Rants from the Hill: On Packrats, Bobcats, Wildfires, Curmudgeons, a Drunken Mary Kay Lady, and Other Encounters with the Wild in the High Desert

Tales of life in the high desert from the author of Raising Wild.

As a curmudgeonly, irreverent desert rat, Mike Branch shares his stubborn enthusiasm for the constant struggle to tough out living in an unforgiving landscape. In this collection of short, comic rants he explores various aspects of life in the remote, high-elevation, western Nevada Great Basin Desert. Ranging in topic from natural history (bees hiving in the walls of the house, flying ants filling the chimney, owls trying to eat the cat), parenting (raising two daughters in a wild, inaccessible place), eccentric neighbors (road captain, mail carrier, drunken Mary Kay Lady), and adventures in the surrounding canyons, playas, and mountains, Rants from the Hill offers a humorous and fun glimpse into what domestic life looks like out in the wild.