In 1545, in a remote Carpathian monastery, a tormented monk carves a throne from black oak felled beneath a blood moon. Its armrests are clawed hands straining to seize, its seat a lattice of thorns, its back an inverted Last Judgment where demons drag screaming angels into hell. Cursed in its final hour by a dying anti-cardinal, the Whispering Throne grants its sitter visions of tomorrow—exactly twenty-four hours ahead—but always two paths: one true, one the perfect, smiling lie. Choose w...

When farmer Harold wakes to find his wife dead beside him in bed and snow threatening to crush the last life from his dwindling farm, he takes drastic steps toward a fresh start. Set in a world of stark wintry beauty, Forty Acres Deep is the brief, unrelenting tale of one person's attempt to make sense of a world he no longer recognizes while pitilessly calling himself into account. Seamed with grim humor and earthy revelations, it is an unforgiving story...and yet leaves open the...

“Part portrait of a place, part rescue manual, part rumination of life and death, Population: 485 is a beautiful meditation on the things that matter.” — Seattle TimesWelcome to New Auburn, Wisconsin (population: 485) where the local vigilante is a farmer’s wife armed with a pistol and a Bible, the most senior member of the volunteer fire department is a cross-eyed butcher with one kidney and two ex-wives (both of whom work at the only gas station...

Eight-year-old Danny Woods can do things no kid should be able to do—hear thoughts, feel fear like it's his own, and move the world with a shove of his mind. Every time he uses it, it costs him: migraines, panic, and blank spots he can't explain.After a fresh start in Texas with mom Nora, a glossy flyer arrives for the Gifted & Exceptional Youth Program—and a woman who calls herself Archer begins knocking. She's polite. Patient. An...

The beloved memoirist and bestselling author of Population: 485 reflects on the lessons he’s learned from his unlikely alter ego, French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne."The journey began on a gurney," writes Michael Perry, describing the debilitating kidney stone that led him to discover the essays of Michel de Montaigne. Reading the philosopher in a manner he equates to chickens pecking at scraps—including those eye-blinking moments when the bird gobbles something too...

A part-time emergency medical technician humorously chronicles life in a small Wisconsin town, featuring tales of romance and auto repair.Hilarious and heartfelt, Truck: A Love Story is the tale of a man struggling to grow his own garden, fix his old pickup, and resurrect a love life permanently impaired by Neil Diamond. In the process, he sets his hair on fire, is attacked by wild turkeys, and proposes marriage to a woman in New Orleans. The result is a su...

In the near future, the world doesn't end with mushroom clouds or alien ships. It ends with a five-year-old girl from a nowhere Texas town running a fever that won't break.Lily Cole starts coughing in Crawford, Texas—a place of feed stores, Friday night football, and a little Tex-Mex café where everyone knows your order before you sit down. Her dad, Ethan, does what any parent would do: he carries her, burning with fever and whispering nonsense under her breath, into the tiny local...

Another in a series (including From the Top, Roughneck Grace, Million Billion, and Peaceful Persistence) of collected brief essays by New York Times bestselling author and humorist Michael Perry. "Although these pieces were written during times of unrest and pandemic, they drew on human connection," says Perry. "Week after week, slowly at first, and then regularly, I received messages, emails, comments, and sometimes even a handwritten note from readers who weren't looking to me for advice...

Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember meets Louis Sachar's Holes in this imaginative and humorous middle grade debut from Michael Perry, New York Times bestselling author of the adult novels Population: 485 and Truck: A Love Story.When the world started to fall apart, the government gave everyone two choices: move into the Bubble Cities…or take their chances outside.Maggie's family chose to live in the world that was left behind. Deciding it's time to grow up and grow tough, Ma...

“You can read Michael Perry’s Coop as an outrageously funny comedy about a semi-hapless neophyte navigating the pitfalls (and pratfalls) of the farming life. Please do, in fact. But scratch a little deeper, past Perry’s lusciously entertaining and epigrammatic prose, his ultra-charming combo of Midwestern earnestness and serrated wit, and you’ll find a reflective, sincere, and surprisingly touching-at times, even heart-cracking-story about a man struggling to put down roots.” — Jonathan Mi...

New York Times bestselling author, humorist, and speaker Michael Perry delivers real-world lessons on leadership, creativity, resilience, and entrepreneurship.Entertaining and fundamentally useful no matter the form of art or business you pursue, Improbable Mentors & Happy Tangents is a masterclass in identifying unexpected opportunities and concludes with a chapter titled, "The Most Improbable Mentor Move of All."This witty and insightful book details how unlikely encounte...

New York Times bestselling humorist Michael Perry makes his fiction debut with this hilarious and big-hearted tale, a comic yet sincere exploration of faith and the foibles of modern life that blends the barbed charm of Garrison Keillor, the irreverent humor of Christopher Moore, and the audacious insight of Chuck Klosterman.Life is suddenly full of drama for low-key Harley Jackson: A woman in a big red pickup has stolen his bachelor’s heart, a Hummer-driving predatory dev...