SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM A24

An unforgettable story of a friendship and of hope in dark times.

'Catch-your-breath good.' EILEEN BATTERSY, IRISH TIMES
'Powerful, heartbreaking stuff.' MARK BILLINGHAM
'A cult classic.' METRO
'This guy is a real discovery.' COLM TOIBIN

Fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson wants a home; food on the table; a high school he can attend for more than part of a year; and some structure to his life. But as the son of a single father working at warehouses across the Pacific Northwest, he''s been pretty much on his own for some time.

Lean on Pete opens as he and his father arrive in Portland, Oregon and Charley takes a stables job, illegally, at the local race track. Once part of a vibrant racing network, Portland Meadows is now seemingly the last haven for washed up jockeys and knackered horses, but it''s there that Charley meets Pete, an old horse who becomes his companion as he''s forced to try to make his own way in the world.

Willy Vlautin is the author of five novels, including The Motel Life; Lean on Pete, which was shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and made into an acclaimed film by Andrew Haigh; and Don't Skip Out on Me, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Vlautin lives outside of Portland, Oregon, and is the founding member of the bands Richmond Fontaine and The Delines.