Truck: A Love Story, by Michael Perry, (New York: Harper Perennial; 2007), 320 pages.
This is not a love story about a
man that falls in love with his International Harvester pick-up truck, as the
title and cover may suggest. Rather, it is a book about the year in the life of
a writer living in rural Wisconsin.
This is not as dull a subject as it may seem at first glance. Please be assured
that it’s also not a book of endless pages about a man (Perry) sitting at a
desk pecking away at a keyboard. Perry has an active life: he grows his own
vegetables, volunteers for the local fire brigade, travels around the United States
promoting his books; is active in the community and falls in love. With the
changing of the seasons, Perry’s garden grows, his love of a woman develops and
deepens, and the restoration of his International Harvester pick-up truck
inches towards completion. By the end of the book the author manages to leave
the reader strangely satisfied: the truck is restored, and Perry gets married
and lives happily ever after in rural Wisconsin living his charmed life developing
more material for his next autobiographical book.
This is not a book solely about
restoring a truck, nor is it solely about romantic love: its more nuanced and
sublime than that. These subjects are major parts of the book, but are not the sole
story lines. This book is a reflection on life in rural America by a
man with deep roots in his community. Perry lives an active and full life. His
work, both volunteered and paid keeps him busy as does his participation in
social life of his small town and his engagement with his family. Perry’s life
has many facets, and all of them shine in this surprisingly enjoyable book. Perry
has no claim to fame to propel sales of this book; he has no widely known
notable achievements other than his ability to write autobiographical books
that sell well due to them being good books. This touching and humorous book
demonstrates the nobility of a man’s ordinary life lived in a small rural Wisconsin community, the virtue of work and marriage, and
the love of family, friends and community.
