Michael Perry is a novelist who now resides in a rural Wisconsin town. He grew up in the area he now resides on a dairy farm. His family include siblings who are also involved in rescue operations as volunteers. His novels include “Population 485, “Meeting Your Neighbor One Siren at a Time”, “Truck A Love Story”, and “Coop:A year of Poultry,Pigs, and Parenting”. He has also published an essay collection”Off Main Street” . Perry has been published by various magazines as The Esquire and The New York Times Magazine.
Michael Perry wears many hats;one of those is that he writes novels. The novel I stumbled on was “Population 485″. This is a novel which reveals his past and present roots and Michael has a unique perspective because of his experiences as a first responder in a town he grew up and now resides in rural Wisconsin.This novel should appeal to anyone who has grown up in small town America who should be able to identify with the real people Michael poetically portrays. A small town in such an area might be stereotyped as a non diverse red neck community, but to anyone that has grown up in the rural Midwest knows that a community is anything but that. Michael does reveal people who are old school. set in their ways, but also reveals people who do not fit that modality. This includes a Kung Fu yoga master whom he worked with and had an unbelievable amount of bravery and ingenuity, to a couple of ballet dancers trying to bring Fine arts to a rural Wisconsin town.
As a writer Michael does a very good job of bringing his inner most thoughts and ideas to real life situations which keeps things interesting. As a first responder he constantly faces life and death and reveals his deepest emotions about events people in all situations have to face and reflect on. This entices the reader and outlines Michael’s outstanding writing ability.
Michael has the ability to reflect on experiences we all have to face, some of them light heartedly, and some of them very serious and gives a perspective that I believe many readers would appreciate. His reflections are not egotistic in any way in that he can modestly laugh at himself which brings humor into his writing.
I would definitely recommend Michael Perry as an author and writer to add to your list.