Cherry

　　一本破天荒的類自傳小說，講述愛情的維繫與戰爭、毒品與犯罪的多重關係。作者在獄中重新思索過去種種，回憶咀嚼人生百味，書中不具名的主角似乎就是作者（Nico Walker）的投影。一段年少的愛情捆住情竇初開的大學生，不可自拔的相戀，導致人生的大轉向。當女方愛蜜麗（Emile）選擇回到家鄉，遠距離的愛情壓垮主角；最終他選擇輟學加入軍隊，開始另一種生活。

 

　　入伍擔任醫護兵、從軍出任超過兩百五十場任務。在伊拉克戰爭期間，各種光怪陸離的事情顛覆常人的價值觀：為求生存濫用止痛藥，同袍間各種及時行樂的荒誕……退伍以後，更被診斷患有重創性後遺症，難以融入市民生活，又沉迷於海洛因不可自拔。

 

　　隨著癮頭日趨嚴重，伴隨而來的是無止盡的金錢需求。一再用錢換取毒品，週而復始，無限循環，直到用盡的時刻，只能透過搶銀行的犯罪行為來滿足龐大的毒品需求。

 

　　本書透過一個無名的主角傳達作者的經歷，裡頭有男人的溫柔與剛毅，卻也狠狠地考驗人性。身處底層無力反抗的人生，用幽默的口吻幾筆帶過，成功表現出生動卻毫無希望的底層陰影。作者的第一本小說便如此煽動人心，看似平凡的故事內容，卻隱藏巨大的張力。一如凡斯的《絕望者之歌》，看人們能否有機會再次翻轉人生？（文 / 博客來編譯）

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

A PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FINALIST

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: THE NEW YORKER-ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY - VULTURE - VOGUE -LIT HUB

Jesus' Son meets Reservoir Dogs in a breakneck-paced debut novel about love, war, bank robberies, and heroin.

"Nico Walker's Cherry might be the first great novel of the opioid epidemic." --Vulture

"A miracle of literary serendipity. . . . Walker's] language, relentlessly profane but never angry, simmers at the level of morose disappointment, something like Holden Caulfield Goes to War." --The Washington Post

It's 2003, and as a college freshman in Cleveland, our narrator is adrift until he meets Emily. The two of them experience an instant, life-changing connection. But when he almost loses her, he chooses to make an indelible statement: he joins the Army.

The outcome will not be good for either of them.

As a medic in Iraq, he is unprepared for the realties that await him. He and his fellow soldiers huff computer duster, abuse painkillers, and watch porn. Many of them die. When he comes home, his PTSD is profound. As the opioid crisis sweeps through the Midwest, it drags both him and Emily along with it. As their addictions worsen, and with their money drying up, he stumbles onto what seems like the only possible solution--robbing banks.

Written by a singularly talented, wildly imaginative debut novelist, Cherry is a bracingly funny and unexpectedly tender work of fiction straight from the dark heart of America.

Nico Walker is originally from Cleveland. Cherry is his debut novel.