Cherry - Nico Walker

Cherry is advertised as a novel. It’s not a novel.  The inside cover tells you it’s a work of fiction. It’s not. If it was, it would be called “well researched” “highly imaginative” and “ripped from the headlines”. It’s just an incredible memoir. From the long and bizarre acknowledgment section you may infer that this book is heavily edited. I doubt that too. This raw and occasionally, morbidly, and even sickeningly humorous book tells the story of an Iraq vet come opioid addict come bank robber come prisoner. Through each of these roles Walker gives a uncomfortably casual look into caustic masculinity.