How to Cuss in Western: And Other Missives from the High Desert

by Michael P. Branch

"Where nature writing meets humor--a racuous and hilarious look at life in the high desert of Nevada, from the author of Raising Wild and Rants from the Hill. Known for his curmudgeonly and irreverent view of pastoral living, Mike Branch is skilled at sharing his high, low, and down-right bizarre experiences living in a remote landscape with his wife and two daughters. In this collection of short, comic rants he explores life in the high-elevation, western Nevada Great Basin Desert. From the lyrical (pondering the age of the planet with his daughters while hiking "shark mountain") to the pastoral (stalking trees in the desert) and the comical (exploring the history of Western cuss words--written by a scrapping slang whanger who goes across lots to string a whizzer for y'all) this book provides a witty, intimate, and evocative glimpse of a place largely ignored in the field of nature writing"--