"Desert Soliloquy; A Perfectly Sane Misanthrope Hides in the Desert" is like combining Walden with Blazing Saddles with a bit of history about the East Mojave Desert. How I interacted with the desert and the people I encountered while living in "my" cave is the theme that binds the manuscript together. I performed several decades of original research on the region and the historical people who passed through the East Mojave, and I have included the most interesting historical events (such as the "last great gun fight" in the USA Southwest) in an easy, humorous narrative. The best-selling author Douglas Preston wrote about my manuscript, "I have read DESERTPHILE by David Rice and I couldn't put it down. It is a cynical, fabulous, outrageous, politically incorrect, foul-mouthed and absolutely hilarious modern-day Walden. I believe it has excellent potential for a successful commercial publication and would recommend it to an agent on that basis." My "voice" as a writer is entertaining, uncommon in the current non-fiction market, and informative; I treat the reader as an adult, and assume they are above average in intelligence. At times my humor is cerebral, and at other times it's that of a troglodyte: I have found that this engages readers and leaves them with the sense that they are on an exhilarating ride as they read.
