In Michael Perry's new collection of essays, \Off Main Street,"" he jumps from rural pilots to kidney stones to the prevalence of Elvis Presley. The book reveals Perry as a wandering essayist emerging with tremendous talent and dozens of voices, each calibrated to his subjects.
Perry, a native of New Auburn, Wis., has been working as a freelance writer for more than a dozen years. His previous collections, ""Big Rigs, Elvis & the Grand Dragon Wayne"" and ""Why They Killed Big Boy... and Other Stories"" first revealed his varied styles. In October 2002 he made a name for himself with ""Population: 485,"" a book about his hometown and how he met his neighbors as a volunteer fireman.
In putting together ""Off Main Street,"" Perry said he wanted to avoid copying his previous work.
""I knew I couldn't try to write 'Population: 485' again or a sequel, so this collection comes out, which has a lot of new stuff in it,"" Perry said.
Between books he has been busy with freelance projects, contributing to everything from Men's Health to No Depression magazine. When the chance came to make a hefty collection out of his previous work, he couldn't refuse the offet.
""The bottom line is that when you freelance for a living and your publisher says they want to republish some of stuff, there's really only one answer,"" he said.
""Off Main Street"" uses articles from ""Big Rigs"" and ""Big Boy"" but the combination with other works gives the collection a fresh gloss. The groupings run from ""Gearjammers,"" in which Perry is in the passenger's seat of big rigs in Alaska to ""The Body Eclectic,"" in which he talks about baldness and obesity. The life of a freelance journalist takes him wherever he needs to be.
""One week you're writing about obesity for Wisconsin West Magazine and the next you're trying to write about transcendence for Hope magazine and the next week you're writing a chapter for a medical textbook,"" he said.
While ""Off Main Street"" comes off as a polished collection of extraordinary range, Perry admits freelancing comes in spurts and is never completely done. He said a half-dozen stories are always in flux.
""You have some stories that are just a grain of an idea in the back of your head, you have some that are written down in files, you have some that are sitting on an editor's desk somewhere. You've got others that have been rejected and you're sending somewhere else and you have others you're supposed to be working on and you're keeping one eye on the calendar for those,"" he said.
Perry's area in the upper reaches of the state is well covered in ""Off Main Street."" However, he makes strides to find common ground with people who are not in his neck of the woods.
""Even though you're writing very specifically about a small town in northwestern Wisconsin, you're hoping there's going to be some resonance there with your fellow citizens,"" he said.
Michael Perry
Where:
University Bookstore
When:
Today at 6 p.m.
How much:
Free
