Michael Perry coming to Oshkosh

It's official! Wisconsin author Michael Perry will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22 at the Oshkosh Public Library; a book signing will be held at the end of the evening. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Better still, Perry has agreed to dine with members of the Oshkosh Area Writers Club prior to his talk. (More details to follow!)

Perry is the author of "Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time" and has published in magazines including Newsweek, Salon, Utne and Esquire. His essays can be heard on Wisconsin and Minnesota public radio. When he's not writing, Perry contributes humor to the local fire department by being the first volunteer fireman in village history to miss the monthly meeting because of a poetry reading.

His newest title, "Off Main Street: Barnstormers, Prophets & Gatemouth's Gator," contains essays about life in small towns, on the road, and around the world. Topics include:

A traveling butcher whose daughter is in desperate need of a kidney

A heartwarming and breaking Christmas story set on a fleet of country music tour buses

The kidnapping of a giant Big Boy statue in Toledo

The goofy cultural significance of America’s water towers

Bunking beside a prostitute in Central America

Gearjammers” essays on hitching with truckers in a convoy and life on the road

Perry's book are available for purchase at The Paper Tiger or from his website: sneezingcow.com. And of course, you can check them for free from the Oshkosh Public Library.