Humor, Heart, and Reflective Rural Stories with Michael Perry

New York Times Bestselling Author of Population: 485 and The Jesus Cow

Presented on: Wednesday, March 4th 2026 at 1:00 PM CST




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Join us in conversation with bestselling author and humorist Michael Perry, whose collection of genre-spanning works encapsulates the experiences–and the magic–of rural town communities and the everyday people who reside in them. 

In Michael Perry’s memoir, Population: 485, 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, and the back roads are haunted by the ghosts of children and farmers. Against a backdrop of fires and tangled wrecks, bar fights and smelt feeds, Perry tells a frequently comic tale leavened with moments of heartbreaking delicacy and searing tragedy. 

Jesus Cow, Perry’s fiction debut, is a hilarious yet sincere exploration of faith and the foibles of modern life. Low-key Harley Jackson finds himself entangled in drama from all corners: A woman in a big red pickup has stolen his bachelor’s heart, a Hummer-driving predatory developer is threatening to pave the last vestiges of his family farm, and inside his barn is a calf bearing the image of Jesus Christ–a secret he wants to keep quiet, until the truth slips right through the barn door. 

Register today to hear more about Perry’s expansive collection of stories!

About the Author: Michael Perry is a New York Times bestselling author, humorist, corporate speaker, volunteer firefighter/first responder, and amateur snowplow driver. A lifelong resident of the rural Midwest, his “reflective roughneck” takes on life in Middle America have left hundreds of thousands of readers and live audiences laughing, nodding, and sometimes misty.

Perry, a registered nurse who put himself through college working as a Wyoming cowboy and a roller-skating Snoopy produces the popular audio newsletter “Michael Perry’s Voice Mail,” performs widely as a humorist and speaker, tours with his band The Long Beds, works as a script writer, voiceover artist and audiobook narrator, and still makes an occasional call with the local volunteer fire and rescue service.

Perry lives in rural Wisconsin and can be found online at www.sneezingcow.com.

The views expressed by presenters are their own and their appearance in a program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Middleton Public Library.