Awful Awful (1st Blog for Northline)

On Tuesday, November 6, I went on a walk downtown at about 5:00 in the afternoon.  Anita and Terrayna joined me on my adventure to the Awful Awful, which is located in The Little Nugget.  We left the Nevada Living and Learning Community and began our trek towards the Awful Awful.  We discussed taking the Sierra Spirit bus, but decided against it, because in the novel, Northline Allison spent most of the book walking from place to place, and not always utilizing public entertainment.

Going inside the Awful Awful

Anita and Terrayna had never been to the Awful Awful at the Nugget, so I was very excited to be the first person to take them to this restaurant.  I have lived in Reno for over seven years, so I, on the other hand, have had many opportunities to go to Awful Awful and experience the deliciously unhealthy burger and fries.  We ordered our meal, and we decided to split two burgers between the three of us.  Both Terrayna and Anita were unsure of why I insisted that we did not order a burger for each of us, but once we got the food, they realized that we still would not be able to finish all of the food while splitting it amongst us.

We had the cook cut the burger in thirds

In Northline, by Willy Vlautin, Allison Johnson is the main character, and she moved to Reno to escape from her abusive boyfriend, Jimmie, who lived in Las Vegas.  Allison ends up eating at the Awful Awful after she takes a second job working as a vacuum telemarketer.  It was the last day of Allison’s first week working at the vacuum company, and Penny, her coworker/boss took Allison out for dinner at the Awful Awful.  While they were there, the book goes into detail about how the casino part of The Little Nugget was half full of old men on the slot machines, and when I was at the Awful Awful, I realized that the majority of the people who were using the slot machines did happen to be older men.  As Anita, Terrayna, and I ate our food, we sat in the back of the casino in the little restaurant, similar to where Penny and Allison sat while they ate.

Me with our food!

Allison and Penny discuss marriage and fitness while at the Awful Awful, and this is somewhat ironic, because it is odd to talk about getting in shape while eating a burger from the Awful Awful.  In specific, Penny tells Allison about how Penny gained over 170 pounds after getting married, and she said she did this by eating at the Awful Awful almost two times a week.  Penny tells Allison about how her husband did not appreciate how much weight Penny gained, and how it was the main reason for the breakup.  This was an important piece of information to the story, because it shows that both Penny and Allison do not have an easy life when it comes to men, and this may be the reason that they connect so well and become instant friends.  Also, Penny talks about how she has just accepted herself the way she is, and how she hated herself for many years, and this applies to Allison, because Allison has major self-esteem problems, so Penny can relate to those problems.

It was interesting to retrace the steps of a character in a book, and it is eerie how much Reno is the same as it was in the time period that this book was based on, but also how much Reno has changed.  Many of the places that Allison went to on her journeys are not even still existent in Reno, and this shows that there have been some major changes occur in the culture and history of Reno since this book has been written. 

Our walk back to the dorms

Anita, Terrayna and I finished our burgers, but not the fries, and we started our journey back up Virginia street and into our dorms.