Willy Vlautin

[November 5th, 2008]

You really should read: The Motel Life, Northline.

Here’s what I’ve learned from Willy Vlautin: Reno is a sad place populated by sad people who hate blacks and Mexicans and drink too much and gamble compulsively and are cheered by even the faintest glimmer of hope. And I keep reading, because Portlander Vlautin, for all his melancholy, writes with a simple, Carver-esque beauty unparalleled among a generation of overwrought fantasists. BEN WATERHOUSE. 3 pm Saturday, Nov. 8. McMenamins Stage.

What’s your personal writing ritual?
I try to write in the morning and without a hangover. I like writing at Portland Meadows, our local horse track, when I can swing it.

What are your favorite themes to write about?
I’ve always been a fan of working class stories. My themes are pretty basic, guilt, love, violence, and alcoholism. Those I rehash and rehash and rehash.

The most beautiful word in the English language is:
Dilapidated.

What authors made you want to pick up a pen in the first place?
My heroes have always been Raymond Carver, Jim Thompson, William Kennedy, Larry Brown, John Steinbeck.

Fight Club time: If you could fight one author (or critic), who would it be and why?
Hell, I don’t know, but I like Fight Club. That’s a cool novel.

Dream project:
I’m a big fan of Top Shelf Comics. They’re a great publisher here in Portland. I’d really like to do a graphic novel with them.

Most recent nightmare:
Reading at Flirts Lounge at the airport Holiday Inn just after Monday Night Football.

Your cure for writer’s block:
I can always write its just I write a lot of bad stories.

Pessimistic question: Will you keep writing even after people stop reading?
It’s a hard habit to quit so I’d keep going. I’d probably be like my dad and turn to writing porn novels.

Optimistic question: Kittens? Discuss.
I used to hate cats, then I found a kitten in my shed. Now I like them all right.

Please paste a short paragraph from a story, poem, article, blog post etc. you’re currently working on below:

HOW TO QUIT DRINKING # 4

He went into AA

He joined a gym and started boxing

He left his girlfriend and got a room

He slept on the floor and quit talking

His sister asked him why he quit talking

He said when he was sober he didn’t know nothing

He was 34 when he turned pro

He ran to work and he ran home

He stayed at the gym until they closed

But there were still those nights when he was all alone

He won ten fights going up and down the coast

He’d borrow his sister’s car and drive himself home

Then he fought in Modesto and shattered his nose

Then he detached his retina in Fresno and they made him quit

He’d wake up in the middle of the night

His heart racing so fast he thought he was dying

And it wouldn’t go away, it would never go away

He’d just go running, running down the street

And he’d keep running and running until he could hardly stand

Until he couldn’t think anymore