Cherry Wagon

by Joseph Matick

Cherry Wagon is a spiritual pilgrimage built for speed. Jack is a young ballet instructor driving warp speed through the night sky in search of his son, Blue.
Fueled by diesel, nicotine and tragedian humility, we navigate the cosmos through his fractured correspondence with "Jane," the only person who "gets it."
What lies ahead on this odyssey are trips down the color spectrum, brief (often comical) meditations on America, and pie.
Cherry Wagon is the lightning quick debut novel by Joseph Matick.

Paperback

Published September 27, 2022

Reviews

[laila* · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is actually one of the worst things I have ever read. If you are annoying and like bad poetry (of which there is quite a demographic, like me when I was 15) then boy do I have the book for you! I’m not sure why this made me so mad…like they’ll really just publish anything huh? I’m seething!! Also there’s a part where the heat in California is described as “not stale” which is insane bc it is and I think you are stupid for not knowing so. Im realizing I picked it up bc I liked the cover and the font (marketing really works on me and it is a lesson I will have to learn a million more times I’m sure) and also it appeared to have a few good lines which it kinda does but the thing about a book is that if it’s gonna just serve to make the author think they are beautiful and special in a unique way from anyone else then anyone else reading it is gonna realize such self masturbatory writing is like…everyone thinks they’re special but no one actually is. You don’t know any secrets anyone else doesn’t…like we all listen to that little indie band. Like we all reference the same things but you’re patting yourself on the back for it. You haven’t noticed anything different from the people around you. Now you’re the fool!!!!!!!! I will say that few pieces of literature incite such emotions from me so ig I got something from it. This is all my own fault @the end of the day.

[nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joseph Matick or Jack is a trend forecaster given that he knew indie sleaze would come back.

Jack or Joseph is that one guy at the party with the acoustic guitar who can't wait to strum a few strings for you to call it a song. It's mostly howling and repetitive sweet nothings, but you're polite enough to stay, but also because you'll wait til sunrise because you don't have enough for an Uber and you probably have nothing better to do so he says his sweet little nothings until it turns into a lullaby, and when it does, you realize he's harmless, sort of that one loser to every friend group that i guess deserves love much like the rest of us. He's out there trying to be loved, but the song isn't very good and you clap out of politeness and hope to god you never see him again but you see him again busking the streets to buy himself a latte and the milk is important because he's scraggly and doesn't eat enough and then when you see he tips with only a few pennies you realize the difference between empathy and sympathy.

I read 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘐𝘴 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳 alongside this, making it an incredibly odd reading experience given both books are epistolary, and the protagonists in the book are both named Red.

[Isabelle Huang · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 Stars

I don't even really know how to review this, mostly because I maybe understood 20% of what happened in this book. That might even be generous. The writing is objectively good and it is such a quick read that I bumped it to 1.5/2 stars, but I seriously had no idea what happened. Like I really couldn't tell you one thing that happened. I think maybe I am just not intelligent enough for it.

It is boosting my ego that this book has under 5 reviews on Goodreads. I feel really cool. I'd probably feel cooler if I knew what I just read, but beggars can't be choosers.

[Audrey Dahlkemper · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We were living red, red sheets and red feelings and red hair and veins. And red with fever, we broke hearts protecting our own”

[Maitreya Ravenstar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completely confused but completely moved. Time is precious and all that matters is love! Was this a play or fiction?

[Aaltje · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feels like a bunch of random words

[avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

intimate ; quick page turner. fell in love with cherry wagon instantly

[Unwilling · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up at McNally Jackson in NYC as it looked interesting. It's a tiny book so this was a quick read, but it was also not very substantial. To me, this seems more like poetry than a novel... It is also largely incomprehensible. I don't think rereading this will help with my understanding too much, but I would be willing to give this another try since it's such a small time commitment.

Rating: 2.0/5