尼科·沃克

尼古拉斯·“尼科”·沃克（英语：Nicholas "Nico" Walker，1985年2月28日—）是一名美国作家和美国陆军退伍军人，曾经因抢劫银行而入狱。他的首本半自传小说《谢里》于2018年8月14日由克诺夫出版社出版。

生涯

从2005年到2006年，沃克在伊拉克担任陆军军医，执行了超过250次战斗任务。回归平民生活后，他患有未诊断的创伤后压力综合症（PTSD），并且海洛因上瘾。为了买毒品，从2010年12月开始，他于4个月内在克利夫兰附近抢劫10间银行。他在2011年4月被捕，2012年认罪，并被判11年徒刑。2013年，沃克在肯塔基州爱许兰的联邦教化所坐牢时，BuzzFeed简要介绍了他。这件事导致与独立媒体Tyrant Books的出版人Matthew Johnson通信往来。Johnson寄给沃克书籍，并鼓励他选写关于自己的生活。他花了近四年的时间写作和重写。

结果写成小说《谢里》，由克诺夫出版社出版，小说讲述的是“战争和成瘾的恐怖”。在这本半自传小说中，一名年轻人从大学辍学，入伍当兵。他回家时状态很差，对鸦片上瘾，并开始抢劫银行。

在这本书出版的几天之内，约瑟夫和安东尼·罗素的制片厂AGBO以100万美元获得电影版权，两兄弟计划执导和监制，剧本由洁西卡·戈德堡撰写，汤姆·霍兰德主演。电影名叫《谢里》，于2021年2月26日在戏院上映，并于3月12日在Apple TV+上发行。

《谢里》入围2019年美国笔会海明威奖。

个人生活

沃克在拉斯维加斯、亚特兰大和克里夫兰长大。他辍学并在19岁时入伍当兵。沃克因在伊拉克服役而获得了七枚奖牌和奖章。他于2019年10月提早出狱。2020年8月，《访问》杂志报导沃克已经与诗人Rachel Rabbit White结婚。

书籍作品

《谢里》（Cherry）（2018年），作者：尼科·沃克 ISBN 9780525520139

Nicholas Walker (born April 19, 1985) is an American author and United States Army veteran who served in the US army and then time in prison for bank robbery. His semi-autobiographical debut novel, Cherry, was published by Alfred A. Knopf on August 14, 2018.

Career

Nicholas Walker was born in the United States on April 19, 1985. From 2005 to 2006, Walker served in the United States Army as a combat medic in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, going on more than 250 combat missions. After being discharged from the military and returning to civilian life, he developed post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder and became addicted to heroin and Oxycodone. Matthew Johnson, a publisher at Tyrant Books, sent Walker books and encouraged him to write about his life while Walker was in prison. He spent nearly four years writing and rewriting. The resulting novel, Cherry, was published by Alfred A. Knopf and is about "the horrors of war and addiction." In the semi-autobiographical novel, a young man drops out of college and enlists in the Army. He comes home in a poor state, becomes addicted to opiates, and starts robbing banks. According to Vulture.com, upon its publication the book received "near-universal praise." It debuted at number 14 on The New York Times bestseller list. Walker has said that he is using money from sales of the book to pay back some of the banks he robbed. The book was shortlisted for the 2019 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. In Walker's acknowledgements in Cherry, he also credits Josh Polikov, Tim O'Connell, Adeline Manson, Anna Kaufman, Daniel Novack, Susan M. S. Brown for helping him write, edit, revise, and publish his semi-autobiographical novel.

Within days of the book's publication, the movie rights were acquired for $1 million by Joe and Anthony Russo's studio AGBO, with the brothers planning to direct and produce, and the script to be written by Jessica Goldberg and starring Tom Holland as the character based on Walker. Walker was offered the opportunity to be an executive producer on the film, but he turned it down. The film, also called Cherry, was released in theaters on February 26, 2021, and on Apple TV+ on March 12, 2021.

Incarceration

To fund his opiate habit, he robbed ten banks around Cleveland in a span of four months, beginning in December 2010. He was arrested in April 2011, pleaded guilty in 2012 and was given an eleven-year sentence. His cellmate was Tony Viola, who was wrongfully accused of mortgage fraud at several banks and was sentenced to twelve and a half years in prison. In 2013, while Walker was behind bars in the Federal Correctional Institution in Ashland, Kentucky, he was profiled in BuzzFeed. This led to a correspondence with Matthew Johnson, a publisher at the independent press Tyrant Books. While incarcerated, Walker was also a GED tutor, teaching fellow inmates.

Personal life

Walker grew up in Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Cleveland. He dropped out of John Carroll University and enlisted in the Army at the age of 19. For his service in Iraq, Walker received seven medals and commendations. He was released from prison early, in October 2019. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi.

Walker and his first wife, Kara, eloped before he deployed in 2005, and divorced a few months after he returned in 2006. Around this time, he was the lead singer and songwriter in a psychedelic garage rock band named Safari, and they released the album Maybe Tomorrow in 2010. In August 2020, Interview reported Walker had married poet Rachel Rabbit White.

As of January 2022, Walker was working on his second novel, which will focus on incarceration.