Amateur pig farmer (as his author bio says) and writer Michael Perry has a new book out -- "Visiting Tom: A Man, A Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace," a lyrically subtitled nonfiction book about his friendship with an 82-year-old cannon collector (yes, you read that right) named Tom Hartwig. It's impossible not to think of Mitch Albom's "Tuesdays With Morrie," but Perry, the Wisconsin author of "Coop" and "Population 485," is a more subtle writer, and Hartwig is a more nuanced character than wisdom-spouting Morrie.

Perry will be in the Twin Cities later this month for several appearances: 6:30 p.m. Aug. 27 at Valley Bookseller in Stillwater; 7 p.m. Aug. 28 at The Bookcase of Wayzata; and 7:30 p.m. at Monkey See, Monkey Read in Northfield.

Also ...

• "Day Trips From the Twin Cities: Getaway Ideas for the Local Traveler," by Lisa Meyers McClintick, has been published by Globe Pequot Press. McClintick lives in Minnesota and blogs at 10000Likes.com.

• "Rez Salute: The Real Healer Dealer," by Jim Northrup, will be published in November by Fulcrum Publishing. It's a collection of Northrup's "Fond du Lac Follies" columns.

• "Race in a Bottle," by Jonathan Kahn, will be published in December by Columbia University Press. Kahn is a professor of law at Hamline University.

• "Curiosity Killed the Sphinx and Other Stories," by Katherine L. Holmes, has been published by Hollywood Books and is the winner of its Prize Americana. Holmes has an M.A. in writing from the University of Minnesota and is a winner of the Loft's Children's Literature Prize.

• "The Deposit Slip," a mystery by Todd M. Johnson, has been published by Bethany House of St. Paul. Johnson has been a Twin Cities attorney for 30 years and has served as a U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong.

• "Writing Into the Flash: On Finding Short Nonfiction's Decisive Moments," an essay by Barrie Jean Borich, has been included in "Flash Nonfiction," edited by Dinty Moore. Borich, who taught at Hamline University, now lives and teaches in Chicago.

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