale of suffering and redemption, The Horse portrays the immense gravity of what it takes to be human in tough times, and the elusive grace that might just be grasped from music, animals, and memory.” —Geraldine Brooks
Al Ward lives on an isolated mining claim in the high desert of central Nevada fifty miles from the nearest town. A grizzled man in his sixties, he survives on canned soup, instant coffee, and memories of his ex-wife, friends and family he’s lost, and his life as a touring musician. Hampered by insomnia, bouts of anxiety, and a chronic lethargy that keeps him from moving back to town, Al finds himself teetering on the edge of madness and running out of reasons to go on—until a horse arrives on his doorstep: nameless, blind, and utterly helpless.
Al hopes the horse will vanish as mysteriously as he appeared. Yet the animal remains, leaving him in a conundrum. Is the animal real, or a phantom conjured from imagination? As Al contemplates the horse’s existence—and what, if anything, he can do—his thoughts are interspersed with memories of his life as a musician, from the moment his mother’s part-time boyfriend gifts him a 1959 butterscotch blonde Telecaster, to the day his life as a traveling musician begins. He joins various bands—all who perform his songs once they discover his talent–playing casinos, truck stops, clubs, and bars. He falls in love, and finds pockets of companionship and minor success along the way. Never close to stardom or financial success, he continues as a journeyman for decades until alcoholism and a heartbreaking tragedy lead him to the isolation of the barren Nevada desert.
A poignant meditation on art, addiction, loneliness, heartbreak, and the reality of life on the road in smalltime bands, The Horse is a beautiful, haunting tale from an author working at the height of his powers.
About Willy Vlautin
Willy Vlautin is the author of the novels The Motel Life, Northline, Lean on Pete, The Free, Don’t Skip Out on Me, and The Night Always Comes. He is the founding member of the bands Richmond Fontaine and The Delines.
About Barry Gifford
Barry Gifford’s novels have been translated into twenty-two languages. His book Night People was awarded the Premio Brancati in Italy, and he has been the recipient of awards from PEN, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Library Association. David Lynch’s film based on Gifford’s novel Wild at Heart won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1990, and Barry Gifford’s novel Perdita Durango was made into a feature film in 1997. Barry Gifford co-wrote with Director David Lynch the film Lost Highway, also released in 1997. Mr. Gifford’s most recent books include The Phantom Father: A Memoir (named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year); and Wyoming, a novel (named a Best Novel of the Year by the Los Angeles Times), which has been adapted for the stage, and is soon to be a major motion picture.
Event Venue
1231 9th Ave, San Francisco, CA, United States, California 94122