Born and raised in Reno, Nevada, Vlautin started playing guitar and writing songs as a teenager and quickly became immersed in music. It was a Paul Kelly song, based on Raymond Carver’s Too Much Water So Close to Home that inspired him to start writing stories. Vlautin has published six novels: The Motel Life (2006), Northline (2008), Lean On Pete (2010), The Free (2014), Don’t Skip Out On Me (2018) and The Night Always Comes (2021).
