{"product_id":"9780061363504","title":"Population: 485","description":"\u003cstrong\u003ePopulation: 485\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Michael Perry\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Part portrait of a place, part rescue manual, part rumination of life and death, \u003cem\u003ePopulation: 485 \u003c\/em\u003eis a beautiful meditation on the things that matter.”  — \u003cem\u003eSeattle Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWelcome 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUnable to polka or repair his own pickup, his farm-boy hands gone soft after years of writing, Perry 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, \u003cem\u003ePopulation: 485 \u003c\/em\u003eis a comic and sometimes heartbreaking true tale leavened with quieter meditations on an overlooked America.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e“Population: 485 has a storytelling heart that won’t quit.”\u003cbr\u003e“Swells with unadorned heroism. He’s the real thing .”\u003cbr\u003e“In the best tradition of books that pay quiet homage to community servicy, place, and the men and women who live there. A perfectly pitched celebration of small-town life...”\u003cbr\u003e“This is a quietly devastating book--intimate and disarming and lovely.”\u003cbr\u003e“Minnesota has Garrison Keillor...Neighboring Wisconsin has Michael Perry. If you read one non-fiction title this autumn, make it this one. It’s that good.”\u003cbr\u003e“Part portrait of a place, part rescue manual, part rumination of life and death, Population: 485 is a beautiful meditation on the things that matter.”\u003cbr\u003e” Population: 485 is bound to be one of the best non-fiction books of the year...Filled with moments of tenderness, humor and just plain goofiness as it takes us into the lives and homes of the inhabitants of one small town...Makes for riveting reading.”\u003cbr\u003e“...finely crafted, hard to come by honesty.”\u003cbr\u003e“Somewhere between Garrison Keillor’s idyllic-sweet Lake Wobegon and the narrow-mindedness of Sinclair Lewis’ “main Street” lies the reality of small-town life. This is where Michael Perry lives.”\u003cbr\u003e“...may simply be the best book about small-town life ever written.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780061363504\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":41089157857486,"sku":"9780061363504","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/9780061363504.jpg?v=1652138672","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780061363504","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}