A Life in Nature
Or How to Catch a Mole
Published on 1. October 2020
256 pages
978-1-4735-8459-4 (ISBN)
Description
A captivating, life-affirming memoir of a life in nature that celebrates finding wonder in our world.
'A wonderful book... It has taught me a lot. I feel great love for it' MAX PORTER
At the age of sixteen, Marc Hamer left home with only a rucksack and started walking. By day, he observed the animals and birds. By night, he slept under hedges, in woodlands and on riverbanks. It was the beginning of a life in nature.
Years later, now working as a gardener and mole-catcher in the Welsh countryside, Marc tells of the experiences that have shaped him and of the wonders that he encounters each day. He considers, too, the fascinating ways of the mole and the myths that surround this curious creature.
This beautiful, meditative book explores what nature can teach us about ourselves and our search for contentment. It is a celebration of living peacefully and finding joy in the world around us.
'It is rare to encounter such respect and understanding of nature' Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of Cows
** Longlisted for The Wainwright Prize 2019 **
(Published in hardback as How to Catch a Mole)
'A wonderful book... It has taught me a lot. I feel great love for it' MAX PORTER
At the age of sixteen, Marc Hamer left home with only a rucksack and started walking. By day, he observed the animals and birds. By night, he slept under hedges, in woodlands and on riverbanks. It was the beginning of a life in nature.
Years later, now working as a gardener and mole-catcher in the Welsh countryside, Marc tells of the experiences that have shaped him and of the wonders that he encounters each day. He considers, too, the fascinating ways of the mole and the myths that surround this curious creature.
This beautiful, meditative book explores what nature can teach us about ourselves and our search for contentment. It is a celebration of living peacefully and finding joy in the world around us.
'It is rare to encounter such respect and understanding of nature' Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of Cows
** Longlisted for The Wainwright Prize 2019 **
(Published in hardback as How to Catch a Mole)
Reviews / Votes
In lyrical prose, Hamer revealed a curious kinship with moles - creatures who, like him, often work alone. Like Laurie Lee, Hamer is an elegist, attracted to what's beautiful precisely because it's poised to pass away. * Washington Post * From the first few words I knew I had encountered loving honesty and no one needs more than that. It is rare to encounter such respect and understanding of nature for herself. -- Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of Cows How To Catch A Mole is a beguiling mixture: part autobiography, part handbook, part travel book, part philosophical treatise. I'm happy to report that it succeeds on each level -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday * Not only a compelling meditation on the 'little gentleman in black velvet'...but also a fascinating, lyrical account of the loneliness and beauty of life on the margins, a memoir of vagrancy * Times Literary Supplement * This is a wonderful book about our relationship with the earth, with other animals and with our own troubled humanity. It has taught me a lot. I feel great love for it. -- Max Porter How to Catch a Mole is a beautiful, elegiac ode to a remarkable creature. It's also an exploration of Hamer's life as he approaches his sunset years. Each page is filled with wonder, love, regret, humility and a sense of wonder (and oneness) with nature. * Washington Post * [How To Catch a Mole] has the feel of an enduring classic. It is the testament of a man who has learnt to see, who has the nerve to interrogate his own annihilation and who...handles language superbly * Oldie * Marc tells his story and explores what moles, and a life in nature, can tell us about our own humanity and our search for contentment. * Sunday Express * [Hamer] offers us some heart-rending images which linger in the mind long after you've closed the book * Daily Mail * Marc Hamer's uplifting writings shed some light on the velvety creatures burrowing beneath our countryside. * National Geographic *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Random House (Digital)
File size
11,05 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-4735-8459-4 (9781473584594)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
10/2020
Vintage
€16.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Marc Hamer was born in the North of England and moved to Wales over thirty years ago. After spending a period homeless, then working on the railway, he returned to education and studied fine art in Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent. He has worked in art galleries, marketing, graphic design and taught creative writing in a prison before becoming a gardener. Both his books, A Life in Nature; or How to Catch a Mole and Seed to Dust have been longlisted for the Wainwright Prize.
