"We even come to identify with the elusive, fossorial animal, its plight not so different from our own."
--Margaret Roach, The New York Times
"This is an extraordinary book: part natural history, part memoir, part poetry--all entirely gorgeous. I've read no other book like this. Its beauty and heartbreak will stay with me for a long time. PS: the author stops killing moles, thank goodness."
--Sy Montgomery,New York Times bestselling author of How to Be a Good Creature and The Soul of an Octopus
"[Marc Hamer's] wonderful book, How to Catch a Mole, is a beautiful, elegiac ode to a remarkable creature. Each page is filled with wonder, love, regret, humility and a sense of wonder (and oneness) with nature."
--Washington Post
"Informative and effortlessly readable... Ultimately a reflection on humanity's fraught but sustaining relationship with nature."
--Publishers Weekly
"How to Catch a Mole is a small book of many things. In quiet, crystalline prose, it blends memoir, keen observations of nature, and ruminations about life, aging and death."
--Wall Street Journal
"Discovering Hamer's nature writing par excellence is a godsend."
--Foreword Reviews
"Welsh molecatcher, gardener--and debut author--does not disappoint. How to Catch a Mole soars on the plain-spoken yet eloquent observations of its author and incorporates poetry and philosophy."
--Toronto Star
"How to Catch a Mole is the best book I've read this decade. It will catch your breath and make your heart pound a little faster. It's beyond precious."
--Harrowsmith
"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, author of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers
"It is rare to encounter such respect and understanding of nature."
--Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of Cows
"Marc Hamer's uplifting writings shed some light on the velvety creatures burrowing beneath our countryside."
--National Geographic Traveller
"A beguiling mixture: part autobiography, part handbook, part travel book, part philosophical treatise. I'm happy to report that it succeeds on each level."
--Daily Mail
"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
"A lovely little book. I read it through, then found myself going back and reading parts again."
--Lloyd Kahn, publisher and author of Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter
"Discovering Hamer's nature writing par excellence is a godsend."
--Foreword Reviews (Starred Review)
"Lessons learned from a life outdoors encourage the reader to dwell in the small, mostly ordinary but sometimes extraordinary, moments that make up an existence."
--Booklist
"The dreamy lyricism of How to Catch a Mole recalls the memoirs of Laurie Lee, another wanderer through the British countryside who affirmed that life's most vital moments often unfold in open spaces."
--Christian Science Monitor
