"In The Left and the Lucky, house painter Eddie Wilkens lives next door to two brothers: 15-year-old Curtis, whose increasingly violent behavior terrifies his family, and fragile, undersized 8-year-old Russell, who escapes his brother's cruelty by hanging around Eddie's house. Eddie's had his own difficulties but has learned to tolerate the foibles of those around him, including Houston, his only employee, a perennial screw-up who may or may not choose to come to work in the morning."
""He lost that ability to be hard on people," Vlautin says of Eddie. It's his reluctance to judge and his desire to help people that make Eddie's home a refuge for some of Portland's misfits. Vlautin is the author of seven novels, including the Oregon Book Award-winning Lean on Pete, The Horse, and The Night Always Comes. He's also a songwriter and musician."
"The Left and the Lucky started off as a short story called The Kill Switch in a 2016 anthology. a It's been long time between the publication of the short story and the book; what was the journey there? Vlautin: I wrote The Kill Switch because somebody asked me to write a cars-and-crime short story for an anthology. It's basically a true story. I was painting this really fancy house in Southeast Portland. It was on the historical register and the people were hoarders."
Eddie Wilkens, a house painter, lives next door to Curtis and Russell, where Curtis’s violent behavior terrifies his family and Russell, an undersized 8-year-old, seeks escape from cruelty by spending time at Eddie’s house. Eddie has faced his own difficulties but has learned to tolerate others’ flaws, including Houston, his unreliable employee. Eddie’s home becomes a refuge because he has lost the ability to be hard on people, showing reluctance to judge and a desire to help. The story traces how kindness and patience create stability for vulnerable people in Portland’s troubled community.
#character-driven-fiction #human-kindness #violence-and-family #portland-setting #crime-and-suspense
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