"I Don't Want Any More Cheese, I Just Want out of the Trap"
by Richard Templar
Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Want-Any-More-Cheese/dp/0273675435/
Reading history and reviews
Finished on 25th August 2010
I thought at first that the title of this book (essentially about packing in "regular" employment to go freelancing) might be a sidesways reference to the more famous Who Moved My Cheese? (a classic - for better or worse - for dealing with change in the workplace).
Like "Who Moved...", this is a quick read and is generally quite low on real detail - it's more like a pep talk, getting you to think about whether you want to continue in a normal job (the "trap", where you're working for "cheese") or break out and pursue a dream (which will most likely involve working freelance in some way - the author draws on his own experiences of becoming a freelance writer).
Of course there is nothing wrong per se with working for cheese, if you're happy, and for me the most concrete part was an exercise near the start that measured the stress levels in various aspects of your working life, like "work-life balance" and "responsibilities". The results I got were eye-opening. But beyond that much of the book is more like an outline for how you go about making the transition successfully - research and planning being key.
Sometimes you need a book that tells you everything in immense detail, and sometimes it's enough to get an overview of the major issues, just to get you started. This is the latter type of book, but I found it an enjoyable, humorous introduction. I also found the exhortation at the end to be oddly inspiring: "Go for it, run little mouse, run, escape, be happy." No more cheese then, but definitely food for thought.