The Jesus Cow

March 30, 2015
Perry’s (Population: 485) latest is an amiable and quirky exploration of Christian beliefs, set against the backdrop of economically depressed rural Wisconsin. Bachelor Harley has been forced to sell portions of his family’s farm to developers over the years just to stay afloat. But on Christmas Eve, his beef cow goes into labor, delivers a calf that bears the unmistakable image of Jesus on her hide, and Harley knows his life is about to change—whether it’s for the better or not, however, is unclear. Harley initially attempts to hide the Jesus Cow, but word quickly gets out, and soon everyone in town has an opinion. There’s Klute Sorensen, the Hummer-driving developer intent on suing Harley right out of his home. Carolyn Sawchuck, a disgraced academic, rents the old water tower and shack on one edge of Harley’s land. And then there’s Billy, Harley’s friend, whose help is well intentioned but usually comes in the form of old country lyrics dispensed over a bottle of beer. Perry’s novel wrestles with some big issues—religion, environmentalism, community—but he resists letting his narrative get too bogged down in them. The result is a purposeful story that doesn’t overwhelm, an often charming read that rarely takes itself too seriously.

Starred review from April 1, 2015

Perry, a New York Times best-selling nonfiction author (Population: 485), radio host, songwriter, and self-proclaimed amateur pig farmer, makes his fiction debut with this expansive yet grounded novel. Harley Jackson is trying to hold onto the remaining 15 acres of his parents' farm in Swivel, WI, as well as his meager eight head of beef cattle in the face of pressure from a local opportunistic developer. On Christmas Eve, Harley's lone dairy cow gives birth to a calf with the unmistakable face of Jesus Christ imprinted on its side. Harley, recognizing immense amounts of trouble in store, does his best to cover the image, but his hapless attempts are no match for the calf destined to become known to the world as #JesusCow. Before long, the young bovine has an agent, a full-blown media circus camps outside Harley's front door, and our hero has money and plenty of accompanying headaches. VERDICT A hilarious glimpse into small-town life and cowboy/farmer/"Scandihoovian" philosophy, combined with meditations on the meanings of faith, environmentalism, development, and romance. Highly recommended for fans of Christopher Moore. [Prepub Alert, 11/10/14.]--Julie Kane, Sweet Briar Coll. Lib., VA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2015
In Swivel, Wisconsin, a cow named Tina Turner has birthed a calf with Jesus' image on its flank, "the standard doe-eye Lutheran hippie iteration." Drawing small-town characters out of central casting, Perry's tale ripples with simple-life nostalgia. Tina Turner's owner, Harley Jackson, says, "Well, that's trouble" after seeing the calf's "above average stencil of the Son of God." Forty-something Harley lives alone on the remnants of his parents' farm. Most of the land was gobbled up by an interstate highway and the machinations of developer Klute Sorenson, who learns business strategy from audiobooks like Stomp Your Way to Success: A Clodhopper Walks All Over Wall Street. Harley's best friend, supersized Billy Tripp, a trailer-living, clog-wearing cat fancier, wisely knows there's money to be made when folks begin "assigning meaning to coincidence." At a staff meeting over bottles of Foamy Viking beer, Billy urges reluctant Harley to cash in and finance "undevelopment" of Klute's tacky McMansions. Then the calf is seen by Harley's mail carrier. Believing it miraculous, she calls the Rev. Gary at the Church of the Roaring Lamb. Soon, Sloan Knight of International Talent Management jets in, because there's "a hard horizon on long-term marketability thematics." Another fly in the ointment is Carolyn Sawchuck, former professor and current environmentalist, who survives on EarthHug tea and Little Debbie Zebra Cakes while secreting used motor oil in Swivel's abandoned water tower. Add a tow-truck-driving, junkyard-owning widow; a techno-gadget-entranced fire chief; a Barney Fife constable; and town newcomer Mindy, a sculptwelder who breaks Harley's heart, and it's sure to end with a bang. Good fun abounds when JCOW Enterprises sets up business and Harley's life becomes "a rough approximation of things hoped for."

April 15, 2015
When Harley finds a newborn calf in his barn on Christmas Eve, he is dismayed to recognize a picture of Jesus Christ in the spots on the Holstein's flank. The son of devout, hardworking farmers, Harley can think of nothing worse than the attention such an anomaly would bring. His friend Billy disagrees, urging him to take the bull by the horns and seize the money-making opportunity that could help him save his farm. The argument doesn't last long before the holy cow is spotted by the mail carrier, and all hell breaks loose. Harley soon finds himself struggling to manage crowds the likes of which he'd never imagined, leaving him no time to manage his budding relationship with the woman of his dreams or the wayward tenant living under his water tower. As the dough pours in, Harley's sanity leaks out, and that's just when catastrophe strikes. Humorist Perry's first novel combines irreverence with just the right amount of sweetness in a genuinely funny satire of religion and morality in small-town, contemporary America.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)