From Publishers Weekly
Rather plodding but appealingly homely, this first novel has the feel of an old family album. In a series of grainy snapshots, Pope chronicles the coming of age of 12-year-old Timmy during the summer of 1974 in suburban Connecticut. Timmy's father ("The Dad") is a boozing, gambling, happy-go-lucky Italian-American builder; his mother ("The Mom") is a no-nonsense Nova Scotia WASP. Timmy spends his time hanging out with his cronies, climbing cherry trees, listening to Elton John, going to movies, masturbating, discovering girls, teasing his older brother and sister and observing the neighborhood's idiosyncrasies. Egged on by his sadistic best pal, Stev (the friends drop the "e" at the end of names), Timmy torments feckless Tony, another neighborhood kid, but draws the line at killing frogs, another of Stev's favorite pastimes. As his parents' marriage slowly disintegrates-mainly because the Mom incessantly nags the Dad about his habit of playing golf and boozing during business hours-Timmy is jarred from his idyllic idling. His dog is killed, and when Stev comes home from camp he betrays Timmy by gambling away Timmy's baseball cards to gain favor with the neighborhood toughs. Pope never builds up much narrative steam with his episodic storytelling, and Timmy's voice is not particularly distinctive (despite his earnest cataloguing of boners and mammoth farts). There is a warmth and authenticity to Timmy's interactions with his parents and siblings, but even the heavy sprinkling of '70s cultural references fails to create much edge.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Watergate hearings are in full swing. Evil Knievel is traveling the country. And in an East Coast suburb, 12-year-old Timmy is surviving a summer that's both tumultuous and commonplace. His best friend starts hanging out with older kids; his parents fight aggressively and even temporarily split apart; the neighborhood bully beats up his mother with an almost impossible lack of conscience ("Yeah, well. What the fuck, right?" the bully says in response). Narrated by Timmy, Pope's accomplished first novel perfectly captures the shadowy, charged age of early adolescence. Orange-peel wars, tree houses, and baseball cards coexist with nearly constant "boners" and dramatic masturbation techniques (one involves a dog's assistance; in another, Timmy secretly rubs his penis over a glass before handing it to a neighbor). Pope's dialogue is heartbreaking and real; his characters sympathetic in their gross imperfections. But best is Timmy's voice--detached and never too self-aware. Pope never tells too much, and the clipped, spare descriptions will draw readers straight into Timmy's unspoken loneliness, confusion, and sweet, wild joy. Gillian Engberg
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Review
"In the Cherry Tree is both a love song and a lament for lost childhood. Not only is it about days gone by, but more importantly it is about growing up and learning that the life we were so sure would one day be ours disappeared somewhere along the way and here we are with this one instead. I read this strong and vibrant book with a constant smile on my face."
About the Author
Dan Pope is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Portions of In the Cherry Tree appeared in McSweeney’s, while other fiction has appeared in The Gettysburg Review, Shenandoah, and The Iowa Review. He currently lives in Hartford, Connecticut.
