One Bird's Choice: A Year in the Life of an Overeducated, Underemployed Twenty-Something Who Moves Back Home

by Iain Reid

Meet Iain an overeducated, underemployed twenty-something, living in the big city in a bug-filled basement apartment and struggling to make ends meet. When Iain lands a job at a radio station near his childhood home, he decides to take it. But the work is only part time, so he is forced to move back in with his lovable but eccentric parents on their hobby farm. What starts out as a temporary arrangement turns into a year-long extended stay, in which Iain finds himself fighting with the farm fowl, taking fashion advice from the elderly, fattening up on a gluttonous fare of home-cooked food, and ultimately easing (perhaps a little too comfortably) into the semi-retired, rural lifestyle. A hilarious and heartwarming comic memoir about food, family, and finally growing up, One Bird’s Choice marks the arrival of a funny, original, and fresh new voice.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Canada, Biography, Humor, Biography Memoir, Animals

264 pages, Hardcover

First published September 11, 2010

About the author

Iain Reid is the author of two critically acclaimed, award-winning books of nonfiction. His debut novel, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, was an international bestseller, and was translated into more than a dozen languages. Oscar-winner Charlie Kaufman is writing and directing the film adaptation for Netflix. Foe is Reid's second novel.

Reviews

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even remember where I heard of Iain Reid but I found two of his books at the library last week and read them back to back. I love them.

This is his memoir of the year he moved back home with his parents when he was underemployed. His parents own a hobby farm called Lilac Hill, and it is within commuting distance of his part-time job with the CBC in Ottawa. So Iain came home, at first for the summer, but it stretched to a full year. This book was so funny that I laughed out loud several times. His parents are, to put it gently, eccentric, especially his mother, and I loved his description of her.

The chapter where they debate pancakes vs. cheese-and-bacon thingies was hilarious. When he writes about teaching his mom to use a computer, well, I think many of us have been there.

This is an altogether delightful book, one well worth the accolades it received from reviewers. While Reid wasn't sentimental about that year, sometimes expressing his frustration and irritation with the situation, he was never sarcastic or mean-spirited; his love for his family clearly shone through. I can't wait to read something else by him.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars
This is wonderful, quiet memoir where very little happens. The chapters cover topics from food to farm chores to VCR tapes. Yet, this short book still manages to be memorable, sweet and poignant. The author's anecdotes about his parents are funny and adorable.

This book felt reminiscent of the Canadian Sitcom, Corner Gas, which about a sleepy small Canadian town where there is also "not a lot is going on". I think Canadian readers, particularly underemployed young people, will connect most to the narrative.

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle says it all in a nutshell: a year in the life of an overeducated, underemployed twenty-something who moves back home.

On the back cover describes Iain Reid's "One Bird's Choice" as "a hilarious and heartwarming memoir that bridges the divide between the boomer and boomerang generations."

You know what that made me think of?

This passage from the book, where Reid is reading out some of the "funny" material that he's been working on to a friend:

Here's the thing: if something actually is funny, people don't say so. They laugh. Saying something's funny but not laughing is just fradulent.

"Funny stuff," he says again." (p.190-191)

Okay, so that might seem to imply that I didn't find the book hilarious -- and it's true; I didn't find the book funny. But you know what? I actually really enjoyed reading Reid's memoir of the year he spent living with his parents on their hobby farm when he moved back to Ottawa from Toronto to take on a part-time job with CBC radio.

What was supposed to be a temporary arrangement wound up being a year-long stay where he slipped into what sounded a lot like retired lifestyle.

His parents sound adorable -- completely quirky, lively, and engaging -- and Reid has a really nice writing style that makes them leap off of the page.

But do you know what reading this memoir was like?

It's like revisiting your own quarter-life crisis -- and increasingly, doesn't everybody hit that stage at some point in their mid-twenties?

Nothing really happens, per se, in this book -- no profound life lessons learned or life-altering events.

But in spite of that, I really liked this. It's the perfect book for a cold winter's day because it creeps along unassumingly.

Maybe not everybody's cup of tea, but if you've ever had a quarter-life crisis, you'll get where Reid is coming from.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iain Reid remains my favourite author (all his writing has been 5 stars). I also very much connected with many of the stories in this memoir.

[Kait · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the premise of this book—mostly because, at the ripe old age of 23, I’m ready to move to the country and run a hobby farm. It appealed to me for the same reason that I loved books like The Woefield Poultry Collective , Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life , and Barnheart: The Incurable Longing for a Farm of One's Own . (I’d recommend this to you if you enjoyed these books, and vice versa.) To me there is something compelling about a quiet life on the farm or rural countryside. Reid describes it a bit in this comment from his father:

“Now, without getting into a lecture here,” he says, topping up our glasses, “in his poem ‘The Prelude,’ Wordsworth talks about what he calls spots of time. These are moments for everybody when they can get a sense of things, actually see into the life of things.” Dad fills his own glass last. He rests the empty bottle carefully beside his seat and grabs another handful of nuts. “Look out there,” he says, motioning to the rolling fields in front of us. “I think I know what he means.”

I think this easiness, the tranquility one can feel in solitude or quiet companionship away from the city, is one of the things that makes these types of memoirs so attractive to modern readers. It’s not an experience one often has in Toronto, for instance.

While it was an enjoyable read, there was something missing for me. I think it was that I didn’t find Iain Reid to be a particularly interesting character/person and was infuriated by his lack of drive. I can understand being in a rough spot and moving back to your parents’—I’m not judging that and in fact would not be surprised if I end up moving back into my parents’ house at some point. But Reid is 27, and I confess I can’t really understand what he did for all that time between graduating university and moving back home that left him with no marketable skills for a job or career. This was something that constantly niggled at the back of my mind and spoiled my enjoyment of the book a little bit.

That being said, I did like One Bird’s Choice. Reid’s parents are very funny and very entertaining, and they made the book for me. The anecdote about Reid teaching his mother to use a computer made me laugh a lot; while my mom is completely proficient using computers, it did remind me of my grandmother a little bit. The stories about the farm’s animals are cute and make living on a farm seem like the best idea ever (to me, anyway). The book is structured around the four seasons, and it’s interesting to see the “cycle of life” play out on a hobby farm. There’s a charming quirkiness to this book that I think many books about farming have—perhaps that’s part of why they’re so popular.

Overall, a very funny and pleasant read, but lacking something from Reid himself as a character.

[Doriana Bisegna · Rating 3 out of 5]

While at the Kingston Writers Fest, I discovered a new author who has written two books about the most mundane subject matter...moving back home and a holiday with his grandmother spent in his basement apartment for a week. After listening to him talk about his book The Truth About Luck, I knew that I was hooked. One Bird's Choice (his first book) is a total laugh fest and a real treat to read. He recounts the year he spent at his family's farm in Ontario amongst every kind of livestock and domesticated animal you can imagine. He gives the finger to the hen who won't let him get at her just laid egg, he has conversations with the sheep, he goes on a search for a lost duck but best of all, he discovers what he needs to do with the rest of his life! Funny, heartwarming, and adorable, Iain Reid has hooked me in and has a fan for life!

[Lilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely charming, and very relatable for the slightly aimless, directionless 20-somethings asking questions like, what am I doing with my life? This is a great debut from Canadian author Iain Reid, and I liked reading about the Eastern Ontario that I'm familiar with. Through it all, Iain's love for his parents and the farm was clearly evident.

Iain's parents' lives is exactly what I want.

[Janet Hutchinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A humourous account of moving back home as an unemployed mid-twenties man. I quite liked his parents - their rhythm and conversations feel very familiar. Perhaps it is just the way many years married couples communicate. At any rate, an enjoyable read.

[Luanne Ollivier · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Thomas Wolfe said " You can't go home again." Or can you? Iain Reid is 27, highly educated and highly unemployed. He accepts a summer job with CBC radio. But it really doesn't pay a lot....and his parents live very close by.....so the decision is made to move in with them for the summer. The summer comes and goes ...and before you know it - a year has passed.

One Bird's Choice is the memoir of that year. What struck me first was Iain's descriptions of his parents, their conversation, actions and idiosyncrasies. The affection her feels for them is very evident is his writing. Never identified by name, Mom and Dad are the headliners in this book. They are quirky and slightly eccentric, but oh so comfortable with their lives and each other. I couldn't get enough of their everyday life. The common and mundane take on a whole new look. Mom and Dad really do live life on their own terms.

Their rural property- Lilac Hill - is home to many and varied animals. The book takes it's title from Lucius - the last guinea fowl left on the farm. Guinea fowl are communal birds. Mom is relieved when Lucius chooses his new flock - the family. Iain - not so thrilled. The bird follows him around and makes him late for work many times.

One Bird's Choice is divided into four parts, based on each season. Iain's state of mind and emotions during his year at home seem to mirror the seasons. Although definitive words such as depression are never used, his descriptions of not wanting to see friends, sleeping and eating too much and 'hibernating' populate the Winter chapters. But by the time Spring rolls around, Iain finds contentment in seeing the farm come to life, lambs being born and the simple joy in sitting outside in the sun.

There was just one small sour note for me. I'm not sure if Reid was taking literary license in describing a scene with a hen reluctant to give up her eggs, but really Iain - not cool to punch a chicken.

Nothing earth shattering happens in One Bird's Choice, there are no great aha! moments or epiphanies. Rather, it a slow gentle read filled with lots of humour, warmth and the realization that yes - you can go home again.

Congratulations to Iain Reid for winning a CBC Bookie for Best Non Fiction book for One Bird's Choice.

[Juniper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle, for this work of non-fiction is: A Year in the Life of an Overeducated, Underemployed Twenty-Something Who Moves Back Home. From this, I think, people are going to jump one of two ways in assessing a book by its cover. People might think "Oh great! Another indulged kid, under thirty, likely with an arts degree can't get it together in the real world so runs home to mommy and daddy!" Some of this is true. He does have an arts degree (Queen's University) and he is indulged, by his parents. If indulged means a good relationship, love and support of the moral variety. But he kind of does have it together. It might not be in a more traditional manner, but his mom and dad were happy to share the family home with their grown son, and Reid was working part-time for the CBC, in Ottawa, during his reprieve, so who are we to judge, really? Besides, a terrific book emerged from his time living back with his parents. The second path for those who judge a book by its cover could think. "Ha! This Reid is a funny guy!", and he is. He can be self-deprecating, at times, and he has a great gift of observation. The humour is most evident during the scenes featuring his parents. Their conversations are lively and their eccentricities are endearing. That much page space is given to food and the animals on the family's hobby farm makes this book even more irresistible. While reading this memoir, I kept thinking: a) I want to have lunch with the Reid's and become friends with them; and b) I should talk the husband into moving to a hobby farm (which actually wouldn't be that hard to do).

I hope you will read this book. For me, it was un-put-down-able.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading One Bird's Choice on recommendation from a friend. It’s about a 27 year old University graduate moving back home to his parent’s hobby farm for the first time since high school. What starts as a few week plan, turns into a really funny full year. The book takes you through the 4 seasons and the eccentric routines that come from living on a farm - from fighting off hens in the chicken coop, to helping sheep give birth, to making sure the 2 dogs and 3 cats are happy and healthy.

To me, this was one of those books I couldn’t put down, and was genuinely sad once it was over. It reminded me of my relationship with my parents; how their uniqueness is a part of me; how laughter goes a long way to appreciating your similarities and differences.

Highly recommended!!

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iain Reid would never in a million years consider being “one of those guys.” You know the ones, they’re out of school with no real job or ambition and back living with their parents. Suddenly, and almost without warning, he’s back with his parents at their farm tending the animals and working at a local radio station a couple days a week. With nearly no plans for the future and dwindling prospects at his current job will Iain’s summer stay at Mom & Dad’s turn into something more permanent? Is he turning into “one of those guys?” Only time and perspective will tell, in this very funny and introspective memoir from an unexpected narrator.

Check out the rest of my review at Chick Lit Reviews!

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reid's writing is lighthearted and funny but I'm not sure this was really memoir material. The book was relatable and the storytelling was enjoyable but I didn't really feel like there was much of a story to tell and never found myself aching to sit down and read more. I would read more of Reid's work if he focused on fiction.

[Mathew Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious account of Iain moving back in with his parents - a returning to the nest story.
This book is extremely relatable. Everyone thinks their house is 'normal', until they leave and live independently for a decade, then you realize how weird your parents really are. And, without kids around the parents tend to even get more extreme. Reid has plenty of examples of his parents hobby farm, and all the animals, taking over most of their time and thoughts. In one case his mother has a five page list of directions on how to feed the cat! From the timing, to the ratio of hard to soft food, to exactly how to mix in the cat's medication...there are instructions like this for all the pets. It's obsessive to the point of being funny.
The generational divides really show up as well. Reid is used to the young, single life of eating whenever the mood strikes, and eating badly. His parents, on the other hand, eat three solid meals a day. They talk about these meals for hours a day. They spend hours preparing them. They spend the time eating by planning the next meal. Then the Dad always says the same thing after every meal, "we eat well"....he says it after every single meal, every day! Months after moving back Iain is still giving stories about the food and after every meal his Dad still says, "we eat well".
And the phone. This I can totally relate to. Reid screens calls, but his parents find it extremely rude to not answer the phone. So there is a constant battle when the phone rings. Iain tells them to screen the call, but the parents get so worked up that they have to answer it...the phone is always for Iain which makes it even funnier.
This was probably one of the funniest books I've read in years. I actually laughed until tears came into my eyes at some points. It's just so relatable!

[Salty Swift · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iain Reid was a university grad, who in his late 20's dabbled in broadcasting. When CBC offered him a temporary position doing a weekly book review, he decided to pick up his few belongings and move from Toronto to his parents farm an hour away from Ottawa. What was supposed to be a short-term solution turns into a year of living with his older parents. As he moves through daily farm chores - feeding sheep, collecting eggs from the chickens, cleaning up after the animals - he gets reacquainted with his parents and their daily quirks. The more time passes, the more he realizes he appreciates peace that farm life has to offer. He's more open to writing and he actually notices the subtle changes of the season. What starts off as a young man's lament over insurmountable school debt turns into a very emotional and warm tale of a family coming closer together with renewed understanding.

[Chickpea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this memoir. I recently have stumbled upon Iain Reid, having read his two most recent novels, and want to read all of his books. This first book chronicals the year he moved back home to his parents farm. The chapters are broken up into seasons, which provides a built-in setting to the adventures that arise on the farm. His parents are so cute and quirky, and I quickly fell in love with both of them.

I was reminded of Raymond Carver while reading the ending of each chapter, and have a theory that Reid was inspired by Carver and the way he wrapped up each chapter in short, succinct sentences, where you have to read between the lines. However, I don't think Reid quite has the elegance to pull of Carver's technique in this book. However, I still really enjoyed it; it is light-hearted and sweet. It's also really interesting to get a glimpse into the life of an author of which you have only read his psychological thrillers; I would have imagined him to be more on the serious, reflective side. But, he has a great sense of humor, doesn't take himself too seriously, and is really easy going.

[Loriepaddock · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don't have to be a 30-something having to move back home while between jobs to appreciate this book. Anyone who's taken - or has had it 'required' of them to take - a 'time out' to rethink, recalibrate or reconsider where they are in their lives and perhaps consider the challenges and benefits of changing course will find that this story resonates. Again, Iain Reid, provided a lovely, thoughtful, worthwhile read. And I learned something about hens, too.

[Jane Mulkewich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book by Iain Reid, which I also liked very much! And again he mentions his sister who lives in Iceland. I would tell you why it is called "One Bird's Choice" but that might be too much of a spoiler. Suffice to say he goes home for a year as a 20-something to live on his parents' farm in the Ottawa valley (this is obviously just before he moves to Kingston and invites his 92-year-old grandmother for a staycation - see my review of The Truth About Luck).

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that didn't take long! This year in Iain Reid's life where he goes back to living with his parents as a 27 year old on their farm was quite enjoyable. His parents (like everyone's) are quirky enough to amuse. As well are the animals on the farm. There's nothing earth shattering here. Reid is just a very good writer who really knows how to tell a good, humorous story. It's a light, easy read that you will suck you in very quickly.

[Cheryl Wilks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book very much. In fact I finished the book and started reading it all over again. The book is one that spoke to my mother’s heart. I sympathized with the author having to move back home, yet I enjoyed his sense of humour and the loving family interaction. It is definitely a book I wish to read again.
. It was a book well written showing the author’s creative ability of things to come.

[Chelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because it seemed like it would be a charming slice of life story, set in familiar settings.

It turned out to be boring. Dull. Not actually funny. It attempts to be humourous or quirky but fails at it. It's mostly a lot of whining about everyday things. The whinging of a privileged person who has no motivation to do much of anything. Rather than finding the conversations with his parents charming, they mostly are just stifling and irritating. Couldn't finish reading.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much whining and complaining. Not funny, not insightful, not even interesting. Too lazy to get up early enough to get to work on time? No wonder this guy couldn't get a job. Underemployed? Nope, just unemployed and too spoiled to take jobs that don't utilize his university skills. I felt sorry for his parents. They seemed happy. It irked me that the author tried to depict them as humorous and quirky. They seemed pretty normal to me.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one, it was a comforting and engaging read. Will this book rock your world? Probably not, but it's a slice of life told very humorously and I was looking forward to reading the next chapter every time. It's a great first book and I would recommend it to anyone, especially fellow twenty somethings like me!

[Lisa Lantrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will read anything Iain Reid writes. I have read his 3 fiction books and loved them. This could not be more different but still brilliant. It is funny and sweet and real. I adore his parents. The farm setting was fantastic. I was reading this with my niece and I kept interrupting her reading to read a part of this book to her. There are just so many funny little passages.

[Yennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was exactly the read I needed after finishing graduate school. I too am an unemployed, overeducated, twenty-something. Despite our mutual woes, this book was relaxing and actually quite inspiring. Maybe I'll try my hand at a memoir too, some time.

[Angelika Oberoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially liked this book as it takes place near and in Ottawa and Iain's parents are the kind of parents I would have liked to have. I have to say that the next book I read was not at all what I expected Iain to write. I could have not been more surprised at I am thinking of ending things.

[Alexrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, the review is optional but I want to write just a few words about the book. I could literally feel the farm vibes - since I live at one. I like his books very much, so couldn't miss the read. Thanks! :)

[Marilyn Metcalfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful gentle funny read about his life after he has to move back to his parents (educated hippies) as he tries to establish his writing career. This memoir was a treat and cannot wait to read his other books.

[Heidi Cornel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as humorous as I had hoped. Not a lot of substance.

[Lea Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fucking funny. Laugh-out-loud-wake-your-wife-up-in-bed kind of book.