Today in the ArtZany Radio studio Paula Granquist welcomes New York Times bestselling author, humorist, singer/songwriter, and playwright Michael Perry to discuss his new novel Forty Acres Deep. This is a story that comes with a warning – this is an intimate telling of the life of farmer and philosopher Harold and his struggle to make sense of the world after the death of his wife and child, a story about relentless winter in the changing rural landscape, a story about making connections in community, living with grief, and suicide. He lives in rural Wisconsin and can be found online at SneezingCow.com
Michael Perry is an accidental New York Times bestselling author, humorist, singer/songwriter, amateur snowplow driver, and playwright from New Auburn, Wisconsin. He also produces the popular audio newsletter “Michael Perry’s Voice Mail.” Perry’s bestselling memoirs include Population: 485 (subsequently adapted for the stage), Truck: A Love Story, Coop, Visiting Tom, and Montaigne in Barn Boots. Among his other dozen titles are The Scavengers (for young readers), his novel The Jesus Cow, Peaceful Persistence, Hunker, and his most recent release, the novella Forty Acres Deep.
Raised on a small Midwestern dairy farm, Perry put himself through nursing school while working on a ranch in Wyoming, then detoured into writing. He lives with his wife and two daughters in rural Wisconsin, where he still makes an occasional call with the local volunteer fire and rescue service. He hosts the nationally-syndicated “Tent Show Radio,” performs widely as a humorist (his live humor albums include Never Stand Behind A Sneezing Cow and The Clodhopper Monologues), tours with his band The Long Beds, and lives online at www.sneezingcow.com.
