Michael Perry (Author of Population)

0 ratings | 0 reviews | avg rating:0.0

Michael Perry鈥檚 Followers (596)

Michael鈥檚 Bookshelves

to-read (0)
currently-reading (0)
read (9)

Michael鈥檚 Friends (65)

Patti

9,180 books | 89 friends

Jess Witkins

2,007 books | 507 friends

Madge Powers

468 books | 44 friends

Jeannie

1,050 books | 117 friends

Randal White

3,060 books | 250 friends

Dan

1,268 books | 24 friends

Joe Bongers

1,324 books | 56 friends

Jessica

706 books | 94 friends

More friends鈥�

Michael Perry

欧宝娱乐 Author

Website

Genre

Memoir, Humor and Comedy, Fiction

Member Since

January 2009

edit data

Michael Perry is a New York Times bestselling author, humorist and radio show host from New Auburn, Wisconsin.

Perry鈥檚 bestselling memoirs include Population 485, Truck: A Love Story, Coop, and Visiting Tom. Raised on a small Midwestern dairy farm, Perry put himself through nursing school while working on a ranch in Wyoming, then wound up writing by happy accident. He lives with his wife and two daughters in rural Wisconsin, where he serves on the local volunteer fire and rescue service and is an amateur pig farmer. He hosts the nationally-syndicated 鈥淭ent Show Radio,鈥� performs widely as a humorist, and tours with his band the Long Beds (currently recording their third album for Amble Down Records). He has recorded three live humor albums in Michael Perry is a New York Times bestselling author, humorist and radio show host from New Auburn, Wisconsin.

Perry鈥檚 bestselling memoirs include Population 485, Truck: A Love Story, Coop, and Visiting Tom. Raised on a small Midwestern dairy farm, Perry put himself through nursing school while working on a ranch in Wyoming, then wound up writing by happy accident. He lives with his wife and two daughters in rural Wisconsin, where he serves on the local volunteer fire and rescue service and is an amateur pig farmer. He hosts the nationally-syndicated 鈥淭ent Show Radio,鈥� performs widely as a humorist, and tours with his band the Long Beds (currently recording their third album for Amble Down Records). He has recorded three live humor albums including Never Stand Behind A Sneezing Cow and The Clodhopper Monologues, is currently finishing his first young adult novel, and can be found online at .

Perry鈥檚 essays and nonfiction have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Backpacker, Outside, Runner鈥檚 World, Salon.com, and he is a contributing editor to Men鈥檚 Health magazine. His writing assignments have taken him to the top of Mt. Rainier with Iraq War veterans, into the same room as the frozen head of Ted Williams, across the United States with truckers and country music singers, and鈥攐nce鈥攂uck naked into a spray-tan booth.

In the essay collection Off Main Street, Perry wrote of how his nursing education prepared him to become a writer by training him in human assessment, and he credits singer-songwriters like Steve Earle and John Prine with helping him understand that art need not wear fancy clothes. Above all, he gives credit to his parents, of whom he says, 鈥淎nything good is because of them, everything else is simply not their fault.鈥� His mother taught him to read and filled the house with books; his father taught him how to clean calf pens, of which Perry has written, 鈥渁 childhood spent slinging manure 鈥� the metaphorical basis for a writing career.鈥�

Perry has recently been involved in several musical collaborations, including as lyricist for Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Geoffrey Keezer, and as co-writer (with Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon) of the liner notes for the John Prine tribute album 鈥淏roken Hearts & Dirty Windows.鈥� Perry also collaborated with Vernon and Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne on a project that began when Vernon approached Perry and said, 鈥淪ay, you鈥檙e a nurse鈥︹€� The results were bloody, but then that was the point.

Of all his experiences, Perry says the single most meaningful thing he has ever done is serving 12 years beside his neighbors on the New Auburn Area Fire Department.

Mike says:

If I had to sum up my 鈥榗areer鈥� in one word, it would be gratitude. I get to write and tell stories all around the country, then come home to be with my family and hang out at the local feed mill complaining about the price of feeder hogs. It鈥檚 a good life and I鈥檓 lucky to have it. ...more

Ask the Author

To ask Michael Perry questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Michael Perry鈥檚 books

Average rating: 3.92 · 19,790 ratings · 3,180 reviews · 25 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	Population: 485 3.93 avg rating — 5,811 ratings — published 2002 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Truck: A Love Story 3.95 avg rating — 3,373 ratings — published 2006 — 26 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting 3.94 avg rating — 3,334 ratings — published 2009 — 26 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Jesus Cow 3.61 avg rating — 2,416 ratings — published 2015 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Visiting Tom: A Man, a Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace 4.10 avg rating — 1,381 ratings — published 2012 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Montaigne in Barn Boots: An Amateur Ambles Through Philosophy 3.78 avg rating — 605 ratings — published 2017 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Scavengers 3.89 avg rating — 562 ratings — published 2014 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Off Main Street: Barnstormers, Prophets Gatemouth's Gator: Essays 3.88 avg rating — 537 ratings — published 2005 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Forty Acres Deep 4.29 avg rating — 482 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Roughneck Grace: Farmer Yoga, Creeping Codgerism, Apple Golf, and Other Brief Essays from on and off the Back Forty 4.19 avg rating — 272 ratings — published 2016 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Michael Perry…

4137 posts
Michael Perry's Blog

The Real Amy

Main fundraiser photo When I was but a teenager, I became godfather to a little baby named Amy. When I started writing books about my own daughters, I changed their names for privacy reasons, but chose 鈥淎my鈥� as my elder daughter鈥檚 pen name in honor of my goddaughter.

Now the original Amy needs help. I am often asked to share requests for donations and support of all sorts, and simply can鈥檛 honor each one while remaining

rss
Michael鈥檚 Recent Updates

Michael Perry wrote a new blog post The Real Amy When I was but a teenager, I became godfather to a little baby named Amy. When I started writing books about my own daughters, I changed their names f Read more of this blog post »
Jun 12, 2025 12:07AM · like

More of Michael's books…

Quotes by Michael Perry (?)

“Summer here comes on like a zaftig hippie chick, jazzed on chlorophyll and flinging fistfuls of butterflies to the sun.”
― Michael Perry, Population: 485

17 likes

“I deserve a swift kick in the shorts for all the times I've stubbornly wound my way through the library stacks, my mule head leading the way, searching fruitlessly for information a librarian could put in my hands in a matter of minutes.”
― Michael Perry

11 likes

“It (a singer's voice) sounds as if it was aged in a whiskey cask, cured in an Ozarks smokehouse, dropped down a stone well, pulled out damp, and kept moist in the palm of a wicked woman's hand.”
― Michael Perry

tags: wordsmith

8 likes

See all Michael Perry's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Seasonal Read...: WINTER CHALLENGE 2009-2010 COMPLETED TASKS	3143	3261	Feb 28, 2010 09:02PM
Readers and Reading: September-October 2010 Chat	53	94	Oct 23, 2010 08:47PM
The Seasonal Read...: 10.8- What A Way To Make A Living	127	223	Nov 17, 2010 03:35PM
Pick-a-Shelf: 2010-10 - Biography - Post October Reviews Here	82	112	Nov 27, 2010 11:17AM
The Seasonal Read...: Winter Challenge 2010-2011 Completed Tasks (do not delete any posts)	2578	1098	Feb 28, 2011 09:05PM
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2012: Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC	2291	756	Dec 28, 2012 03:29PM
WACKY READING CHA...: LOCATIONS - UNITED STATES	58	35	Apr 04, 2014 10:17AM