October 2, 2018
Dear Mr. Hemingway,
I just finished the book Cherry by Nico Walker. WOW…I’m definitely all amped up after reading it! This semi-autobiography mixed with splashes of fiction is a heroin and OxyContin fueled ride that is not for the faint of heart. The premise of this book is bleak. The nameless narrator fails out of college, marries his girlfriend, then enlists in the army and serves as an army medic in the Iraq war. He was no stranger to drugs before and even during the war. His addiction to heroin, Oxy, and any other substance he could get his hands on only worsened following his departure from Iraq and the onset of PTSD. His desperation for money and his next fix leads him down a path of bank robberies and self-destruction.
The narrator’s story is not a cheery one. His thoughts and words are salty and crude. His wartime and drug addiction experiences make you feel like you are on an endless roller coaster ride. Getting high on your drug of choice is easy. Cherry’s narrator shows you just how exhausting it is to stay high. The priorities one will abandon and the lengths one will go to to stay high are mind-blowing. The desperation in this book is vivid and real. The narrator speaks from his gut and does not shine a glamourous light on war or addiction.
Read this book, share this book, and talk about this book.
Cherry is a riveting story that you will not be able to put down.
Until next time!
Your Biggest Fan,
Kelly
P.S.
Nico Walker is currently serving an 11 year sentence in jail for robbery. He wrote this book on a typewriter while in prison…………….hence, no book tour or signings!
