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Mike Perry’s extraordinary and thoughtful account of meeting the people of his small hometown by joining the fire and rescue team was a breakout hit that “swells with unadorned heroism” (USA Today)Welcome 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 person in the volunteer fire department is a cross-eyed butcher with one kidney and two ex-wives (both of whom just work at the only gas station around), and the trunk roads are haunted by the ghosts of children and farmers. Michael Perry loves this place. He grew up here, and now-after ten years away-he has returned.Struggling to polka or repair his own pickup, his farm-boy hands gone soft after many years of writing, Mike figures the ultimate way to regain his credibility is to become listed on the volunteer fire department. Against a backdrop of fires and tangled wrecks, bar fights and smelt feeds, he tells a frequently comic tale leavened with moments of heartbreaking delicacy and searing tragedy. Tracing his calls over a map in the tiny firehouse, he sees “a dense, benevolent web, spun one frantic zigzag at a time” from which the story of a little town emerges.

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