Will I love Population?

This is one of my all-time favorite books. Beautifully written, big-hearted, and hilarious, Michael Perry captured it all when he moved back to his hometown of New Auburn, Wisconsin, and ended up in the volunteer fire department.

It’s full of unforgettable characters and is a timeless meditation on what it means to be from a place. 

This is my one non-fiction recommendation on this list, but it’s as entertaining as any literary comedic novel.

Perry’s distinct voice reflects his eclectic background—nurse, EMT, freelance journalist, volunteer firefighter, son of farmers—and his 2002 debut is filled with a cast of real-life characters who are exactly as you’d write them. Two decades later, Perry has published dozens of books and hundreds of columns (and recorded numerous CDs with his band), and he’s taken his storytelling act on the road and to radio airwaves.

He’s now a husband and father and recently published a novella (Forty Acres Deep) that deals… show more.

Population 485 was the first book about EMS I ever read. I was just starting out as a volunteer in a rural area, so this book really resonated with me. The author, in moving back to his rural hometown in Wisconsin, joins the local fire department and shares with his readers the funny, crazy, and tragic stories that haunt his small town.

Perry’s writing is full of humility and wit. Population 485 is a portrait of “small-town America” but also serves as a peek behind the curtain at the education of a first responder.