'One of America's great writers.' RODDY DOYLE'Vlautin's characters are a vast chorus of broken hearts, reaching for grace.' COLIN WALSH'No one writes with such empathy and insight as Willy Vlautin.' BEN MYERS'Vlautin writes about people overlooked by society and overlooked by literature.' ANN PATCHETTThe moving, large-hearted story of a young boy in danger of slipping through society's cracks and the unlikely father figure who takes him under his wing. 'And try to breathe, man. You gotta remember to breathe. You won't get so panicky if you can remember that.'Eddie Wilkens runs his own house-painting business. Forty-something and living alone, he just wants to take life one day at a time. When his eight-year-old neighbour, Russell, starts hanging around, Eddie sees that this small kid - with his single mother working nights and his violent older brother - is struggling to keep his head above water, and so tries to help. Equal parts heart wrenching and uplifting, The Left and the Lucky is a portrait of this unusual friendship - the ways hurt shatters people and the compassionate acts that can, maybe, hold some of those pieces together.