Lean on Pete movie tie-in

A Novel

By: Willy Vlautin

Narrated by: Willy Vlautin

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

Great Book with a Heart Wrenching Story

This is the fourth or fifth Vlautin novel I have read. He is a tremendous writer; however, he does not write uplifting books. If you’re looking for “feel good” or happy endings, skip this or actually, anything he writes. It’s all EXTREME reality. The kind that doesn’t always bring a smile to your face.

This is a story about Charlie Thompson, a fifteen-year-old boy who lives alone with his father in Oregon. Charlie has no supervision from a wandering father and very little food to eat. He wants to enroll in high school in the fall and play football. While his father is working and otherwise inattentive, Charlie gets a job at a race track, helping a low level horse trainer. He takes an interest in a struggling horse, “Lean on Pete.” Soon thereafter, an angry husband kills Charlie’s father, who has been seeing the man’s wife. This leaves Charlie with absolutely no resources or family support.

As Pete’s racing ability subsides, Charlie realizes that the trainer will have him killed, so Charlie steals Pete as well as the trainer’s very unreliable truck and trailer and the two head out in the night for Wyoming, where Charlie believes he has an aunt. The truck soon breaks down and Charlie leads Pete on foot through the desert. He is homeless and hopeless. Pete becomes spooked by mountain bikers and runs away and is struck and killed by an automobile, leaving Charlie totally alone. The final fourth of the book, which frankly is excruciatingly painful is Charlie living the homeless life, surviving on petty theft from food stores to merely eat. It’s the story of a homeless boy, trying to survive. He eventually finds his aunt, who he hasn’t seen in years, but who agrees to love him and shelter him with the modest resources she has.

The author is VERY good. I couldn’t put the book down, but frankly feel it could have been about a fourth shorter. You just wonder how much this young boy can endure. It’s a well written, but tough book to read. You just want somebody to give this teen a break and there’s very little of that. I’m not sure if I can take another Willy Vlautin novel. They make my heart hurt.

good listen

thoughtful plot, well-built, multi-dimensional characters, and excellent narration make this an exceptional listen. I highly recommend it.

Great Author and Story

I have really enjoyed every book written and performed by this author. They have a relatable feel. ~J

Good but....

This was a tough story in ways. The tragedies that Charlie faces over and over made me wonder how the book would end. I did like the ending.
I really felt for Charlie and found myself thinking about him when I wasn't listening to the book. That's always a sign of a good book.

My favorite

This was my 3rd Willy Vlautin book in a row, and so far my favorite
You have a lot of hope for Charlie, even though his life is tough and bad things happen to him, he seems like he is going to be ok in the end.
He is the least messed up character in the books I have listened to so far
Willy Vlautin has a gift for introducing you to the seedier elements of life, and making you really feel for the characters. His narrations are perfect.