PositiveFinancial TimesHis follow-up, A Long Island Story, wants entrance to the \'Great American Novel\' genre. It doesn’t quite make the cut, but is nevertheless an engrossing read ... It is a tale of the disaffected middle class (I was reminded of Richard Yates), and the narratives of what might have been. Most of all, it’s an authentic portrayal of a particularly captivating time and place.
Willy Vlautin
RaveFinancial TimesVlautin’s prose is deceptively simple, his clipped descriptions loaded with meaning. The narrative is as unsparing as Hopper’s fights, but what stays standing is a profound sense of hope, a hope that drives society’s downtrodden and provides the theme for much of Vlautin’s work. With his alt-country band Richmond Fontaine, Vlautin has also produced a cracking soundtrack — sure to be used in the film version that will almost certainly follow.
Daniel Handler
RaveThe Financial TimesIn this unflinching coming-of-age tale, gone is childhood innocence: the kids are all grown and obsessed with sex and porn … There is a profound sincerity in these passages; Handler is evidently concerned by the hyper-sexualised world inhabited by today’s youth. There is humour too, the laugh and the cringe typically hand in hand.
