The author of Population: 485 returns, delivering a truckload of humor, heart, and . . . gardening tips? Think Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, complete with stock cars, sexy vegetables, and a laugh track.
"All I wanted to do was fix my old pickup truck," says Michael Perry. "That, and plant my garden. Then I met this woman. . . ." Truck: A Love Story recounts a year in which Perry struggles to grow his own food ("Seed catalogs are responsible for more unfulfilled fantasies than Enron and Penthouse combined"), live peaceably with his neighbors (one test-fires his black powder rifle in the alley; another's best Sunday shirt reads 100 PERCENT WHUP-ASS), and sort out his love life. But along the way, he sets his hair on fire, is attacked by wild turkeys, takes a date to the fire department chicken dinner, and proposes marriage to a woman in New Orleans. As with Population: 485, much of the spirit of Truck: A Love Story may be found in the characters Perry meets: a one-eyed land surveyor, a paraplegic biker who rigs a sidecar so that his quadriplegic pal can ride along, a bartender who refuses to sell light beer, an enchanting woman who never existed, and half the staff of National Public Radio.
By turns hilarious and heartfelt, a tale that begins on a pile of sheep manure, detours to the Whitney Museum of American Art, and returns to the deer-hunting swamps of northern Wisconsin, Truck: A Love Story becomes a testament to the surprising and unintended consequences of love. 1006
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
This is not a novel:
I found this book in a small bookstore in Wisc. with a sticker that said "Staff Pick." I bought it thinking it would be a novel, with a plot, conflict, character development, and so forth. In fact it is simply Michael Perry's journal, composed of a loose stack of vignettes and character sketches that are included only because they actually happened, not because they're related or create any dramatic momentum. Instead of plot he relies on "snappy" one-liners and sugar-coated descriptions of the locals, who... more info
Truck: A Love Story:
This book was fun. I laughed out loud at some of the situations and/or verbage. The author has the ability to laugh at himself, give credit where it is due, and make the best of most situations. Thumbs up!!
Humor and revelation:
Book was humorous on one level. However, it contained deeper truths about ouselves and our world than we sometimes like to admit. I heard Mr. Perry speak and he has some gritty and resourceful insights on the way individuals respond to incidents and others.
the natural philosopher's handbook:
I could go on and on about this book, but let's let the man speak for himself. "The amateur study of philosophy," Perry writes, "is like taking a few laps with a NASCAR driver. You're not qualified to do it on your own, you have no business behind the wheel, but for a few laps or paragraphs, you're right in there with 'em, and when it's all over, you've learned something. Or," he adds, "as my local fire chief once said, you've simply exasperated the situation." Perry hasn't exasperated his situation,... more info
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