Lean On Pete by Willy Vlautin, 2010
Pretty much every single person I'd seen say anything about this book likened it to a modern day
Steinbeck, and while I don't have enough experience to back that up myself, I figured it's a good thing to say.
This is a simple and incredibly genuine story of a youth on his own. It obviously struck some heavy cords with me and I could relate to much of the journey and the emotions therein. The young narrator finds himself alone in a strange and intimidating world, traveling with only vague aim and he needs all the help he can get. The road is littered with just as much hardship as it is with cigarette butts, and sometimes glazed in torture and I know this all too well. He's traveling pretty heavy with an entire horse, too.
The ending was nice but not so satisfying in a literary way, but that doesn't really matter with this book. It's the experiences beforehand that poke at your feelings and empathy is on high for this boy that never really got to be a normal boy.
4/5