The Wandering Tree by Daniel Wimberley
I found this book to be altogether fascinating, tough to read, hysterical, too honest and yet heartwarming at the same time. Told in first person, it's often real-time, as if he's telling you things as they're happening, but some of it comes out like memories.
Lincoln Chase was a young boy who had one of the hardest lives to bear, but bear it he did. Withdrawn for a lot of reasons, he faced life in the poorest of trailer parks in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He blended in with the woodwork as much as he could because, in his estimation, why would anyone want to pay him any attention? He was plain, wore church "poor-box" castoffs, he was little and had only one good friend who also lived in that unfortunate neighborhood.
Then two really awful things happened in his sorry life. One was when his father was put away for murder, the next a disfiguring accident.
Now that all sounds like way too much to have to read, but this author has a way of writing with such constant comic relief that I couldn’t stop reading. He sounds like a boy. As Lincoln grows, the author sounds like a teenager. It was very well done with teen angst and all.
Fun quotes...just look at the way this author describes things...some made me laugh out loud...
About his best friend...
"Indeed, Brigham was the envy of every flaccid nerd and geek in school. He hadn’t merely sidestepped the cruelty of juvenile ridicule; the very paradigm that kept most of us on the sidelines of life had parted like the Red Sea to grant him passage."
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"The foothills of my youth are breadcrumbed by painful memories and as hard as I try to navigate them, they rise up like ghosts to haunt me at night. They take me by the hand and whisper things I can’t bear to hear. They draw me into the past, back to a time best left forgotten, back to where it all began."
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"My selfishness disgusted me yet I found myself at its mercy—which is of course ironic considering that selfishness is by nature indifferent to mercy."
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"Only, instead of bug spray this guy reeked of unwashed neglect, augmented by the acrid perfume of an overstuffed ashtray."
About the librarian...
"The next thing I knew, Ms. Winters was sprinting toward me, closing the ground between us at a pace that was less in form with an aging librarian than a cheetah running down a poor gazelle. I’m not gonna lie—it freaked me out. Even with the glass between us, my arms rose instinctively to shield my face because the glass seemed to disappear in the blur of her momentum. An instant later, the glass door flew open and I was yanked into a fierce embrace that dang near lifted me off my feet. When I was sure that my throat hadn’t been torn out by a grassland cat, I gave in to the hug. I even allowed myself a smile, because as far as greetings went, this one was pretty epic."
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"'The awards banquet, of course. You get to read your poem at next week’s ceremony in Oklahoma City.' Oh, that was rich. I get to? Fantastic. Like it was a dream of mine to stand in front of a few hundred strangers and pee my pants."
Puppy shopping...
"...the Lab’s ears shot up and her tail began to wag with such vigor that she lost control over her own rear end; that little tail of hers dang near took flight like a helicopter rotor, slapping her siblings silly along the way. I bent down to scratch her head and while the other puppies went more or less berserk—as puppies are prone to do..."
Three things to note...
Not typical Christian Fiction...in the least. I’m simply not used to reading such — hmmm — honesty with regards to what goes through a teenage boy's hormone-affected mind… more hinted at than blatant.
The topic of homosexuality was mention once, then actually focused on at some point later. At first it was uncomfortable thinking the author was taking it in a direction I don’t care for, but when counseling (from a wise Christian man) on the topic came up it was handled well.
Last, Lincoln's faith was finally written in. Kind of different, but interesting. You have to read a lot to get to that point though, like 95%. Whew.
Daniel Wimberley is a new-to-me author so I didn’t know what to expect. Honestly, I laughed hard, even shed some tears, and I never highlighted in a book as much as I did this one (except my Bible).
This book may not be for everyone, but, despite making me uncomfortable, because of Mr. Wimberley's amazing way with words I'm giving it 4.25 stars.