5 books about chucking it all for country living

This is the time of year – when it’s been freezing for two months and the city is covered with dirty snow that won’t melt for another six weeks – that I dream of trading it all in for a simpler life. You know, one complete with farm animals, caves for aging cheese, and a vegetable garden large enough to supply all of Manhattan with frisée. I'll never do it – I can't really live without groceries delivered to my apartment, mass transit, and access to Korean food at all hours – but I can at least read about it. Here are five amazing, hilarious, utterly charming books brought to you by people, crazier, more desperate, and with even less impulse control than I: the ones who actually did it.

1. The Dirty Life, by Kristin Kimball

"The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love" by Kristin Kimball is the story of a city girl who falls in love with a farmer and later falls in love with the farm. It's a year in the life of a couple attempting to make at as modern-day farmers. Charming, but not too charming, hip, but not to hip, this is basically a straight-up back-to-the-land story. (CSMonitor review 12/21/10)

1 of 5
You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.