An audio book.
Frank is called upon by his drunk brother Jerry Lee who has killed a boy while driving. The two of the escape to the road, dump the car and body. Their father had been to jail after gambling debts made him steal. Their mother died while they were in their mid-teens.
It's snowing. They stay in a motel. Jerry Lee disappears. 2 days later Frank discovers that he's tried to kill himself with a gun.
Frank tells stories - with polar bears, sailors wearing bikini tops, tropical islands, world war 2 fighter pilots, featuring characters known to the listeners. Jerry Lee critiques them, pointing out that a woman often dies at the end. A gambler they know owes money. They help him make a final bet. He wins and they share the winnings. They get a car. When police start questioning Jerry Lee, Frank gets him out of the hospital. Frank gets in touch with his old flame, his only love, whose mother, a whore, forced her into the same business. Jerry Lee's ill so Frank takes him back to hospital. He dies in a week.
Poetic material told in a pithy, non-poetic way? Maybe.
Other reviews
- John Wray (Slighter than Carver, less puerile than Bukowski, Vlautin nevertheless manages to lay claim to the same bleary-eyed territory, and surprisingly — perhaps even unintentionally — to make it new.)
- Kirkus review
- Christopher Adam
- goodreads
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