Allison Johnson is in her early twenties, has had two bad boyfriends, a dependency on alcohol, and an unplanned baby she put up for adoption. She moves to Reno from Las Vegas to get away from the second boyfriend. She lies about her background a lot, passes out drunk more than she should, but holds down two jobs – as a waitress and setting up appointments for vacuum demonstrations. She has visions of Paul Newman to pick her up at low points.

Allison gets overwhelmed with anxiety and regret about giving her baby away. She meets a gentle guy named Dan who may be more traumatized than her – which is why she sticks with him – he can’t control her. She clings to Dan and hopes for the best. And to not be found by her boyfriend – or anyone else really. ( )

Low key novel that I wasn't so sure about at first, as it portrayed a self-destructive waitress in Las Vegas with an abusive boyfriend--and an imaginary Paul Newman who gives her advice and encourages her. As it goes on, it grows on you, and the various characters are well drawn. The scenes in and around Las Vegas and Reno are convincing and give you a great idea of the hopelessness of many in such places--but there are always those who persevere, such as the woman setting up appointments for vacuum cleaner demonstrations. In the end I was won over.

The audiobook was well read. At first, the narrator sounded a bit amateurish, but it is all in keeping with the character of the girl, and the narration, like the book itself, gets better as it goes along.

Recommended. ( )

bleak
melancholic
crisp
strong
dark
potent
wrenching ( )

Allison Johnson (usually referred to here as ‘the girl’) as desperately in need of escape from her current life. Pregnant, stuck in an abusive relationship with boyfriend Jimmy and heavily dependent on alcohol, she decides to move away from Las Vegas to Reno to make a fresh start. As is always the way though, she carries her demons with her.

This book charts Allison’s life in Reno, from a detached, third-person point of view. It follows her as she decides what to do with her baby, finds work as a waitress, strikes up tentative friendships, and unfortunately, continues to drink heavily and end up in dangerous situations with unpleasant men. In her darkest hours, she imagines conversations with her favourite film star Paul Newman, and these conversations help her through.

As I always do when I finish any book, I looked for reviews of this online, and the vast majority I read were hugely positive. I really wanted to like this book – and there are lots of positives about it. The short abrupt chapters and eloquent writing meant that I flew through chunks of it really quickly and I thought it captured the late night smoky atmosphere of Reno pretty well (although I’ve never actually been there, ha!)….but the aforementioned detachment, and the very spare style of writing meant that I never engaged with any of the characters, because I never felt that they were fully fleshed out. And it is just so depressing and exhausting to read!! Just when I thought things were going to turn around for Allison, she screws it up again.

Although it’s a quick read, it doesn’t exactly flow like a novel, and often felt more like a series of vignettes from Allison’s life with a connecting theme running through them. I love Paul Newman, but I also didn’t see the point of her imaginary conversations with him.

So all in all, perhaps this was not the book for me. I can see why some people enjoyed it, but by the end of it, my main feeling was relief that it was finished. ( )

I have previously declared my interest in reading novels by musicians and this one is by the lead singer and writer for one of my favourite bands, Richmond Fontaine, so it has a head start. I actually brought this book at a gig!
The rating is really four stars for the book and one extra for the "soundtrack" CD bound into the back cover.
I think that this is a step up from his first book. It tells the story over a year or so of Allison, a loser with a bad taste in boyfriends, but she knows this, so moves from Las Vegas to Reno to escape her past. It is very sympathetically told in a sad tone with hints of optimism. I particularly enoyed her "conversations" with Paul Newman!
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