Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Michael Perry (no date)
Description
Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. HTML: "Somewhere between Garrison Keillor's idyllic-sweet Lake Wobegon and the narrow-mindedness of Sinclair Lewis's Main Street lies the reality of small-town life. This is where Michael Perry lives." �??St. Paul Pioneer Press "Perry can take comfort in the power of his writing, his ability to pull readers from all corners onto his Wisconsin spread, and make them feel right at home." �??Seattle Times Tuesdays with Morrie meets Bill Bryson in Visiting Tom, another witty, poignant, and stylish paean to living in New Auburn, Wisconsin, from Michael Perry. The author of Population: 485, Coop, and Truck: A Love Story, Perry takes us along on his uplifting visits with his octogenarian neighbor one valley over�??and celebrates the wisdom, heart, and sass of a vanishing generation that embodies the indomitable spirit of small-town America.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member pandalibrarian
I loved this book - but then I love all of Michael Perry's books!
I've driven HWY 94 between Madison and Eau Claire many times over the years but it wasn't until I read this book that I looked for the silo and farm close to the freeway. Last time I drove home, I saw it - and wow is it ever close.
I
One of the people in the book is named Denny. I have to admit that when I first saw that name, my heart skipped a beat. My husband's uncle was named Denny and lived in the same town at Michael Perry. He passed away a number of years ago but I can imagine that if Michael and Uncle Denny's paths had ever crossed, they'd have been good friends and many stories would have been shared.
Thanks Edelweiss for the Digital Advance Review Copy for my NOOK. I know what I'll be buying for family and friends this Christmas!
I've driven HWY 94 between Madison and Eau Claire many times over the years but it wasn't until I read this book that I looked for the silo and farm close to the freeway. Last time I drove home, I saw it - and wow is it ever close.
I
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read this book while on vacation in Sweden earlier this summer. I saved it to read while out of the country because I knew that this book would bring a little bit of Wisconsin and home where ever I happened to be reading.One of the people in the book is named Denny. I have to admit that when I first saw that name, my heart skipped a beat. My husband's uncle was named Denny and lived in the same town at Michael Perry. He passed away a number of years ago but I can imagine that if Michael and Uncle Denny's paths had ever crossed, they'd have been good friends and many stories would have been shared.
Thanks Edelweiss for the Digital Advance Review Copy for my NOOK. I know what I'll be buying for family and friends this Christmas!
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LibraryThing member Carolee888
really enjoyed reading "Visiting Tom" by Michael Perry. It brought back many memories of my childhood and visiting my aunts and uncles. This book is set in rural Wisconsin but it turns out that it is not different from where my relatives lived in Indiana. With his broad knowledge of mechanics,
Tom Hartwig, an octogenarian, now widowed and a grandparent has a great sense of humor that kind of jumps up and surprises you! His grandfather had bought the land that Tom was living on. Memories of the past are seeded through this book but Tom was not living in the past. He comes from the area, with a strong appreciation of nature and a love of learning. The seedlings of Tom's and Michael Perry's experiences pop up and bring back so many of your own when you read "Visiting Tom".
Back on November 9, 1967 the Interstate opened through his farm. The first plans were to have it go through his barn but Tom was able to talk them out of it. That is not the only odd thing about his land; he has cannons positioned so that he can shoot them whenever he gets inspired by his history books. He does have permission from the authorities to do so.
Tom is the author's neighbor, and the author's family stories mingle in with Tom's. There are many stories of what he and his daughters did together. Also stories of the terrible hill near his property that caused so many over time slide off the road. So many that he keep a list of the people by name that didn't make it.
Packed in with the other stores are tales of one particularly bad blizzard. Since I have been in a terrible one in Indiana, I checked out his description and it was same as mine in Indiana. For one thing, the snow went horizontal in stripes he called it. I thought it was like snow going through plastic tubes. I think you have to be in a blizzard to describe. I know this review is very rambling but that is how this book is, like going down a country road and making all sorts of discoveries.
I highly recommend "Visiting Tom" for anyone who has lived or visited the country and like to read about the past and learning the wisdom of their elders.
I received this book as a part of the Amazon Vine program but that in no way influenced my review.
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gardening and history, he reminds me of my favorite aunt! It is difficult in this review to sift out my own memories because there are so many similarities.Tom Hartwig, an octogenarian, now widowed and a grandparent has a great sense of humor that kind of jumps up and surprises you! His grandfather had bought the land that Tom was living on. Memories of the past are seeded through this book but Tom was not living in the past. He comes from the area, with a strong appreciation of nature and a love of learning. The seedlings of Tom's and Michael Perry's experiences pop up and bring back so many of your own when you read "Visiting Tom".
Back on November 9, 1967 the Interstate opened through his farm. The first plans were to have it go through his barn but Tom was able to talk them out of it. That is not the only odd thing about his land; he has cannons positioned so that he can shoot them whenever he gets inspired by his history books. He does have permission from the authorities to do so.
Tom is the author's neighbor, and the author's family stories mingle in with Tom's. There are many stories of what he and his daughters did together. Also stories of the terrible hill near his property that caused so many over time slide off the road. So many that he keep a list of the people by name that didn't make it.
Packed in with the other stores are tales of one particularly bad blizzard. Since I have been in a terrible one in Indiana, I checked out his description and it was same as mine in Indiana. For one thing, the snow went horizontal in stripes he called it. I thought it was like snow going through plastic tubes. I think you have to be in a blizzard to describe. I know this review is very rambling but that is how this book is, like going down a country road and making all sorts of discoveries.
I highly recommend "Visiting Tom" for anyone who has lived or visited the country and like to read about the past and learning the wisdom of their elders.
I received this book as a part of the Amazon Vine program but that in no way influenced my review.
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LibraryThing member SamSattler
Tom Hartwig, a man in his mid-eighties, has lived under the same Wisconsin roof his entire life. Tom was born in the family farmhouse, moved his bride into the same bedroom he slept in as a baby, and has worked the family farm from that house since 1958 when his father retired and moved up the hill
Author Michael Perry (Population: 485; Truck: A Love Story; and Coop) is Tom’s friend and neighbor. Perry does not consider Tom to be his mentor, but recognizes that with each visit to the Hartwig household, he “accrues certain clues to comportment – as a husband, as a father, as a citizen. Readers of Visiting Tom are likely to come away from the book feeling much the same.
The official opening of the new highway offered an immediate glimpse of things to come. The ribbon-cutting’s opening prayer included the local pastor’s plea that drivers “use sound judgment when driving” the new road. Then, the fifty-car motorcade of state dignitaries led away a group of locals and others wanting to be among the first to test drive the new route. Just twenty-three minutes after the celebratory ribbon was cut, the interstate suffered its first traffic accident, and Tom’s life has never been the same.
Visiting Tom is a dual biography in which the author alternates sections recounting his visits to the Hartwig farm with chapters about the goings-on at his own house just up the road from Tom’s – and how Tom’s influence is helping him cope with his own set of everyday problems. Tom Hartwig is one of the most self-sufficient men imaginable. During his eight decades, he has mastered all the skills necessary to keep a farm running despite anything the economy might throw at him. If Tom cannot find a spare part for one of his farm implements, he makes one. He delights in scavenging parts from broken down machinery to put together one complete machine that works – and he has a story to tell about every machine, building, and corner of his farm, including a tale about the push broom left behind by the highway construction crew in 1967.
But the beautiful thing about Tom and Arlene Hartwig is the couple’s grace under fire. After losing their battle to keep the interstate highway from their front door, the Hartwig’s proceeded to adapt to the lifestyle left to them. Utilizing a combination of grace, patience, and inward placidity, they have made the most of what they have. Rather than becoming bitter about what they lost, they decided to enjoy what is theirs.
There is a valuable lesson there for all of us.
Rated at: 5.0
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to a small cottage. This is not to say that Tom is a stranger to change because, thanks to President Eisenhower and the Federal-Aid Highway Act, an interstate highway now runs through his front yard. The highway that opened in November 1967 carries over 8 million cars and trucks drive past the Hartwigs’ kitchen window each year. One has only to consider the constant hum of road noise the Hartwig’s have learned to cope with to understand the depth of what was stolen from them all those years ago.Author Michael Perry (Population: 485; Truck: A Love Story; and Coop) is Tom’s friend and neighbor. Perry does not consider Tom to be his mentor, but recognizes that with each visit to the Hartwig household, he “accrues certain clues to comportment – as a husband, as a father, as a citizen. Readers of Visiting Tom are likely to come away from the book feeling much the same.
The official opening of the new highway offered an immediate glimpse of things to come. The ribbon-cutting’s opening prayer included the local pastor’s plea that drivers “use sound judgment when driving” the new road. Then, the fifty-car motorcade of state dignitaries led away a group of locals and others wanting to be among the first to test drive the new route. Just twenty-three minutes after the celebratory ribbon was cut, the interstate suffered its first traffic accident, and Tom’s life has never been the same.
Visiting Tom is a dual biography in which the author alternates sections recounting his visits to the Hartwig farm with chapters about the goings-on at his own house just up the road from Tom’s – and how Tom’s influence is helping him cope with his own set of everyday problems. Tom Hartwig is one of the most self-sufficient men imaginable. During his eight decades, he has mastered all the skills necessary to keep a farm running despite anything the economy might throw at him. If Tom cannot find a spare part for one of his farm implements, he makes one. He delights in scavenging parts from broken down machinery to put together one complete machine that works – and he has a story to tell about every machine, building, and corner of his farm, including a tale about the push broom left behind by the highway construction crew in 1967.
But the beautiful thing about Tom and Arlene Hartwig is the couple’s grace under fire. After losing their battle to keep the interstate highway from their front door, the Hartwig’s proceeded to adapt to the lifestyle left to them. Utilizing a combination of grace, patience, and inward placidity, they have made the most of what they have. Rather than becoming bitter about what they lost, they decided to enjoy what is theirs.
There is a valuable lesson there for all of us.
Rated at: 5.0
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LibraryThing member 1Randal
Perry continues to amaze with his deep, complex insights into what would normally be considered ordinary subject matter, such as old barns, swimming holes, and "real" kitchens. He continually returns me to my own memories of growing up in a small town/rural atmosphere. Genius!
LibraryThing member 1Randal
Perry continues to amaze with his deep, complex insights into what would normally be considered ordinary subject matter, such as old barns, swimming holes, and "real" kitchens. He continually returns me to my own memories of growing up in a small town/rural atmosphere. Genius!
LibraryThing member 1Randal
Perry continues to amaze with his deep, complex insights into what would normally be considered ordinary subject matter, such as old barns, swimming holes, and "real" kitchens. He continually returns me to my own memories of growing up in a small town/rural atmosphere. Genius!
LibraryThing member cjordan916
Couldn't get into it
LibraryThing member larryerick
I don't want to imply this book's author does not have fine woodsmith skills. He does. Yet, I was never fully grabbed by his account. Others have described the book as part memoir and part character study. I can buy that to a certain extent, but I would rather say it's three short stories spread
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out in tandem across the entire narrative. One part is the author's account of his neighbor, Tom. Clearly, the author has great respect for Tom, as well he should. What less observant people may describe as simple country fellow, is honored with the author's fine telling of Tom's skills, intellect, perseverance, and much, much more. Tom is really quite a guy. And he's right there being passed by everyday my hundreds if not thousands of people speeding by his farm in their cars and trucks, oblivious to his great attributes. This book is also a bit of a saga of the author fighting his own Tom-like battle with local government over a less than sensible "improvement" to his community. Ultimately, this book is a man's memoir of his lifetime in and around his community with Tom, Tom's wife, his wife and children, and many friends. Frankly, I did not find it that compelling most of the time. My wife and others who have read this author say he is humorous. For me, having a sense of humor and being humorous are not the same thing, and I would say the author definitely has a sense of humor, but he simply was not that humorous. This is not Mark Twain. He's a former RN who has deep roots in one community. Maybe it's just me. Having lived in 12 towns, 20 homes, gone to 10 different schools, maybe the sense of community attachment just doesn't resonate with me as it does with others. Or maybe it's because I don't easily connect nursing with humor writing. Then again, my RN ex-wife ended up remarried to a respiratory therapist who smoked constantly and refused to let me in his house to see my daughter, not even on Christmas, so maybe I will never properly understand the nursing mind. Regardless, I would like to end this review with a snippet from the book in which the author mentions his wife: "...she is the grown-up in this relationship. People chuckle when I say that, but I am not going for a laugh. When you're lucky you should say so. And then write yourself a stern reminder not to fall back on that luck." Yes, my dear wife, I am extremely lucky. Show Less
LibraryThing member jennybeast
Another meditative-combative book from Michael Perry, this one centering on the feisty and independant Tom Hartwig. In some ways, I found this book less focused than the usual Perry offering, but it was no less charming for that. I particularly like how he shows respect and reverence for the elders
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of his community, without idealizing them. Show Less