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In Population: 485, Michael Perry introduced us to New Auburn, Wisconsin, and the raging fires, smelt feeds, and car wrecks that brought him back to his hometown as a firefighter and EMT. Truck: A Love Story took us on a yearlong ride as Perry struggled to fix his 1951 International pickup and sort out his love life; in Coop, he shared the joys and challenges of putting down roots in a ramshackle farmhouse, and taking on the responsibilities of thirty-seven acres and a new baby. Now this acclaimed author returns with the tale of Tom Hartwig, an old-timer best known locally for building and firing homemade cannons in VISITING TOM: A Man, A Highway and the Road to Roughneck Grace (Harper; On-sale August 21, 2012; Hardcover; $25.99).

Toiling in a shop that Perry describes as “ an antique store stocked by Rube Goldberg, curated by Hunter Thompson, and rearranged by a small earthquake,” Tom works from scratch to make everything from gag shovel handles to parts for quarter-million–dollar farm equipment (and—in small batches—contraband black powder for his homemade artillery). Famous for driving a team of oxen in local parades, he has an endless reservoir of stories dating back to the days of his prize Model A, and an antiauthoritarian streak refreshed daily by the four-lane interstate that was shoved through his front yard in 1965 and now dumps over 8 million vehicles past his kitchen window every year. And yet VISITING TOM is dominated by the elderly man’s equanimity and ultimately—when he and Perry converse over the kitchen table as husbands and the fathers of daughters do—unvarnished tenderness, all related with Perry’s trademark blend of humor, insight, and heart.

Michael Perry is an amateur pig farmer, an active member of the local rescue service, and a contributing editor to Men’s Health. He lives in rural Wisconsin with his wife and two daughters, and can be found online at www.sneezingcow.com.

Visiting Tom: A Man, a Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace (Hardcover)

By Michael Perry

$24.99

ISBN-13: 9780061894442
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Harper, 8/2012

Other Editions of this Title

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Dinner + Michael Perry Event

$10.00

Model: 234157

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