Population: 485

Name: Population: 485
Brand: Harper Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Michael Perry
ISBN: 9780060843069

Author: Michael Perry

Narrator: Michael Perry

Abridged: 7 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 06/30/2005

Categories: Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Memoirs, History, Us History

Synopsis

Mike Perry’s extraordinary and thoughtful account of meeting the people of his small hometown by joining the fire and rescue team was a breakout hit that “swells with unadorned heroism” (USA Today)Welcome to New Auburn, Wisconsin (population: 485) where the local vigilante is a farmer’s wife armed with a pistol and a Bible, the most senior member of the volunteer fire department is a cross-eyed butcher with one kidney and two ex-wives (both of whom work at the only gas station in town), and the back roads are haunted by the ghosts of children and farmers. Michael Perry loves this place. He grew up here, and now-after a decade away-he has returned.Unable to polka or repair his own pickup, his farm-boy hands gone soft after years of writing, Mike figures the best way to regain his credibility is to join the volunteer fire department. Against a backdrop of fires and tangled wrecks, bar fights and smelt feeds, he tells a frequently comic tale leavened with moments of heartbreaking delicacy and searing tragedy. Tracing his calls on a map in the little firehouse, he sees “a dense, benevolent web, spun one frantic zigzag at a time” from which the story of a tiny town emerges.

About Michael Perry

Michael Perry is a humorist, radio host, songwriter, and the New York Times bestselling author of several nonfiction books, including Visiting Tom and Population: 485, as well as a novel, The Jesus Cow. He lives in northern Wisconsin with his family and can be found online at www.sneezingcow.com.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Justin on April 27, 2013

WARNING: Possibly ill-advised, slightly intoxicated soap-boxing lies ahead. Proceed at your own risk. The title of this book is slightly misleading in that it implies Michael Perry will introduce the reader to a rich, quirky swath of characters who inhabit a very small town. While there are a few fol......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on June 17, 2014

A memoir, with distracted focus between life in rural America, working on a small town's volunteer fire department, bachelorhood, and death. The book lacks a focus. Even a memoir has some kind of focus but this tried to do too much. The humor was strained. Things that I thought ought to be laugh-out-......more

Goodreads review by Will on September 28, 2008

Population 485 is Perry’s attempt to communicate what it is like to live in a small town in 21st century America. New Auburn, Wisconsin is the place in question. Perry focuses on his experiences as a volunteer fireman. He was native to the town, had been away for many years, but returned to the root......more

Goodreads review by Bill on April 30, 2017

Having grown up in a small town, I relate so much to what Mr Perry alludes to in this book (and some of his others): citizens in small communities - like New Auburn, Wis. - do it all. They volunteer at church, they serve on the volunteer fire dept., they help their neighbors... And when bad things ha......more

Goodreads review by Gea on August 18, 2013

If you want to read a literary book on firefighting or small town living then this is the book. Population: 485 is a hilarious and moving collection of essays written about New Auburn, Wisconsin; a town of, yes, you guessed it—485 people. Not only is Michael Perry a skilled writer, he is also a volu......more