University of Wisconsin - Stout

Discussion Questions and Discussion Focus Leader Guide

  1. To what extent does Mike Perry seem like just another good old boy and to what extent has he obviously been changed by his years away from home?
  2. Why does Perry decide to join the volunteer fire department and rescue squad?
  3. Although Perry has lightly fictionalized his story, changing the names of some characters, the material about his own family seems pretty straightforward and is sometimes a bit painful. How do you feel about this?
  4. Have you known people like the folks in this book? Do you see similarities between Perry's New Autburn, WI and your home town?
  5. While Perry highlights details intended to make New Auburn and some of its residents seem unique, is it possible that these details also make them more universal?
  6. Based on Perry's book and your own experience, how is life in a small town different from life in the big city?
  7. How does Mike Perry’s description of his town differ from the way you might describe a major metropolitan area or a suburb?  Using Perry’s descriptions of the main street, or the fire house, or driving through the countryside- how would you describe comparable segments of urban and suburban life?  What are the similarities and differences?
  8. How does Perry’s sense of community membership and responsibility compare to what you have grown up with?  What is your personal sense of community membership and responsibility?  What do you expect life at Stout to be like?
  9. When you think about the wired communities you belong to, how do you describe them?  What stands out for you?  How do you compare your (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) wired communities to the communities of people presented in Population: 485?

  10. At the beginning of chapter 7,  the narrator (Mike Perry) describes a personal  reaction of  mortification at the thought of being on the Jamboree Days float.   Apparently, there is some discrepancy in comfort levels of the community (as represented by the lady at the bank) and the narrator at the thought/prospect  of this.  What do you think the basis of this discrepancy in comfort levels might be? Does it reveal anything about the narrator, his community, and/or his role in the community?

More Discussion Questions from Reading Group Guides

  1. Have you returned home after being away for an extended period? If so, what was it like? Was your town the same as you remembered? Did you choose to stay?
  2. What is the small town dynamic? How does it differ from life in bigger cities? How is the small town dynamic replicated within segments of larger cities? Perry has said he enjoys exploring New York City. Might there not be comfort in the anonymity of a larger place?
  3. Perry seems to deal with the notion of death and emergency situations very calmly and rationally. Are these abilities inherent, or can they be learned? How do you deal with similar situations? How did you feel when you read the line, "Puke is the great constant."?
  4. Perry explores the stressful aspects of fire and ambulance calls, but he also suggests that even the worst calls weave themselves into a sense of history and place that is ultimately comforting. How does the passage of time contribute to this process? How might it differ from person to person?
  5. Not everyone can go home or would want to. What is it in Perry's personality that draws him back to his hometown? Is finding your place in the community an active or a passive process?
  6. If you could share a bowl of piping hot deep-fried cheese curds with one character in Population: 485, who would it be, and why?