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Marc Hamer spent 30 years working as a professional molecatcher in Wales (no joke) but as it turns out, he should’ve been writing all that time. This book is a true nonfiction gem – Hamer is poetic, graceful, & profound in his descriptions of catching (and killing) these strange velvety creatures who tear up Welsh fields. More than that, he has an extraordinary eye for observation & a remarkable gift for putting those observations to page in a gorgeous, wondrous way. A quiet, beautiful book and a lovely meditation on the natural world around us & how we all interact. -seth
— From Seth's PicksA heartwarming gift for gardeners and nature lovers this holiday season, from a country gardener exploring his kinship with the natural world.
"A wonderful memoir ... hands down the most charming book I read last year." --Margaret Renkl, The New York Times
"A beautiful, elegiac ode to a remarkable creature...Read Hamer's wondrous book, then explore your yard. You won't quite see it the same again." --The Washington Post
Marc Hamer is a humble gardener with the heart of a poet and the mind of a philosopher. In this peaceful memoir, he shares how, from boyhood into old age, he has lived with, and not against, nature. How his proximity to soil, sun, and shade has unleashed the greatest joys and profoundest sorrows of his life. And how our humanity is inextricably linked to the natural world, so we should have the good sense to leave it alone.
In simple, striking sentences, Marc offers a kind of poetic field guide to living in nature. He shares memories of childhood homelessness, his own poetry, wisdom about plants, and vivid descriptions of the garden he works in daily. He tells of flowers that are planted, bloom, and then die, of trees that burst into color, and of moles who burrow below pristine lawns. As a hired gardener, he has hunted moles for decades, but now he decides to let them be. Like him, moles do their work in the soil. Allowing them to continue is allowing all life to flourish.
Beautifully written, life-affirming, and meditative, How to Catch a Mole is a portrait of one man's unshakable bond with his natural surroundings, offering hope and inspiration for readers looking to reconnect to nature, to each other, and to life itself.