What if you were an orphan at 15 and living with your 17-year-old brother in a run-down motel in old downtown Reno; you have few role models, little education, occasional minimum wage jobs; you drink too much, eat lousy food; and your brother kills a kid on a bicycle while driving drunk and comes to you for help?
“Why didn’t you call the police or an ambulance?” you ask.
So begins Willy Vlautin’s noir novel “The Motel Life,” this year’s Capital City Reads selected title, written by author and musician Willy Vlautin. Nevada scholar Patricia Cooper-Smith will facilitate a book discussion at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, in the Carson City Library Digitorium.
Capital City Reads is Carson City Library’s annual city-wide book club. This event runs in conjunction with National Library Week, April 12-18, and culminates with the author’s visit next week.
Willy Vlautin was born and raised in Reno and has published four novels. According to his website, www.willyvlautin.com, he started playing guitar and writing songs as a teenager and quickly became immersed in music. It was a Paul Kelly song, based on Raymond Carver’s “Too Much Water So Close to Home” that inspired him to start writing stories. Vlautin has published four novels: “The Motel Life” in 2007; “Northline” in 2008; “Lean on Pete” in 2010; and “The Free” in 2014. He currently resides in Scappoose, Ore.
“The Motel Life” was made into a motion picture in 2012. The Motion Picture Rating for this film is R. The film will be shown following the book discussion on April 23.
Willy Vlautin will highlight Capital City Reads with a personal appearance at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 24, in the library’s Digitorium, where Vlautin will present a reading of his work as well as signed purchased copies of his books. To reserve a seat for either event, call 775 887-2244, ext. 1019.
In addition to the Capital City Read’s events, other programs have been scheduled to highlight National Library Week, which the American Library Association has observed since 1958. This year’s theme is “Unlimited Possibilities @ Your Library.”
Additional events include:
Shirley Oxoby will present a reading from her book titled “Silent Warrior: A Journey of Hope” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Digitorium.
Dr. Gino J. Giudice will talk about depression in “Depression: The Enemy of Happiness” at 6:30 p.m. April 22 in the Digitorium.
Events are free and open to the public; National Library Week at the Carson City Library is sponsored by the Friends of the Carson City Library.
