
The Motel Life
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Willy Vlautin
-
By:
-
Willy Vlautin
About this listen
The Motel Life is a hugely moving story from Willy Vlautin, best-selling author of Lean on Pete.
Opening like an early Tom Waits barstool-tale, The Motel Life tells the story of two brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee. Taking to the road in an attempt to escape the hit-and-run accident caused by Jerry Lee, the novel goes back to tell the story of their unhappy lives.
With intense feeling and compassion, Vlautin explores the frustrations and failed dreams of the two brothers - one a natural storyteller, the other an artist - and renders perfectly the sense of entrapment they feel. Will the kid's death shock them out of their torpor or send them ever deeper into trouble? Can Annie James, a girl from their past, offer them any sort of redemption, however slim?
©2020 Willy Vlautin (P)2020 Bolinda Publishing Pty LtdListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Night Always Comes
- A Novel
- By: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barely 30, Lynette is exhausted. Saddled with bad credit and juggling multiple jobs, some illegally, she’s been diligently working to buy the house she lives in with her mother and developmentally disabled brother Kenny. Portland’s housing prices have nearly quadrupled in 15 years, and the owner is giving them a good deal. Lynette knows it’s their last best chance to own their own home - and obtain the security they’ve never had. While she has enough for the down payment, she needs her mother to cover the rest of the asking price.
-
-
Wow, a knockout!
- By Alma on 04-24-21
By: Willy Vlautin
-
Northline
- By: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Amy Boone
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fleeing Las Vegas and her abusive boyfriend, Allison Johnson moves to Reno, intent on making a new life for herself. Haunted by the mistakes of her past, and lacking any self-belief, her only comfort seems to come from the imaginary conversations she has with Paul Newman, and the characters he played. But as life crawls on and she finds work, small acts of kindness start to reveal themselves to her, and slowly the chance of a new life begins to emerge.
-
-
Realness
- By Maria Herrera on 12-21-23
By: Willy Vlautin
-
The Free
- A Novel (P.S.)
- By: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Willy Vlautin
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his heartbreaking yet hopeful fourth novel, award-winning author Willy Vlautin demonstrates his extraordinary talent for illuminating the disquiet of modern American life, captured in the experiences of three memorable characters looking for meaning in distressing times. Severely wounded in the Iraq war, Leroy Kervin has lived in a group home for eight years. Frustrated by the simplest daily routines, he finds his existence has become unbearable.
-
-
Free Fallin', Brilliantly
- By W Perry Hall on 03-11-14
By: Willy Vlautin
-
Lean on Pete
- A Novel
- By: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Willy Vlautin
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Willy Vlautin's award-winning novel Lean on Pete, a moving and compassionate story about a 15-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. 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.
-
-
Great story
- By Christie Bravo on 06-18-18
By: Willy Vlautin
-
Don't Skip Out on Me
- A Novel
- By: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Willy Vlautin
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Horace Hopper is a half-Paiute, half-Irish ranch hand who wants to be somebody. He's spent most of his life on the ranch of his kindly guardians, Mr. and Mrs. Reese, herding sheep alone in the mountains. But while the Reeses treat him like a son, Horace can't shake the shame he feels from being abandoned by his parents. He decides to leave the only loving home he's known to prove his worth by training to become a boxer.
-
-
Best book I have ever heard!
- By Mark on 03-03-18
By: Willy Vlautin
-
All the Pretty Horses
- The Border Trilogy, Book One
- By: Cormac McCarthy
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteen-year-old John Grady Cole's grandfather has just died, his parents have permanently separated, and the family ranch, upon which he had placed so many boyish hopes, has been sold. Rootless and increasingly restive, Cole leaves Texas, accompanied by his friend Lacey Rawlins, and begins a journey across the vaquero frontier into the badlands of northern Mexico.
-
-
Beautiful writing
- By LMS on 05-21-15
By: Cormac McCarthy
-
The Night Always Comes
- A Novel
- By: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barely 30, Lynette is exhausted. Saddled with bad credit and juggling multiple jobs, some illegally, she’s been diligently working to buy the house she lives in with her mother and developmentally disabled brother Kenny. Portland’s housing prices have nearly quadrupled in 15 years, and the owner is giving them a good deal. Lynette knows it’s their last best chance to own their own home - and obtain the security they’ve never had. While she has enough for the down payment, she needs her mother to cover the rest of the asking price.
-
-
Wow, a knockout!
- By Alma on 04-24-21
By: Willy Vlautin
-
Northline
- By: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Amy Boone
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fleeing Las Vegas and her abusive boyfriend, Allison Johnson moves to Reno, intent on making a new life for herself. Haunted by the mistakes of her past, and lacking any self-belief, her only comfort seems to come from the imaginary conversations she has with Paul Newman, and the characters he played. But as life crawls on and she finds work, small acts of kindness start to reveal themselves to her, and slowly the chance of a new life begins to emerge.
-
-
Realness
- By Maria Herrera on 12-21-23
By: Willy Vlautin
-
The Free
- A Novel (P.S.)
- By: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Willy Vlautin
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his heartbreaking yet hopeful fourth novel, award-winning author Willy Vlautin demonstrates his extraordinary talent for illuminating the disquiet of modern American life, captured in the experiences of three memorable characters looking for meaning in distressing times. Severely wounded in the Iraq war, Leroy Kervin has lived in a group home for eight years. Frustrated by the simplest daily routines, he finds his existence has become unbearable.
-
-
Free Fallin', Brilliantly
- By W Perry Hall on 03-11-14
By: Willy Vlautin
-
Lean on Pete
- A Novel
- By: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Willy Vlautin
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Willy Vlautin's award-winning novel Lean on Pete, a moving and compassionate story about a 15-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. 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.
-
-
Great story
- By Christie Bravo on 06-18-18
By: Willy Vlautin
-
Don't Skip Out on Me
- A Novel
- By: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Willy Vlautin
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Horace Hopper is a half-Paiute, half-Irish ranch hand who wants to be somebody. He's spent most of his life on the ranch of his kindly guardians, Mr. and Mrs. Reese, herding sheep alone in the mountains. But while the Reeses treat him like a son, Horace can't shake the shame he feels from being abandoned by his parents. He decides to leave the only loving home he's known to prove his worth by training to become a boxer.
-
-
Best book I have ever heard!
- By Mark on 03-03-18
By: Willy Vlautin
-
All the Pretty Horses
- The Border Trilogy, Book One
- By: Cormac McCarthy
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteen-year-old John Grady Cole's grandfather has just died, his parents have permanently separated, and the family ranch, upon which he had placed so many boyish hopes, has been sold. Rootless and increasingly restive, Cole leaves Texas, accompanied by his friend Lacey Rawlins, and begins a journey across the vaquero frontier into the badlands of northern Mexico.
-
-
Beautiful writing
- By LMS on 05-21-15
By: Cormac McCarthy
-
Lawn Boy
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Mike Muñoz, a young Chicano living in Washington State, life has been a whole lot of waiting for something to happen. Not too many years out of high school and still doing menial work - and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew - he knows that he's got to be the one to shake things up if he's ever going to change his life. But how?
-
-
CATEGORY AND SUMMARY MISLEADING
- By Gretchen on 05-01-18
By: Jonathan Evison
-
Demon Copperhead
- A Novel
- By: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.
-
-
Wow! It’s a Masterpiece
- By Billy on 10-25-22
-
Billy Summers
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Paul Sparks
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?
-
-
Absolutely amazing
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 08-03-21
By: Stephen King
-
Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe
- By: Thomas Ligotti, Jeff VanderMeer - foreword
- Narrated by: Jon Padgett, Linda Jones
- Length: 21 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Ligotti’s debut collection, Songs of a Dead Dreamer, and his second, Grimscribe, permanently inscribed a new name in the pantheon of horror fiction. Influenced by the strange terrors of Lovecraft and Poe and by the brutal absurdity of Kafka, Ligotti eschews cheap, gory thrills for his own brand of horror, which shocks at the deepest, existential, levels.
-
-
Incredible!
- By Erik McHatton on 02-27-23
By: Thomas Ligotti, and others
-
Universal Harvester
- A Novel
- By: John Darnielle
- Narrated by: John Darnielle
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jeremy works at the Video Hut in Nevada, Iowa. It's a small town in the center of the state - the first a in Nevada pronounced ay. This is the late 1990s, and even if the Hollywood Video in Ames poses an existential threat to Video Hut, there are still regular customers, a rush in the late afternoon. It's good enough for Jeremy: It's a job, quiet and predictable, and it gets him out of the house, where he lives with his dad and where they both try to avoid missing Mom, who died six years ago in a car wreck.
-
-
Underwhelming
- By laurie on 02-10-17
By: John Darnielle
-
Hollywood Park
- A Memoir
- By: Mikel Jollett
- Narrated by: Mikel Jollett
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hollywood Park is a remarkable memoir of a tumultuous life. Mikel Jollett was born into one of the country’s most infamous cults and subjected to a childhood filled with poverty, addiction, and emotional abuse. Yet, ultimately, his is a story of fierce love and family loyalty told in a raw, poetic voice that signals the emergence of a uniquely gifted writer.
-
-
An honest and heartbreakingly beautiful memoir
- By Jeannete Coronel on 05-28-20
By: Mikel Jollett
-
A Childhood
- The Biography of a Place
- By: Harry Crews, Tobias Wolff - foreword
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harry Crews grew up as the son of a sharecropper in Georgia at a time when “the rest of the country was just beginning to feel the real hurt of the Great Depression but it had been living in Bacon County for years.” Yet what he conveys in this moving, brutal autobiography of his first six years of life is an elegiac sense of community and roots from a rural South that had rarely been represented in this way.
-
-
Story rings true
- By Greg B on 07-26-22
By: Harry Crews, and others
-
Disturbing the Peace
- By: Richard Yates
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To all appearances, John Wilder has all the trappings of success, circa 1960: a promising career in advertising, a loving family, a beautiful apartment, even a country home. John's evenings are spent with associates at quiet Manhattan lounges and his weekends with friends at glittering cocktail parties. But something deep within this seemingly perfect life has long since gone wrong.
-
-
7 hours and 27 minutes pure blisd
- By Mia on 01-05-13
By: Richard Yates
-
The Pale-Faced Lie
- A True Story
- By: David Crow
- Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up on the Navajo Indian Reservation, David Crow and his siblings idolized their dad. Tall, strong, smart, and brave, the self-taught Cherokee regaled his family with stories of his World War II feats. But as time passed, David discovered the other side of Thurston Crow, the ex-con with his own code of ethics that justified cruelty, violence, lies - even murder. A shrewd con artist with a genius IQ, Thurston intimidated David with beatings to coerce him into doing his criminal bidding. David's mom, too mentally ill to care for her children, couldn't protect him.
-
-
Best new release I’ve read!
- By A. Deal on 02-17-20
By: David Crow
-
We Begin at the End
- By: Chris Whitaker
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Duchess Day Radley is a 13-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Rules are for other people. She is the fierce protector of her five-year-old brother, Robin, and the parent to her mother, Star, a single mom incapable of taking care of herself, let alone her two kids. Walk has never left the coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. And he's in overdrive protecting Duchess and her brother.
-
-
Horrible narrator in this audible book
- By M. patton on 03-03-21
By: Chris Whitaker
-
Broken
- By: Don Winslow
- Narrated by: Ray Porter, Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In six intense short novels connected by the themes of crime, corruption, vengeance, justice, loss, betrayal, guilt, and redemption, Broken is number-one international best seller Don Winslow at his nerve-shattering, heart-stopping, heartbreaking best. In Broken, he creates a world of high-level thieves and low-life crooks, obsessed cops struggling with life on and off the job, private detectives, dope dealers, bounty hunters, and fugitives, the lost souls driving without headlights through the dark night on the American criminal highway.
-
-
Amazing Stories from a Master Storyteller
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 04-08-20
By: Don Winslow
-
Winter Counts
- A Novel
- By: David Heska Wanbli Weiden
- Narrated by: Darrell Dennis
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment, the kind that’s hard to forget. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and finds Virgil’s own nephew, his vigilantism suddenly becomes personal. He enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and sets out to learn where the drugs are coming from, and how to make them stop.
-
-
Very disappointed
- By Abigail M on 09-20-20
Critic reviews
"If there's any justice, anywhere, The Motel Life will be widely read and widely admired." (Booklist)