Bøger af Michael Perry

From the acclaimed author of Coop and Population: 485 comes a portrait of a unique individual and a dedicated way of life.What can we learn about life, love, and artillery from an eighty-two-year-old man whose favorite hobby is firing his homemade cannons? Visit by visit?often with his young daughters in tow?author Michael Perry finds out.Toiling in his shop, Tom Hartwig makes gag shovel handles, parts for quarter-million-dollar farm equipment, and?now and then?batches of potentially ?extralegal? explosives. Tom, who is approaching his sixtieth wedding anniversary with his wife, Arlene, and is famous for driving a team of oxen in local parades, has stories dating back to the days of his prize Model A and an antiauthoritarian streak refreshed daily by the interstate that was shoved through his front yard in 1965 and now dumps more than eight 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 as husbands and the fathers of daughters?unvarnished tenderness.?PERRY'S the real thing.? ?USA Today

The beloved memoirist and bestselling author of Population: 485 reflects on the lessons he's learned from his unlikely alter ego, French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne."The journey began on a gurney," writes Michael Perry, describing the debilitating kidney stone that led him to discover the essays of Michel de Montaigne. Reading the philosopher in a manner he equates to chickens pecking at scraps?including those eye-blinking moments when the bird gobbles something too big to swallow?Perry attempts to learn what he can (good and bad) about himself as compared to a long-dead French nobleman who began speaking Latin at the age of two, went to college instead of kindergarten, worked for kings, and once had an audience with the Pope. Perry "matriculated as a barn-booted bumpkin who still marks a second-place finish in the sixth-grade spelling bee as an intellectual pinnacle . . . and once said hello to Merle Haggard on a golf cart."Written in a spirit of exploration rather than declaration, Montaigne in Barn Boots is a down-to-earth (how do you pronounce that last name?) look into the ideas of a philosopher "ensconced in a castle tower overlooking his vineyard," channeled by a midwestern American writing "in a room above the garage overlooking a disused pig pen." Whether grabbing an electrified fence, fighting fires, failing to fix a truck, or feeding chickens, Perry draws on each experience to explore subjects as diverse as faith, race, sex, aromatherapy, and Prince. But he also champions academics and aesthetics, in a book that ultimately emerges as a sincere, unflinching look at the vital need to be a better person and citizen.

From writers Jesse Mathes (A Gangsta Myx, Ellis Charles) and Michael Perry (Well Wishes from a wishing well soul) comes the century's most action-packed and most human science-fiction movement.An assortment of crises have now occurred on Zanzibar...and beyond. Now, the strongest fleet Kalimba has is poised to face the great strength of the Regal-Corps, among the stars. While the remainder of it is now stretched thin, above Planet Zanzibar, human suffering has expanded. Withe the addition of a new faction called the Trans-Stellar party, who have elected a president of the entire sector surrounding Planet Zanzibar. This president has no regard for human life; a characteristic not absent of "Certain" leaders.The President now has connections to the dystopia-driven Regal Corps, led by a Regal Commander, who has come under certain scrutiny, after another failed attempt at another invasion of Zanzibar. His purpose is to seize the planet, full of many natural resources, and others to his liking. Chaos, and a leopard of Zanzibari legend, rome this tale of action-adventure of good vs. evil. Can the Corps of Kalimba, led by Frezu Nezu and other men defeat their oppressor? In the wake of this great peril, in the end, one will rise above the rest, but which side of humanity will prevail? Also, what triumphs and tragedies will emerge on Zanzibar, and beyond for humanity? All should read and discover what lies upon Zanzibar...and beyond.

When farmer Harold wakes to find his wife dead beside him in bed and snow threatening to crush the last life from his dwindling farm, he takes drastic steps toward a fresh start. Set in a world of stark wintry beauty, Forty Acres Deep is the brief, unrelenting tale of one person's attempt to make sense of a world he no longer recognizes while pitilessly calling himself into account. Seamed with grim humor and earthy revelations, it is an unforgiving story...and yet leaves open the idea that we might surrender to hope.

Celebrate the weird, wacky, and wonderful world of plants with a book that revels in the diversity of the botanical world.Plants are truly awe-inspiring. They can be vast, minute, smelly, or spectacularly ugly. Some plants live on their own, or by growing off others; some live by air and water; others are carnivorous, eating the creatures around them; some plants look remarkably like animals; while others have unusual symbolism; and some have special cultural significance. This book explores them all, bringing together the most peculiar and most fascinating plants on the planet - celebrating them in all their diverse splendour.Split into five chapters, covering everything from poisonous plants to painkilling ones, Michael Perry explains exactly what makes each plant special. With exquisitely detailed illustrations of all the different species, this is an informative, humorous, and beautiful gift for all those who love plants - whether they want to grow them or not. Hortus Curious delivers a different way to view the plant world and enjoy it for its bonkers and bizarre.The book is split into five chapters, covering:- Plants Behaving Badly - the criminal world of plants such as poisonous plants, insect catchingplants, and plants that do risky things- Mistaken Identity - plants that look like other things, e.g. flowers that look like monkeys, bees, oreven dead man's fingers- Greater Good - did you know that aspirin comes from a plant? This chapter explores the plantsthat make up our everyday products- Superheroes - find out about the plants that can disguise themselves, changing colour, shapeor even moving themselves- X-rated Plants - a selection of the rudest plants out there!A humorous and quirky gift book for people interested in plants and gardening, Hortus Curious is sure to delight.

Hope Such a small word. Just one syllable. Only four letters. Yet that single, simple word has embodied and defined SpringHill from the very beginning¿and it continues to describe SpringHill today, with nearly fifty years and over half a million changed lives. SpringHill is not just another summer camp. In his book, Experience = Everything, author Michael Perry takes you inside the SpringHill experience, an innovative approach to helping children find God not only in quiet contemplation and formal prayer but also in canoeing on a lake, or while riding horses on country trails, or while braving an outdoor high-ropes course. Or, yes, even on a zip line. If yoüre a parent, grandparent, a youth or children¿s pastor leader, a teacher, or just someone who loves young people, Michael Perry will give you a glimpse into how SpringHill creates these life-changing experiences, and how you too can do the same.

The New York Times bestselling humorist Michael Perry makes his fiction debut with this hilarious and bighearted tale?a comic yet sincere exploration of faith in the face of the modern world.Life is suddenly full of drama for low-key Harley Jackson: A woman in a big red pickup has stolen his bachelor's heart; a Hummer- driving developer hooked on self-improvement audiobooks is threatening to pave the last vestiges of his family farm; and inside his barn lies a calf bearing the image of Jesus Christ. Harley's best friend, Billy, a giant of a man who shares his trailer house with a herd of cats and tries to pass off country music lyrics as philosophy, urges him to sidestep the woman, fight the developer, and get rich off the calf. But Harley takes the opposite tack, hoping to avoid what his devout, dearly departed mother would have called "a scene."Then the secret gets out?right through the barn door?and Harley's "miracle" goes viral. Within hours, pilgrims, grifters, and the media have descended on his quiet patch of Swivel, Wisconsin, looking for a glimpse (and a per- centage) of the calf. Does Harley hide the famous, possibly holy, calf and risk a riot, or give the people what they want?and in the process raise enough money to keep his land and, just maybe, win the woman in the big red pickup?Harley goes all in, cutting a deal with a major Hollywood agent that transforms his little farm into an international spiritual theme park?think Lourdes, only with cheese curds and souvenir snow globes. Soon, Harley has lots of money . . . and more trouble than he ever dreamed.

I needed a better name. A stronger name. I wedged my fists on my hips and I announced that Maggie was yesterday, and from this day forward I would answer only to Ford Falcon.Life outside the Bubble Cities is rough. Electricity is history. The weather can change at a moment's notice. And the world is short on food but full of trouble.After her family chose to take their chances OutBubble, Maggie decided it was time to grow up and grow tough. Rechristening herself Ford Falcon, she spends her days scavenging in a junkyard near her family's makeshift house, fending off the occasional solar bear attack and keeping her eyes peeled for any GreyDevils that might be lurking around the corner.Although times are tough, Ford, her parents, and her little brother, Dookie, have been making do. But when Ford comes home from a bartering trip to find the place ransacked and her family missing, she must prove she is brave enough to make it in this wild world alone and face whatever obstacles stand in the way of rescuing her loved ones.

"You can read Michael Perry's Coop as an outrageously funny comedy about a semi-hapless neophyte navigating the pitfalls (and pratfalls) of the farming life. Please do, in fact. But scratch a little deeper, past Perry's lusciously entertaining and epigrammatic prose, his ultra-charming combo of Midwestern earnestness and serrated wit, and you'll find a reflective, sincere, and surprisingly touching-at times, even heart-cracking-story about a man struggling to put down roots." -- Jonathan Miles, author of Want NotIn over his head with two pigs, a dozen chickens, and a baby due any minute, the acclaimed author of Population: 485 gives us a humorous, heartfelt memoir of a new life in the country.Living in a ramshackle Wisconsin farmhouse--faced with thirty-seven acres of fallen fences and overgrown fields, and informed by his pregnant wife that she intends to deliver their baby at home--Michael Perry plumbs his unorthodox childhood for clues to how to proceed as a farmer, a husband, and a father.Whether he's remembering his younger days--when his city-bred parents took in sixty or so foster children while running a sheep and dairy farm--or describing what it's like to be bitten in the butt while wrestling a pig, Perry flourishes in his trademark humor. But he also writes from the quieter corners of his heart, chronicling experiences as joyful as the birth of his child and as devastating as the death of a dear friend.

"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." -- Seattle TimesWelcome 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.Unable 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, Population: 485 is a comic and sometimes heartbreaking true tale leavened with quieter meditations on an overlooked America.

"A touching and very funny account. . . . Thoroughly engaging."--New York TimesHilarious and heartfelt, Truck: A Love Story is the tale of a man struggling to grow his own garden, fix his old pickup, and resurrect a love life permanently impaired by Neil Diamond. In the process, he sets his hair on fire, is attacked by wild turkeys, and proposes marriage to a woman in New Orleans. The result is a surprisingly tender testament to love."Part Bill Bryson, part Anne Lamott, with a skim of Larry the Cable Guy and Walt Whitman creeping around the edges."--Lincoln Journal Star"Perry takes each moment, peeling it, seasoning it with rich language, and then serving it to us piping hot and fresh."--Chicago Tribune

Whether he's fighting fires, passing a kidney stone, hammering down I-80 in an 18-wheeler, or meditating on the relationship between cowboys and God, Michael Perry draws on his rural roots and footloose past to write from a perspective that merges the local with the global.Ranging across subjects as diverse as lot lizards, Klan wizards, and small-town funerals, Perry's writing in this wise and witty collection of essays balances earthiness with poetry, kinetics with contemplation, and is regularly salted with his unique brand of humor.

I wedged my fists on my hips and I announced that Maggie was yesterday, and from this day forward I would answer only to Ford Falcon.When the world fell apart, most people moved into the Bubble Cities. After her parents chose to live OutBubble, Maggie decided it was time to grow up and grow tough. She's renamed herself Ford Falcon, and she spends her days scavenging in a junkyard while fending off occasional attacks from solar bears and GreyDevils.Although times are hard, Ford's family has been making do. But when she returns from a bartering trip to find her home ransacked and her family gone, Ford must prove she is brave enough to face this wild world alone and overcome whatever obstacles stand in the way of rescuing her loved ones.

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