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    Lean on Pete movie tie-in: A Novel
    Lean on Pete movie tie-in: A Novel
    Lean on Pete movie tie-in: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    Lean on Pete movie tie-in: A Novel

    Written by Willy Vlautin

    Narrated by Willy Vlautin

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Willy Vlautin’s award-winning novel Lean on Pete, a moving and compassionate story about a fifteen-year old-boy's unlikely connection to a failing racehorse as he struggles to find a place to call home—now a major motion picture from A24, the studio behind Moonlight and Lady Bird, starring Charlie Plummer, Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, and directed by Andrew Haigh (45 Years, Looking).

    Fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson wants a home, food on the table, and a high school he can attend for more than part of a year. But as the son of a single father working in warehouses across the Pacific Northwest, Charley's been pretty much on his own. When tragic events leave him homeless weeks after their move to Portland, Oregon, Charley seeks refuge in the tack room of a run-down horse track. Charley's only comforts are his friendship with a failing racehorse named Lean on Pete and a photograph of his only known relative. In an increasingly desperate circumstance, Charley will head east, hoping to find his aunt who had once lived a thousand miles away in Wyoming—but the journey to find her will be a perilous one.

    In Lean on Pete, Willy Vlautin reveals the lives and choices of American youth like Charley Thompson who were failed by those meant to protect them and who were never allowed the chance to just be a kid.

    “Lean on Pete riveted me. Reading it, I was heartbroken and moved; enthralled and convinced. This is serious American literature.”
       — Cheryl Strayed, Oregonian

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateFeb 20, 2018
    ISBN9780062697981
    Lean on Pete movie tie-in: A Novel
    Author

    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.

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    Reviews for Lean on Pete movie tie-in

    4.5/5

    145 ratings26 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Haunting...wept at times. The voice so real. Immediately invested, worried throughout...hoping always the best for Pete and Charlie. Life is wonderful and monstrous simultaneously.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book so much! And now I see there's a movie??? Starring Charlie Plummer, aka Miles in Looking For Alaska??? I can't wait to watch that. He'll be perfect as Charley Thompson.

      The story is told to us by 15-yo Charley and I like the cadence or whatever you call it that is used for the way he tells it. Very matter of fact...I got up and did this and went here and ate this and came home and did this and went to the track and did this...I found it very believable the way he talks.

      I loved hearing about all the things that happen in his life and the people he meets and talks to and the wonderful things he tells to Pete about the life he imagines for the two of them.

      I started reading this book yesterday while I was waiting for front brake pads to be put on my car, so imagine my shock and horror when I read this line on page 126: "Then he told me about a brake job he got where they said they'd changed the pads but hadn't." I nearly choked on my coffee. I'm pretty sure Caleb really changed my brake pads because I saw the guy deliver them and then I saw Caleb come and get the box and take it back out to my car.

      Before I started reading I predicted that the end of the book would be Charley finding his aunt in Wyoming and she would have enough space for him to keep the horse, Lean on Pete, there. I won't tell you if I was right or wrong, but I will tell you I cried, but I won't tell you if they were happy tears or sad tears.

      Charley is now a favorite character and I wish the author would write more books about Charley. I want to know what kind of man he became.
    • 4/5
      Abandoned by his mother, orphaned of his father, 15-year old Charley sets on a journey across America to find his aunt, the only remaining relative who can possibly offer him a better life. He is accompanied on this journey by a horse he befriends (and steals) - Lean on Pete.

      Willie Vlautin's "road novel" is recounted in the first-person. Charley's narrative voice uses simple words to devastating effect. This is a tale which skirts the depths of despair and yet finds hope flowering in the most unexpected of places.
    • 5/5
      After reading and loving two other of Willy Vlautin's books, a friend suggested I read his older novels. I think this one might be my favorite, but that might be because I barely moved for a day to read the entire thing. Charley's life is heart wrenching and Vlautin has such a gift of developing his characters, you feel deeply each time Charley faces another challenge. Such a great novel. I recommend this to anyone that loves to read and isn't bothered by the main character having an abundance of pain in his life.
    • 4/5
      Charley Thompson hasn't had many good times; his mom skedaddled before he can remember, and his dad isn't worth much when he even bothers to come home. At the age of 15, Charley knows how to fend for himself, so when he loses his dad too and life gets even tougher, he has a skill set to get by with. He can run, he can drive, he's good at shoplifting, and he doesn't mind eating cold soup or chili right out of the can, missing baths, or sleeping rough. Just the same, he's an innocent. He isn't any good at lying, though he sometimes tries it when the truth would serve him better. He never has a half-way believable excuse or alibi ready when he inevitably gets in trouble. As he sets out on a road trip with his only friend, a broken-down race horse named Pete--stolen, technically--he takes a lot of chances, usually because he has very few options. He rests all his meager hopes for the future on finding an aunt he vaguely remembers being kind to him when he was a "little kid". All he knows about her is her name, and that she used to live in Rock Springs, Wyoming, over a thousand miles from his home in Portland, Oregon. You can't really call this a coming-of-age story, because Charley starts out older than a lot of people ever get. If ever a boy needed a mother, here he is. You'll want to give him hot soup and a big hug.
    • 4/5
      I'm always a sucker for books and movies that champion the underdog, the overlooked, the hard luckers and the downtrodden. Willy Vlautin'snovel, Lean on Pete, is all that. It's recently been made into a movie.Charley is fifteen years old and lives with his single father, often fending for himself. But tragedy strikes after they move to Portland, leaving Charley on his own. Determined not to be put into 'the system', Charley sets out to find a job and earn enough money to travel, looking for the only relative he has left in the world. He finds a job at the local racetrack, ending up in the employ of a crusty, somewhat shifty, old man named Del. Del is the owner of a number of failing racehorses, including one named Lean on Pete.Charley bonds with Pete, pouring out his hopes, dreams, desires and fears to the horse. The horse becomes the boy's family. Loneliness populates Vlautin's book. The main characters are all wounded and isolated, as are many of the others we meet. Marginalized in so many ways. And yet, Charley's life and circumstances are not that far from the truth for many teens. I became quite worried as the book progressed and Charley is faced with many unsavory people and situations. I did feel that there were a few too many of these scenes (especially as Charley hit the road) and some seemed simply gratuitous and didn't add much to the overall narrative. Charley's voice is spare, matching his daily life - simply trying to survive. The reader can't helpKnowing nothing of the racing world, I found some of the racetrack practices and treatment of the horses quite disturbing.I chose to listen to Lean on Pete and was excited to find that the author himself was the narrator. There's nothing better than listening to an author read his own work. Vlautin is also the lead singer of a band. He has a wonderfully resonant voice, with a slight gravelly undertone. His voice never raises, but keeps the listener closely drawn in to this haunting, harrowing tale. Did I like it? Yeah, I really did. Vlautin's work has a touch of Steinbeck and Twain to it. Now, we'll have to see if the movie does it justice.
    • 4/5
      I really like Willy Vlautin, both his music - as leader of Richmond Fontaine (I actually brought this book at a gig), and as a writer. His songs are like digests of his novels, full of sad characters from the disadvantaged edge of society, yet often tinged with optimism.
      His writing style is simple but elegant, drawing you into the world of his characters. In this book Charley and Pete (who is very his own horse and a key character in this story) are definitely victims, not so much "of the system" because they are almost totally outside it, but of life itself. But what Charley really wants is to become a part of the system and he remains stubbornly optimistic to the end.
      This is my third Willy Vlautin book and I own everything Richmond Fontaine have released. I look forward to sharing more words and music in the future.
    • 5/5
      Lean on Pete opens as 15-year-old Charley Thompson and his father are settling into a house in Portland, Oregon, having recently left Spokane, Washington. The story is told from Charley's perspective, so we never learn exactly why they left Spokane, but it seems his father, a truck driver, is trying to stay just one step ahead of trouble. Sometimes Charley awakens to strange women in the house, cuddling up with his dad. but for the most part, Charley is left on his own, and often for days at a time while his father is working. He begins every day with a long run around the town and then meanders around killing time and looking forward to the start of the school year when he plans to try out for the football team. With a meager allowance from his father he is able to feed himself, but often resorts to stealing from the supermarket.Charley begins hanging out at a run-down racetrack and meets Del, a seedy horse trainer. Del agrees to pay Charley to do jobs around the stable, and Charley develops a fondness for Lean on Pete, one of Del's horses. Charley spends more and more time at the stable, even sleeping there overnight when his house begins to feel unsafe (there's a big spoiler lurking there ...). Charley begins to see Del as the tough and unscrupulous man that he is, and when he fears Pete may be at risk in Del's care, he takes matters into his own hands.At this point, the novel becomes more intense and heartbreaking. Charley faces situations no 15-year-old should ever have to deal with, and while he does his best, he is ill-equipped to cope. The adults in his life consistently let him down. His resilience eventually pays off, but not without a lot of hardship and sadness along the way. Some parts of this book deal with animal cruelty, and especially sensitive readers should probably steer clear. Aside from that, I highly recommend this gritty novel.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely did not expect this book. Could not put it down. Could not finish it. Cried on the subway. Put it down. Came back to it. Dreamed about it after it was gone. Such compact language and storytelling, the signs that the author was a songwriter were everywhere to me. Took my breath away.
    • 5/5
      What a read. The only time I put it down was when I was crying too hard to continue. I don't know which is more difficult to process - how cruel humans can be or for their moments of kindness. Looking forward to reading more by this author but must read something light in between.
    • 4/5
      Charley is sad but not mean, hungry but not vicious, more likely to be hurt than to hurt. He is an impoverished fifteen year old who has been fed,watered, and trailered around the Western US by his wayward father who has in some odd way loved this boy. Charley keeps his hurts to himself, until he meets big-eyed, Lean on Pete - who has been fed, watered, and trailered around the West. This is someone he can talk to, and who needs his help. And so the story goes.....

      Simple language, but not a simple book, and should not be mistaken for some Disney-esque horse story with a pat, happy ending. Its voice is excellent with only one or two moments that seem out of the genuine. It brings to mind Russell Banks: Rule of The Bone. One hopes for guardian angels and good to come out of this.. an Angela's Ashes success story.



    • 5/5
      I'm giving it 5 stars for personal reasons. The kid in this book is so much like my 15 year old nephew, and his story could easily go this way. hopefully nobody will die, hopefully he won't lose touch with everybody. Charley's upbringing, his perspective on the world, his reactions to stress and crisis, his sense of justice, his personal boundaries... they're all the same. I'm writing that in a card, wrapping up the book, and hoping that six years from now a 21 year old will be able to see himself here.
    • 5/5
      I loved the voice in Lean on Pete. Willy Vlautin did a great job of getting inside a young person's head.
    • 4/5
      What a sweet, sad, lovely book. The narrative voice is everything here, and Vlautin pulls it off all the way through in a low-key, uninflected -- and all the stronger for it -- way. The concepts of "charm" and "teenage boys" don't always go together in my mind, but it works here. Does it cheapen the book to say I could absolutely imagine it as a movie? It shouldn't, though.
    • 5/5
      What a great novel this was – the simply and starkly written account of Charley, a young boy in the neglectful care of his single father. His life starts off tough and gets steadily tougher. The synopsis on the back talks of his involvement with a racehorse, and I was expecting a book about the horseracing scene, but it heads in directions I didn’t expect. Comparisons on the back cover with ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ are spot on. The reader hopes for a happy ending, but all the time fears things will go as badly as they did in ‘Grapes’. It was a harrowing read, all the more so for the bleak emotionless first-person narrative. Many themes emerged: Charley’s mistrust of the ‘system’, the way the crimes he commits from the earliest stages in the book never seem shocking, and the way he never loses his own humanity and generosity (thinking particularly of the doughnuts). Of all the books I took on holiday with me, this was the outstanding read.
    • 5/5
      a minor masterpiece. magnificent simple clear prose. A touching story of a teen and a horse named Pete. If you like reading about low rents a la Carolyn Chute this book is for you. Compelling. Definitely worth a detour.
    • 4/5
      Fifteen year old Charlie Thompson lives with his unreliable single father who is unable to stay any place for long. Charlie has no friends as he moves around so frequently, and when they move to Portland, Oregon, before the start of the year at his new school he often finds himself on his own for days at a times, having to fend for himself. He manages to get a job working with horses at Delta Park, that's where he meets Lean on Pete, a four year old racehorse to whom he becomes particularity attached, and who will become the cause of his sudden departure from Portland and the beginning of an unenviable mission to find a place for himself in the world, somewhere he can call home.Lean on Pete is a touching tale of a young boy who wants nothing more than to be able to finish school, join the school football team, and have a secure family home. Charlie tells his own tale in his own no-nonsense fashion as he tries to find just that. The result is an appealing and heart warming read, filled with a cast of mist-fits, the good natured, and the not to be trusted. While I thoroughly enjoyed Lean on Pete, Willy Vlautin slipped up very much in his portrayal of the WatchTower distributor who Charlie meet on his journey. Someone distributing the WatchTower could be only a JW, and no JW would behave as did the one Charlie encountered. In fact had Charlie meet any JW his problems would have been solved instantly, they have a reputation for going out of their way to help anyone, as I know from personal experience.
    • 5/5
      Do children like Charley Thompson exist today? You better believe they do. It breaks my heart. Managing to live, cope with the challenges of life -- loss of parents, not enough food, little or no supervision/parenting, survival... but with dreams. A definite read. (Of course, the fact that it is set primarily in Oregon doesn't hurt either.)
    • 3/5
      Charley and his single Dad had lived in Portland for only a couple of weeks when 15-year-old Charley suddenly finds himself on his own (as if his life with an absent, uncaring father wasn't bed enough!) He finds work at a nearby racetrack where he cares for an old broken-down horse named Lean on Pete. Charley's boss and Pete's owner is Del, a mean old alcoholic. Del pays him when he feels like it, and yells at him often, but Charley's attachment to Pete makes it worth sticking it out. Until he hears Del say that it's time to send Pete to the glue factory. That's the day Charley decides it's time to light out for the country.Throughout Charley's story one bad thing after another happens to him---and yet, he is always rescued by a kind stranger, or an unusual circumstance. This just didn't ring true--it happened so many times that it began to feel like a "Fortunately--Unfortunately" story. Vlautin's writing is fine--very direct simple language that just tells the story. A quick, pleasant read, but not up there with the best of them.
    • 4/5
      The writing style is incredibly simple, probably the most simple of any book I've read since childhood. It perfectly captures the realistic voice of the narrator, a sporadically-educated 15-year-old boy called Charley. Yet despite or perhaps because of the simplicity, it drew me into the story and was even beautiful in places.As well as the simplicity, Vlautin manages to convey the idea of a teenage narrator perfectly through Charley's obsessions - unimportant things are told in great detail (more or less every meal is catalogued), while important things are glossed over or only half-understood. There's no emotional self-reflection because Charley doesn't have the capacity for it. He mentions his mother, who left when he was young, only occasionally and through his father's views, not his own. When his father dies, there's hardly anything on Charley's reaction - it's not something he can express, so he tells us about the practicalities of surviving and trying to find his aunt in Wyoming instead.Although he cannot reflect on his own life and emotions, Charley finds he can talk, a little bit at least, to the horse he's looking after, called Lean on Pete. Even then, there is no gushing - Vlautin just gives us glimpses of Charley's state of mind through little things he says to the horse as he's petting him, or through dreams or nightmares, before returning to the cataloguing of cheeseburgers.The second half of the book contains more action, as Charley runs away from Portland and goes on the road to look for his aunt. The characters he meets are a mix of kind and violent, and you never know in a particular situation which he will find. The ending was a little bit flat for me, I think mostly because it was the only possible ending at that point, and so it lacked the power of surprise. But that was only a minor criticism - mostly I enjoyed this book, and was interested to learn how a world can be realistically evoked with hardly any physical description, and a story told engagingly with such simple, basic language.
    • 4/5
      Review from Badelynge.Willy Vlautin is the frontman of a band called Richmond Fontaine who also writes novels. Lean on Pete is his third such book. It introduces us to Charley Thompson, a 15 year old boy who lives an unsettled life with his dad. Pretty much left to his own devices and uprooted from his previous life in Spokane, Charley tries to make the best of things. He pines for his old home and friends while doing his best to stock a fridge that is as neglected as himself. His dad isn't a bad sort but doesn't make spending time with his son a high priority. Charley just wants a bit of stability in his life. He doesn't get it. Tragedy and bad luck dog the boy's steps from page to page and an already introverted personality starts to slide. The book charts an emotional and fraught journey as Charley takes responsibility for a no-hope race horse called Pete. It's all told in a spare and economical first person, with the eye and imagination of a 15 year old. Is there no hope for Charley? Can he save Pete? There is only one way to find out.This review is from an uncorrected proof.
    • 3/5
      This is a challenging book topic wise.The story is about a 15 yr old boy who has no path in his life and how he tries to make it through in a lonely and cold world.Its almost a road trip story which begins with the death of the boys father and how he struggles to survive whilst looking for his aunt.If you are looking for a heart wrenching book of the terrible things that can happen to children when they dont have family then this is the read for you. It shows the nature of people, some good, some cruel.For me it was too sad a storyline even with the 'happy' ending.It took me a while to recognise that the language and phrasing used reflects that of the boy in a narrative style. You see the world through his confused eyes - this is cleverly done.Read it if you like a traumatic read, but not for those looking for a lifting tale or a feelgood story. I do at times enjoy a tragic tale but this was to sad for me and my score reflects this. Many thanks to the early reviewers for providing this book to me.
    • 5/5
      Charley is a 15 year old boy who just wants to be an ordinary teenager, one who lives in a home with people who look after him, has enough food to eat and can go to school regularly and get on to the football team. His father is often not there for him, moving around cities and jobs - Charley doesn't even really know why at the beginning of this story they have had to move from Spokane to Portland, Oregon. When not at work his dad is off with a new girlfriend, never saying when he'll be back, perhaps on a drinking bender. Charley keeps running out of money and/or food so he lies his way into casual work with a man at the local racecourse, and makes friends with Lean on Pete, a horse.Charley's story, told in the first person, and voice are compelling and I was upset for him at every unlucky twist and turn of the story. He is not self-pitying although sometimes in the course of the story he is understandably angry and upset, as he has to face up to some very grim realities.As his life go from bad to worse Charley sets out on a road trip wiht the horse, hoping to find somewhere he can settle. I was carried along by the flow of the story and the quality of Willy Vlautin's writing.This is Vlautin's third novel and I'll definitely be seeking out the other two. He's also a singer songwriter with a band, Richmond Fontaine, and I'll be listening to his songs which often share stories and themes with his novels.I'm very grateful for my Early Reviewers copy of this book. Recommended.
    • 4/5
      This book has a fantastic pace to it. The prose is simple and sharp and the story moves along so fast it is quite easy to complete the book in one sitting. It was a reasonably straight story of a teenage boy going through a tough time in his life and finding some solace in teh company of a horse whom he befriends. The narrative does not waste time with much background to the main character's predicaments but cleverly his family history is revealed through the conversations he has with the horse, 'Lean on Pete' as they bond together. THis book reminded me of reading Cormac McCarthy, however in a simplified version if you will. The language may be simple, but the book has a lot of depth to it and I found myself rooting for Charley the boy, all the way through. There are so many characters in this book, too many to mention and all have some sort of bearing on Charley's life. A whirlwind tour of North America and it's various inhabitants makes this book uite revealing about the variety of lifestyles in this continent. I highly recommend this book as a great way to spend an afternoon, a great little story that is easy to lap up in one go. I will certainly be reading more from Willy Vlautin!
    • 4/5
      Charley Thompson is a lonely fifteen year-old boy who lives with his irresponsible single father. The book begins with their arrival in Portland, Oregon, where Charley's father has been offered a new job in a warehouse. Charley is desperate to get a job of his own so that he can earn enough money to put food on the table but the only work he can find is at the Portland Meadows race track with a disreputable horse trainer called Del. Portland Meadows has seen better days and is now home to hundreds of old, tired horses and second-rate jockeys who can’t get work anywhere else. It is here that Charley meets Lean On Pete, the racehorse who becomes his only friend and companion.Willy Vlautin uses very simple prose with no flowery descriptions and no big words. As the story is told in the first person from the point of view of fifteen year-old Charley, this writing style is very effective – he uses the kind of language that Charley would realistically use. Despite his miserable home life, Charley comes across as quite a sensible, likeable person, and I really wanted to see him survive and be happy. I did get a bit bored with constantly being told exactly what he had to eat for every meal (usually cheeseburgers, if you’re interested), though I suppose for a teenage boy fending for himself with no money, it was probably quite important!Almost all of the other characters we meet are drug addicts, alcoholics, or living in poverty, painting a portrait of a side of society we don't often read about. Most of these people show Charley some kindness, but aren't really in a position to be able to help him - Charley and Pete are completely alone in the world and there's a constant atmosphere of sadness and loneliness that hangs over the entire book.Lean on Pete was a big step away from the type of book I usually read, but I didn’t regret the couple of days it took me to read it.
    • 5/5
      The narrator of this simple, but involving story is Charlie, a teenage boy whose home life is chaotic to say the least. He has never known his mother and his father keeps moving him from town to town whilehe looks for work. During the summer, they move to Portland, where they don't know anyone and while Charlie waits for school to start up again, he finds work for race horse owner. Here, he meets a horse by the name of Lean on Pete, to whom he becomes particularly attached. A series of events led to Charlie setting off on his own version of a road trip, where he scambles for survival and meets a colourful collection of people. Despite the title being the name of the horse in the book, the relationship between boy and horse isn't quite as dominant as you might expect - it is more a tale about poverty. Charlie is essentially a likeable narrator, a good kid who finds himself in awful circumstances and I found myself really wanting him to be ok. The style is simple and struck me as an authentic voice for a teenager.