Trading Paces: From Rat Race to Hen Run

by Michael Kelly

Does this ring any bells? Mortgaged to the hilt, rising at 5.30 to commute across three counties to jobs in Dublin, fed-up, bleary-eyed and only in your thirties? Michael Kelly and his wife were classic Celtic Cubs. Then they simplified, down-sized, opted out. Now they live happily in a leaky cottage in Dunmore East, their ties with the capital severed and their careers as corporate drones abandoned. They grow vegetables and rear an ever-expanding coterie of animals: laying hens, a cock named Roger and pigs called Charlotte and Wilbur. And they don't hate Mondays anymore! This is an extremely humorous, thought provoking account of one couple's discovery that there is an alternative to the consumer driven lifestyle. As Michael Kelly describes the hilarious hazards of rural life as well as the advantages, he demonstrates how one brave decision can transform your life. A funny and inspiring account of the ups and downs of letting go of the Tiger. You can also read about Michael's continuing adventures with rural life on his website www.michaelkelly.ie

206 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 18, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Michael Kelly is a freelance contributor to The Irish Times. He writes columns including ‘My Big Week’ and ‘What’s On’ for the Irish Times Magazine, ‘A New Life’ in the Health supplement and ‘The Irishman’s Diary’. His column ‘Giving Up’ in the Irish Times Magazine saw him forsake each week some of the essentials of modern life electricity, mobile phone, shaving, coffee etc. He also writes for The Gloss magazine (the Urban Farmer column and Restaurant Spy). He has appeared on The Dave Fanning Show, Mooney Goes Wild and Seoige and O’Shea. He previously worked in the I.T. industry.

Reviews

[Marci · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I started expand my own garden beyond tomatoes and peppers to bigger endeavors (ie., pumpkins), I read Trading Paces, an autobiographical accout about an Irish man who gives up his job as a IT saleseperson to become a freelance writer. The author, who wooed his wife by telling her quite cockily that he would be a millionaire, learns about living happily on less. Along with adjusting to working his own hours and writing, Kelly also chronicles how he gets taken in, step by step, by working the land. The book is really about Michael Kelly's experiences getting in touch with his atavistic agricultural roots--as his first farming dalliance with garlic leads to much more, including hens, chickens and finally some pigs. It's clear, Kelly is hooked by the cottage and working the land from the beginning. An entertaining and good read--that also provides commentary and statistics on the world's increasingly fissured relationship with food as the industry shifts to mass production. It's an interesting glimpse from a country that only relatively recently became more commericialized with its introduction to the EU--and can perhaps provide more recent memory of farming as a way of life. No matter where you live, there is something self-nourishing about growing food on your own land--the pursuit is almost as intoxicating, as Kelly can attest, as the pursuit for riches. For anyone who has ever taken joy at growing and eating a tomato off the vine, read this book. . .Kelly's conversational style will have you relating, as well as gaining a greater appreciation for the long-lost art of harvesting for harvesting sake--and living happily within your means.

[Deborah Maatman-Thedos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!!

Excellent!!!

Funny AND informative....what more could you ask for? :) I recently purchased a small farm and was getting a bit crazy trying to figure out exactly how to go about dealing with gardens, chickens, goats, etc. This author didn't say it was easy, but he did make it seem to be loads of fun meeting the challenges of a small hold as a newbie farmer!!