Many people dream of leaving the workday world for a life of simplicity and freedom, and Margaret Hathaway and Karl Schatz did just that. Feeling like something was missing from their city lives, the couple began to dream of an existence that was closer to the land and became captivated by the idea of themselves as... goat farmers. Realizing that they knew little about goats, and even less about farming, they gave themselves a year to explore the world of goats and decide if that was where they belonged. In THE YEAR OF THE GOAT, the reader can jump in the "goat mobile" and follow their adventures as they ditch their big-city lifestyle to trek across forty-three states in search of greener pastures and the perfect goat cheese. Along the way, the reader is introduced to a vivid cast of characters--including farmers, breeders, cheese makers, and world-class chefs--and learns everything there is to know about goats and getting back to the land. From the largest goat auction in Texas to a small Indiana dairy, from a Tennessee barbecue cook-off to a tasting session with New York's premier maitre fromager, from Chicago's famed Billy Goat Tavern to the rolling pastures of Northern California, the couple pursues all things goat. But readers beware: when it comes to goat cheese, it can be love at first bite.

Part food memoir and part picaresque travel narrative, THE YEAR OF THE GOAT marries the author's twin obsessions with food and all things goat and tells the story of one couple's fascinating journey.

I love Hathaway's description of her goaty adventures ... Hathaway's charming writing style illuminates rural landscapes and quirky, generally likable farmers ... The Year of the Goat is a sunny, optimistic book about a couple chasing an unconventional dream. It shows the back to the land movement to be alive and well and continually reinvented.

Editors' Pick: Must-dos -- to make the most of Fall ... Follow their dream.

... a really charming look into an obscure world -- as is done in movies like Ballroom Dancing, Best in Show, a Mighty Wind and so on. But The Year of the Goat, though occasionally tongue-in-cheek, isn't mocking as those movies are, but rather a very sweet exploration of self- and goat-discovery.

Hathaway's descriptions of the characters they meet--both human and goat--are funny and vivid ... This is a book for anyone who's ever imagined going back in time to a simpler life--or anyone who loves cheese.

Hathaway pokes fun at her naive notions of rural life with a wicked humor that nicely balances the naked earnestness of the endeavor. The details of animal husbandry and cheese production will intrigue those interested in food's origins, and many readers, particularly city dwellers, will also be captured by the personal story of a young couple's unusually mindful efforts to build a meaningful life together.

Hathaway gives ... a modern twist by emphasizing "terroir," the idea that "food is rooted in the land," and of connecting "the palate to the place." Local-eating, slow-food activists will find much to chew on here.

Reading Margaret and Karl's delightful journey reminded me of the ideals that brought many of us at Moosewood together over thirty years ago. Margaret Hathaway's spirited storytelling and off-beat humor not only reawakened my own memories of adventurous times, but revealed that the dream to go "back to the land" to lead a simpler life is alive and flourishing. And boy did I learn a lot about goats and cheese!

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