I liked the continuation of Truck with a year in the life of Michael Perry. At times, it was a little slow.

Coop was the only non-Canadian book I read this month, but it arrived at the library for me so it went on the reading pile. I had ordered it because I’m always on the lookout for books about country living by people who have an empathy for city sensibilities, and I have a couple of other books by Michael Perry that have intrigued me in the past on my own bookshelves (unread yet).

One of my favourite excerpts (describing the house he grew up in New Auburn Wisconsin):

“Moving from the kitchen to the living room, you step up a four-inch riser; keep moving on the same plane around a central wall, and you will circle right back to the riser, having never stepped down.”

This tickles me because we have the same sort of situation in the oldest part of our (“renovated”) farmhouse – around that “central wall”.

Perry infuses much humour while imparting great country living (and parenting) experiences in an easy-to-read narrative. Recommended.

4 stars

Warm, humble, lyrical and gloriously unique

My brother recommended this author to me, and I tried a sample of "Truck" and just couldn't get into it enough to validate a purchase. Months later, this one popped up on sale so I jumped in. Mostly to make him happy.

In return, the book made me happy. While we didn't have a farm growing up, we did raise chickens, goats, rabbits, and a pony. We helped relatives bale and put up hay. We canned from our prolific garden. Perry makes this stuff seem romantic. In doing so, he unearthed a big vat of nostalgia for a life I couldn't get away from fast enough.

I loved his writing, his perspective, and his humble approach. He doesn't preach from the pulpit, he tells you his truths while sitting right next to you on the pew.

It makes me want to settle back, pour him a glass of something warm and strong, and make him tell me more stories.

Funny and sad. Not as good as some of his others, but still very well-written and fast paced.

There's nothing completely mind-blowing or deeply insightful about this, but it's just really, really pleasant. It's a book about the rural midwest that reads like the rural midwest: understated, mindful, kind, quiet, and full of good people.

Perry has a great way of telling stories from his childhood and tying them into his current life. You see his personality through the book as his family takes on the ownership of a farm and all the fun and difficulties that come with it. I was told how funny this book was and there were funny moments, but whenever I go into a book thinking it will be funny I always come up a little disappointed.

I enjoyed this book. There was a little too much graphic detail of pig slaughter and there's only so much farming detail I find interesting but, all in all I enjoyed the story.

Perry has an interesting voice and I took me a while to get into the rhythm and pattern of his writing. His stories of his families lives and history are very touching. He doesn't sugar coat life's difficulties and tragedies.

He and his family live a life I don't think I could live but, I admire the way they live it.

There are truly touching moments as well as funny moments. Most of all there are relate-able moments. Why they live a life I couldn't live but, their life is a life we all know. The ups and downs, the happy and sad, the mundane.

I look forward to reading more of his work and get to know his interesting life even better.

This book was really captivating to read. Michael Perry has really honed his writing craft since Population 485, and smoothed out many of the bumps and ruts that marred a great story. Where he bounced back and forth between Sensitive Poet and Good Old Boy paragraph by paragraph, he's now settled into a consistent hybrid, as someone more comfortable in his own skin. I was grateful for the steady hand on the wheel. He also does an excellent job laying his narrative out on a chronological structure, complete with seasonal notes and musings, but there's a complementary melody of the author's journey from beginning to end. It was one of those rare times that I felt edified by the protagonist's growth and earned wisdom by the end; by tagging along in the story I gained something alongside the author.

Finally, few people can turn a phrase like Michael Perry. His descriptive framing of a situation is often startlingly fresh and piercing, and comes across musically as much as verbally. I often found myself stepping back to marvel at the words he tacked up together. Alongside Jim Harrison, he is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.

Closer to a 4.