In the Cherry Tree

by Dan Pope

With a wholly original voice, this stunning debut novel captures the overwhelming transformation from childhood to adolescenceAn ordinary suburban Connecticut summer in the seventies is the stage for the miraculous world of Timmy. Twelve years old and full of boundless curiosity, Timmy lives an ever-expanding life of record collections (of which Elton John is king), neighborhood bullies (of whom Franky DiLorenzo rules), best friends, and the darker, more lasting secrets of family. Over the course of the summer, Timmy will kill a frog, lose his baseball-card collection, alienate a friend, and witness his parents' separation. An intruder will hide in his treehouse; his mother will threaten divorce; his father will move out and back in. Timmy's childhood will end and his adolescence begin.One of the most remarkable child narrators to come along in recent years, Timmy is the achievement of a stunning new voice in American fiction. In the Cherry Tree is an addictively clever and appealing novel of our universal coming of age."Pope's dialogue is heartbreaking and real; his characters sympathetic in their gross imperfections." - Booklist

Genres: Fiction, Coming Of Age, Novels, Realistic Fiction

291 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Dan is the author of the novels IN THE CHERRY TREE (Picador, 2003) and HOUSEBREAKING (Simon & Schuster, May 2015). His short stories have appeared in such journals as Iowa Review, Harvard Review, and McSweeneys. He is a 2002 graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop. He lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author included this book as an extra in his wonderful book club when I was a member several years ago. It’s inscribed and dated 2007, so despite several moves, I’m a little embarrassed it took me 15 years to break it out. You also now have a glimpse into the depth of my TBR list 😂

This was a fun book to read. It’s fiction, written as memoir, of a 12 year old boy and his family growing up in the 70’s. There were several funny scenes, but my favorite parts were probably the references to TV shows from the 70’s that I remember so well (Happy Days, Brady Bunch, The Bob Newhart show, The Six Million Dollar Man, Big Valley, and so on) 📺

I’m grateful to the author for his passion for books, including selling, writing and collecting.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ghost of Mark Twain told me to read this book. No, not really. But I would like to think so! While visiting the Mark Twain House and Museum gift shop, there was a local author’s table which had this book on it. I had to pick it up not only to support a local author, but because this book is completely based in Hartford, Connecticut. This book really hit home. Literally. Even though based in Hartford, I swear it could have been my own neighborhood which is in the New Haven County of Connecticut. The story begins with the main character describing his neighborhood in which his development was made on an old apple orchard, all with split levels. My neighborhood was also an apple orchard before our own split level was built nearly 26 years ago. The similarities didn’t end there. I not only loved reading about the main character’s coming-of-age story, but when he talked about listening to WDRC and the Big D, I almost fell over. I grew up listening to the very same radio station and still listen to it in the car. While I lived Timmy’s moments growing up, I felt at times I was reliving my own.

Timmy’s childhood reminds me of own innocent, carefree childhood at the cusp when innocent starts turning in to realizing how crazy this world is while still trying to maintain that wholesomeness. It’s hard, but that’s life. This book is not the typical apple pie coming of age book that most authors usually fall prey to. There are some really seedy characters that Timmy comes across but still stays true to himself. Life isn’t perfect and this novel shows that. There are some kids that you grow up with and everything seems fine and dandy, but then you find out that dark side to someone you never knew existed in anyone. It can be one the scariest moments in a young person’s life while still trying to figure out there own way in life. I also like how this novel shows that families are not always perfect. The main character’s included. Everyone had problems and you learn to navigate them while finding your place in this world.

A really great coming of age novel that was well written.

[PacaLipstick Gramma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was absolutely hilarious! There were some parts that I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt!!!

The author wrote from the perspective of 12 year old boy growing up in the 1970s. And from that mindset, it was a fast and easy read. Not that it was all "lite" stuff ~ there were some difficult situations, that as an adult we see them differently ~ but from a pre-teen we saw it through his eyes.

I enjoyed the author's style. If was easy flowing, and a fun read.

For those who remember the '70s ~ a look back ~ and laughing at kids and their antics.

Highly recommended!!!

[Will James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give it a 7 on a 10-point scale, but can't bring myself to give it a 4.

This might only appeal to a limited audience, but it really hit home for me, probably because I was a horny confused teenage boy about the same time as Dan Pope.

It's important to note that this isn't a memoir, even though it's highly like Pope's aim was to recreate his youth, or a very close variation.

What's significant about this NOT being a memoir is that the narrator wasn't editorializing or apologizing for poor behavior from the perspective of a mature adult. Nope, not at all.

Pope puts himself back in the 70s and really conveys how it was to be a white suburban kid. I've read a lot of coming-of-age novels and have watched plenty of nostalgic TV shows about adolescence. I don't think any of them captured just how much sitcoms and Top 40 radio meant to (some of) us. Our lives revolved ar0und the shows that ran on CBS, ABC, and NBC.

Final comment: I saw that some reviewers felt the book was just one incident after another without much narrative arc. I disagree. I saw growth and development in the lead character and his relationships with family and friends and the town and his neighborhood.

A very narrow and specific portrait well executed.

[GinnyP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fiction that reads like a memoir. Timmy is twelve, living in the suburbs in the 1970s. The voice made me think of what Ralphie would say and talk about, given the chance to say and talk about what 12-year-old boys do. PROs: I was that age then too, and I liked the references to the music of the time, cars, etc. Nothing is sugar coated. The parents (The Mom and The Dad, as he calls them) are in a failing marriage and spend a lot of time yelling, but the kids take it in stride; I like The Mom, who upon hearing words like 'boobs' and 'boner' (and they're in this book quite a lot - it's adolescent boys!) asks her son to stop talking like that and then moves on; there isn't a plot, but chapters are the events in the daily lives of Timmy and friends Stev, Mic, and Tiger. CONs: None. It's just not a 5* type of book, but it would be one I'd pick up again as I admit to not being able to finish the end because of a return due date. If one is squeamish about reading about young boys bodily functions and their fascination with them, it's probably not for you.

[Melissa McCauley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book brings to life the summer of 1974 in suburban America: the music, the TV shows, the cars, the clothes…. Told from the point of view of a twelve-year-old boy on the cusp of adolescence. It is unflinchingly honest, sometimes gross, sometimes hilarious. (Don’t read if you are offended by farting or masturbating.) Although it is a good read, it doesn’t really have a plot. It just follows Timmy around, and then ends.

[Janis · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I enjoyed the writing of this book & the characters were likeable. I like to read and support local authors. That being said, IMO this is a book for the male reader. Most things were not tied up to my liking & I thought the ending could've been better.

[Becky Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reread, but a good one. Loved the nostalgic feel. A real escape that I relished. Enjoyed the characters, style and ease. Strong writing that wrapped you into a world of 12 year old lusts, friendships and worries. Thoroughly enjoyable. There was a reason I'd kept it on my shelves.

[Mandy Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was about the same age as the kid in the book in 1974 so I can relate to a lot of his experiences. Tons of 70’s pop culture references. If you didn’t grow up in the 70’s you might have a hard time understanding what he is talking about. No real story here. Coming of age story.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable, quick read. Not only was I a suburban kid growing up in the 70s, but I’m from the same community where this story takes place and it was fun revisiting my stomping grounds.

[Jane Soubik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very funny enjoyed it

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

My CurledUp review: It seems that modern fiction has always provided plenty of insight into the coming-of-age of the female gender. Recently, however, a surge of stories about the opposite sex are quickly threatening Holden Caulfield’s stranglehold on the genre.

The most recent addition to a growing list that includes Green Grass Grace by Philadelphia author Shawn McBride, I’m Not Scared by Italian author Niccolo Ammaniti, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by British author Mark Haddon, In the Cherry Tree is an atmospheric time capsule of 1970s suburbia, authentically told through the eyes of twelve-year-old Timmy. It is a world where static, peripheral fathers with drinks-in-hand seem to contribute to a contagion of restlessness and dissatisfaction among their wives and where all of the adults seem to act with a general disregard to the hormonally and emotionally challenged children who stand witness to their actions.

Over the course of the summer of Timmy’s twelfth year, his mother and father (“The Mom” and “The Dad”) rend a failing marriage, his dog dies, he discovers masturbation, and his childhood buddies (Mik, Stev, and Tiger) desert him for new towns, new friends, and the safety of a mother’s bosom.

Despite these cataclysmic changes, Timmy is surprisingly upbeat. He spends most of his time memorizing his favorite lines to the latest movies and television shows, collecting lists of the “Top 30 Songs of the Week Based on Sales and Requests in Big D Country” and obsessing endlessly about boners and boobs. While Timmy seems barely competent to deal with these changes, his emotional capacity still seems to outweigh that of the adults around him who are constantly overreacting and continually creating scenes of turmoil, and is certainly better than his friends who find solace in splattering frogs against rocks, running home to hide under mother’s wing after merely the slightest offense, or who use mayonnaise and dogs as sexual objects.

While Timmy does not tell us his deepest thoughts, In the Cherry Tree does not lack a sense of his insights and emotions. The tone is stunningly foreboding. Pope’s writing captures an atmosphere of tension caused by uncertainty and change in a string of chapter vignettes that are shrouded in a dreamlike state of memory and nostalgia. There is a heavy sense that something terrible is hanging over Timmy’s head and that his battle between childhood and adulthood, on the cusp of adolescence, will be hard won. He faces a conundrum that has two solutions, and he continually struggles to pick the right one. His desire to get tickets to an Evel Knievel show belies his growing understanding of the language of actions and consequences.

In keeping with the style of the great Greek tragedies, Timmy is a hero of tremendous strength and growth. The cleansing summer rains have helped him wash away the last vestiges of childhood and brought with them a sultry understanding of adult dynamics. By the eve of his thirteenth birthday, Timmy is no longer ignorant of the life going on around him, or of the possibilities that lie ahead for both achievement and failure.

Pope’s novel, like Timmy, is a bit of a dichotomy, a combination character study and period piece. Most of our understanding of Timmy is via the book’s setting and mood when most of the setting is described to us in Timmy’s own words. Written in a conversational style, it is an easy read but touches on the important coming-of-age issues in a boy’s life and leaves one glad not to go through it all again but appreciating the difficulty of the tasks that lie ahead of Timmy, and with a sense of hope for who he will become.

[Frederick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel, published in 2003, is about a suburban neighborhood in Connecticut. It's set in 1974 and is written in the first person. The narrator is describing the life he led at the age of twelve. While this narrator does not say, "By the way, I'm a grown man now, reflecting on his childhood," I think the reader is supposed to conclude the same thing I concluded: that the narrator is holding on to his childhood self but seeing his childhood with adult eyes. Dan Pope never tells you what he thinks, but you know he's aware that the events in the book are heartbreaking and that his narrator is rather amazed himself that he's survived.
This is not a novel of "lessons learned," thank God. But it is a novel about growth and survival amidst change. It is not a work of nostalgia. This separates it from many books about childhood and adolescence. It is not a work of reverse-nostalgia. It is realistic without being clinical, poetic without being lugubrious and, best of all, it is hopeful without being sentimental.
I was fourteen when the narrator was twelve, so I can say that the pop culture references are accurate. The mood of the times is right. But I also think IN THE CHERRY TREE outdoes other books about growing up in that it doe not insist the reader share the background of the narrator. I find such books exclusive. IN THE CHERRY TREE is inclusive. Anybody of any generation can identify with the emotions Timmy experiences.

[Kachina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is written like a memoir, that is to say, an adult looking back on adolescence. It does a great job of capturing the 1970s (at least I think so. I wasn't around back then, but the world the author depicts is immersive and believable). I love all the references to music -- I listened to lots of 70s rock when I was young, and loved Elton John, so I can definitely relate. When it comes to awkward, uncomfortable encounters with puberty, it's a book that doesn't pull its punches. In that respect I could see it make some people squeemish. The characters are fleshed out pretty well, and while most of them aren't the kind of people you'd like to be or even befriend, they do make for entertaining reading material. All in all I'd call this book an engaging, something dark, sometimes hilarious coming-of- age story that would mainly appeal to people who grew up in the 70s or have an interest in that time period in America.

ETA -- I received this book free as a Goodreads Giveaway, glad I did!

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met Dan with Marshall Boswell in KY in 04. We all had a great drunken time together talking on-the-cusp of forty stuff. Dan later put me in contact with his agent, who went on to do me many a favor as well. Evel Knievel's recent passing made me pluck the book off the shelves and reread, because the "Do you know who I am?" man (for you Jim Rome fans) is a big motif in the book. I loved the referencing of the parents as The Father and The Mother as well. If you were around in 1974, you'll be transported back to a very curious pop culture time when everything seemed to be going phooey, but in a laid-back as opposed to tumultuous way. Dan's tone captures that weird disconnect very nicely. I've had to read LOTS of coming of age novels in the past few months, and this one stands out---and I don't just say that because Mr. Pope bought my dinner in Bowling Green!

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific coming of age story set in the seventies. Timmy grapples with friendships, parents, siblings, and sexuality. As other reviewers have mentioned, there are some fairly graphic masturbatory scenes, but all are quite believable and necessary to the story and character development. This is a book about a twelve year old boy and his friends, after all. But this is also a beautifully written novel about universal themes of friendship, family, and growing up.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is very skilled at putting himself into the mind of a preteen boy-vulgarity, sex obsession and all. It's often very funny and can switch to sad instantly. He also does a great job of capturing the essence of the 70's, and the confusion of kids trying to comprehend the confusing works of adults.

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely charming, even laced with some of the more disgusting things 12 year old boys tend to do. I found it sort of meandering and exploratory, and when summer ends, it does. Just as it should. It read like a true memoir, despite being fiction.

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book on flights to and from Europe and as far as easy reading, cramped in a seat for 12 hours, tired with dry eyes goes it's certainly worth while. Reasonably entertaining, with an occasional smile and a few melancholic thoughts about my own growing-up.

[Duane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Timmy is a twelve year old boy in the 1970s who is experiencing life's changing times. The book doesn't flinch away from all the weird/disgusting things young boys do and experiment with. A great coming of age book.

[Elabossiere · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very very good book I really enjoyed reading it kind of a fun summer read. It take you back to the 70's so if you were born in that era you can really understand more and it takes you back.

[Kimberly Atkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think editing out a few key scenes (entire concepts?) would have made my rating a 3. I'm sure doing raunchy things is part of growing up for most boys, but it just isn't my favorite thing to read about.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dan Pope does a great job taking the reader into a 1970's suburb. I thought for a second he was writing about the street I grew up on! I enjoyed the humor that he brought to the story and the characters. Great book to curl up with on a rainy day.

[Riki Cutlip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book about what it was like to be an adolescent male in 1970s suburban America. This book is often funny as well as disturbing.

[Teresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth the time.

[Barbz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. It's a coming of age story for a young boy, so it gave a unique perspective. I wouldn't call it great, but it wasn't bad.

[Zach]

An entertaining an earnest look at suburban adolescence, with the requisite pain, boredom, lust, epiphanies, and tomfoolery. Nice job, The Pope!

[Theresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange book. If you have boys it may scare you. It scared me. Are all boys that obsessed with sex?????

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read with quite a few laugh-out-loud moments. Saying that however, if you don't want to read about a boy learning to masterbate then this probably isn't for you!

[Bobbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really enjoyed this book a lot. I think part of it was because it was set in "my time". Things seemed much more simple back then.