Daniel's review
Population: 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry
Daniel's review
rating:
bookshelves: biography, have-read, non-fiction
status: Read in December, 2006
rating:
bookshelves: biography, have-read, non-fiction
status: Read in December, 2006
A memoir, with distracted focus between life in rural America, working on a small town's volunteer fire department, bachelorhood, and death.
The book lacks a focus. Even a memoir has some kind of focus but this tried to do too much. The humor was strained. Things that I thought ought to be laugh-out-loud funny were only slightly amusing. He didn't seem to know how to set up his jokes efficiently and humorously.
Mostly I found this a bit depressing. So many of the experiences that he writes about seemed to end in death. It sure makes me want to steer clear of New Avalon, Wisconsin.
There are some nice reflections on small town life and death and volunteer work, but it was work. It was not an effortless read. I am not impressed with Michael Perry's writing and won't seek out his other work based on this.
The book lacks a focus. Even a memoir has some kind of focus but this tried to do too much. The humor was strained. Things that I thought ought to be laugh-out-loud funny were only slightly amusing. He didn't seem to know how to set up his jokes efficiently and humorously.
Mostly I found this a bit depressing. So many of the experiences that he writes about seemed to end in death. It sure makes me want to steer clear of New Avalon, Wisconsin.
There are some nice reflections on small town life and death and volunteer work, but it was work. It was not an effortless read. I am not impressed with Michael Perry's writing and won't seek out his other work based on this.
Nothing in this book is strained.
Maybe I'll have to try this again. A good friend absolutely loved the book (which is why I read it), but since he's also a volunteer fire-fighter I thought maybe it just appealed to him more.
I think maybe that people who don't like this book had certain expectations for it. I had zero. And I find a lot of wisdom in Perry's thoughts. The humorous bits are a bonus; I wasn't searching for another Garrison Keillor.
....and I'm reading it slowly, digesting. I think if you're looking for a "story" to devour, as most people are, then this is not what you want. It's narrative.
