Montaigne in Barn Boots

September 1, 2017
The essays of Montaigne spark midlife reflection by the rural Wisconsin-based author.With a kidney stone as a shared affliction, Perry (The Jesus Cow, 2015, etc.) discovered an unlikely affinity with the French aristocrat, a shared humanity and spirit of discovery that bridge centuries, continents, and cultural differences. "You read Montaigne, you feel like you have a friend," writes the author, and so readers are likely to feel about Perry, who has often drawn from his small-town life with self-deprecating humor and Midwestern common sense. That same spirit permeates his scattershot reading of Montaigne, a body of work he approaches without anything resembling academic rigor; he mainly allows one thing to lead to another, from Montaigne to commentaries on Montaigne to meditations on the author's own life. "The desire to write about Montaigne puts me in heavy traffic on a tricycle," writes Perry. It's an image he likes so much that he later uses it to suggest his own limitations as a writer: "When I crack and read two pages of Dylan Thomas or Zora Neale Hurston, I understand that I am in the Tour de France on a tricycle." Yet Perry's refreshing candor, the essence of the personal essay, serves him well, as he opens his soul about his depression and anxiety, his marriage, his health (and hypochondria), and his recognition of the gulf between the persona he presents as a writer and performer and the person he knows (or suspects) himself to be. Though he supports himself by writing for money, and need make no apology for that, his aim here seems more like a soul-cleansing confession, like a writer talking to himself about the issues that concern him most. As he explains of his reading of Montaigne, "we only come to understand ourselves over time and then never fully. He was less interested in drawing conclusions about himself than having a conversation with himself. The dialogue would end only in death." Readers will learn plenty about Montaigne and more about Perry.

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October 15, 2017

This warm and humorous memoir by New York Times writer Perry gives us a crash course in the life and ideas of Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533-92). Montaigne's thinking was famously flexible, and he seemingly wrote about everything. Here, Perry takes us through Montaigne's, and his own, thoughts on sex, marriage, forgetfulness, kidney stones, religion, and a number of other matters. The author shares with his subject a congenital humility, combined with an openness to new ideas and ways of thinking. Readers will laugh out loud frequently while taking in this very funny memoir, as this reviewer did, yet it's a profound laughter, the kind that gets you thinking. VERDICT One couldn't hope for a better introduction to the work of Perry or Montaigne. [See "Families & Addiction, Philosophers, Two Debuts, & Joyce Maynard"; ow.ly/X70F30fkmkA.]--DS

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2017
While recovering from the agony of kidney stones, memoirist and novelist Perry (Danger, Man Working, 2017; The Jesus Cow, 2015; Visiting Tom, 2012) discovered the philosopher Michel de Montaigne, who happened to suffer the same affliction five hundred years prior. More parallels followed this painful coincidence, and Perry's interest grew. Montaigne composed essays while ensconced in a castle tower overlooking his vineyards. I typed that sentence while ensconced in a room above the garage overlooking a defunct pig pen. Joking aside, the two share thoughts on aging, anxiety, sex, and marriage. Perry, a down-to-earth midwesterner, and Montaigne, a French nobleman, both confront guilt, shame, faith, and death. The two writers are clearly long-lost comrades, separated by centuries. Perry reflects, The guy would write about anything which will remind readers of Perry himself, tackling issues with sincerity and humor, analyzing life, and evolving from self-exploration to self-improvement. You read Montaigne, you feel like you have a friend. Perry's readers will say the same of him.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)