Cherry [Paperback]

From Mary Karr comes this gorgeously written, often hilarious story of her tumultuous teens and sexual coming-of-age. Picking up where the bestsellingThe Liars' Clubleft off, Karr dashes down the trail of her teen years with customary sass, only to run up against the paralyzing self-doubt of a girl in bloom. Fleeing the thrills and terrors of adolescence, she clashes against authority in all its forms and hooks up with an unforgettable band of heads and bona-fide geniuses. Parts ofCherrywill leave you gasping with laughter. Karr assembles a self from the smokiest beginnings, delivering a long-awaited sequel that is both bawdy and wise (San Francisco Chronicle).Cherry Prologue
One - Elementary's End
Two - Midway
Three - Limbo
Four - High“Karr captures, exactly, what it’s like for a girl to kiss the first boy she loves….She captures, exactly, what it’s like to start high school….She captures, exactly, what it’s like to be a book-hungry teenager, enraptured by the words and heady ideas that offer transport from the banalities of small-town life….As she did inThe Liars’ Club, Ms. Karr combines a poet’s lyricism and a Texan’s down-home vernacular with her natural storytelling gift.”—Michiko Kakutani,The New York Times

“A compelling ride through [Karr’s] adolescence….What distinguishes Karr is the ability to serve up her experiences in a way that packs the wallop of immediacy with the salty tang of adult reflection…her descriptions of the bruised-lip, druggy wonder of teenage love are precise, unsentimental, and lovely.”—Chicago Tribune

“The Liars’ Clubleft no doubt that Mary Karr could flat out write…the one question everyone had upon finishing her story was, could she do it again? Cherry lays that question to rest once and for all….It never lalÃ'