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community/classifi ed ads
march2
2017
Working Class Hero
discussion at the Vernonia Library in
November. He also discussed his writing
infl uences and style, the publishing
business, his music career, horse racing
and gambling, and his experiences as
part of the working class. His storytelling
was humorous, forthright, and thought
provoking, and he answered numerous
questions from a captivated audience of
about 40 people.
His debut novel, The Motel Life,
was made into a gritty motion picture
starring Emile Hirsch, Stephen Dorff,
Dakota Fanning and Chris Kristoffer-
son, and was released in 2013. The book
and fi lm tell the story about two broth-
ers living in a residential motel outside
Reno, “...who just can’t quite be men,”
says Vlautin. “I’ve always been inter-
ested in people who need help. Some
people, you can give them everything,
and they’ll still make a mess of things.
Other people have nothing and they be-
come doctors. Those are the exceptions.
Most people, if you give them a little bit
of help they’ll be all right. This is a story
about two brothers who need a little help
but they can’t fi gure out how to get it.”
“It’s about not having the confi -
dence to try,” continued Vlautin. “A lot
of lower income, working class people
don’t have a lot of confi dence, at least
I never did. Life without confi dence is
rough, when you don’t think you deserve
it... don’t deserve a better job, or don’t
deserve to stand up for yourself.”
Lean on Pete has also been
made into a movie and is scheduled to
be released sometime in 2017. It was
fi lmed at Portland Meadows and in
North Portland and eastern Oregon, and
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continued from front page
features Steve Buscemi, Chloe Sevigny,
and Steve Zahn.
His second novel, Northline,
was also critically acclaimed and includ-
ed an instrumental CD soundtrack, writ-
ten and recorded by Vlautin.
Lean on Pete was Vlautin’s
third novel, and fol-
lows the story of a
lonely teenage boy,
Charlie Thompson,
who moves to Port-
land and becomes
enamored with a race
horse, Lean on Pete,
at Portland Meadows
race track where he
fi nds work. Char-
lie eventually steals
Pete when his owner
threatens to get rid
of the horse, and the
two take off across
the west, looking for
Charlie’s long lost
aunt.
Lean on Pete won two Oregon
Book Awards: the Ken Kesey Award for
Fiction and the People’s Choice Award.
His fourth novel, The Free, was also an
Oregon Book Award choice, winning the
Ken Kesey Award.
“Lean on Pete was the name of
a racehorse at Portland Meadows, and
strangely, he was one of the horses I al-
ways won on,” said Vlautin. “When I
was trying to fi gure out the name of the
book, I decided if Lean on Pete would
win this one race, I would name the book
after him. And he actually came in at
like 7-1 and I hit a pretty good chunk of
change on it. And when they took the
win picture, I kind of moved in and was
in the background and since no one goes
to Portland Meadows, I got in the pic-
ture. I have that picture by my bed. Lean
on Pete ended up being sold to a fair cir-
cuit up in Canada and where he is now,
who knows.”
All set in the
western
United
States, Vlautin’s nov-
els and his songwrit-
ing tend to explore
themes grounded in
the dark underbelly
of America and the
plight of the less for-
tunate, the down and
out, and those strug-
gling on the fringes.
His characters battle
alcohol abuse, drug
addiction,
gam-
bling, poverty, rac-
ism, dead end jobs,
failed relationships,
mental health issues, domestic violence,
and homelessness. While his stories of-
ten feature dislikable characters willing
to do anything to get by, other personas
he creates are real working class heroes
who exhibit moral fi ber, strength, and re-
solve.
His songwriting is often sparse
and sometimes dreamlike and evokes
visions of run down gas stations, small
town bars, abandoned highways, and
dirty roadside diners, or grungy city
streets and back alleyways, and the
seedy degenerates you might meet in
those places.
For Vlautin, one of those places
was the Portland Meadows horse track,
which was in the middle of a steep,
steady, slow decline when Vlautin was
hanging around. He says he spent years
surrounded by the gamblers who fre-
quented the track, exposing himself to
that edgy lifestyle.
“When I fi rst moved to Portland,
I lived in Clackamas, and I hated it,” ex-
plains Vlautin. “But I stuck it out and I
just went to every place that reminded
me of Reno and the one that hit the most
for me was the horse track because I
always liked betting horses. So for ten
years I bet horses, maybe three days a
week.”
Vlautin used the race track as an
offi ce away from home and wrote sev-
eral novels that were never published
while hanging out there. While Portland
Meadows was struggling to survive and
draw crowds, the place was mostly emp-
ty and he would have space to relax and
work. “There’s huge tables, there was a
diner, there was horses to bet on to keep
you awake,” says Vlautin. “It had every-
thing you could want as a writer.”
Eventually Vlautin’s basic good
nature and big heart caught up with him.
“I’m a fool and a romantic and I fall
in love with things. And I fell in love
with horses. And the worst thing a gam-
bler on horses can do is think about the
horse.”
Vlautin says an accident at the
track, when a horse he and several other
handicappers were betting on broke its
leg and had to be put down, was what
fi nally awakened him to the reality of
of Oregon electronic E-recruit system.
If you do not have access to the internet
you can visit your local Employment Of-
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held in late April or early May and the
work start date will be June 1, 2017.
Contact: Betsy Miller, Park Specialist,
at L.L. Stub Stewart State Park (503)
324-0606 x221 or visit www.oregon-
stateparks.org today. OPRD is an equal
opportunity, affi rmative action employer
committed to a diverse work place.
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click on ‘Careers.’ For any questions
call (503) 366- 6976.
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taker) to join our training program as
limited training slots become available.
Production workers wanted for entry
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current driver’s license. Apply in person
at 69480 Banzer Rd., Mist, OR 97016
Monday - Friday 7 AM - 3 PM
The Upper Nehalem Watershed
Council seeks Seasonal Reforesta-
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driver’s license, car insurance, reliable
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Cedar Ridge is currently seeking ap-
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continued on page 13
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