Antonia Murphy

Dirty Chick: Adventures of an Unlikely Farmer Antonia Murphy

Marc Notes: Unabridged.; Originally published: New York, New York: Gotham Books, 2015.; An uproarious memoir chronicling the misadventures of a San Franciscan woman who leaves city life to become an artisan farmer in New Zealand--; Provided by publisher.; Antonia Murphy, you might say, is an unlikely farmer. Born and bred in San Francisco, she spent much of her life as a liberal urban cliche, and her interactions with the animal kingdom rarely extended past dinner. But then she became a mother. And when her eldest son was born with a rare, mysterious genetic condition, she and her husband, Peter, decided it was time to slow down and find a supportive community. So the Murphys moved to Purua, New Zealand--a rural area where most residents maintained private farms, complete with chickens, goats, and (this being New Zealand) sheep. The result was a comic disaster, and when one day their son had a medical crisis, it was also a little bit terrifying. Dirty Chick chronicles Antonia's first year of life as an artisan farmer. Having bought into the myth that farming is a peaceful, fulfilling endeavor that allows one to commune with nature and live the way humans were meant to live, Antonia soon realized that the reality is far dirtier and way more disgusting than she ever imagined. Among the things she learned the hard way: Cows are prone to a number of serious bowel ailments;goat mating involves an astounding amount of urine;and roosters are complete and unredeemable assholes. But for all its traumas, Antonia quickly embraced farm life, getting drunk on homemade wine (it doesn't cause hangovers!), making cheese (except for the cat hair, it's a tremendously satisfying hobby), and raising a baby lamb (which was addictively cute until it grew into a sheep). Along the way, she met locals as colorful as the New Zealand countryside, including a seasoned farmer who took a dim view of Antonia's novice attempts, a Maori man so handy he could survive a zombie apocalypse, and a woman proficient in sculpting alpaca heads made from their own wool. Part family drama, part cultural study, and part cautionary tale, Dirty Chick will leave you laughing, cringing, and rooting for an unconventional heroine--From publisher's website. Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2014 (EAN 9781592409051, Hardcover) Booklist 12/15/2014 pg. 5 (EAN 9781592409051, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Murphy, Antonia Antonia Murphy is a graduate in psychodynamic Counselling from the WPF. Over the last few years Antonia has become involved in the national delivery of Counselling and Psychotherapy in primary care through both the Network of Service Providers and the National Forum for Training Standards. She is Vice-Chair of CPC (the Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists in Primary Care). She is the author of several papers on aspects of psychotherapeutic practice in primary care and the NHS. She is also the former editor of the Journal for the Foundation of Psychotherapy and Counselling and currently an editorial board member of the Journal of Psychodynamic Practice and Editor of the CPC Review.