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Nuns with Shotguns
"...it’s impossible to deny P.H. Mountain's magnetic storytelling, his vibrant spirit, and the reckless abandon with which he presents this raucous memoir." - Indies Today
“You are NOT funny!” she claimed, falsely.Nuns with Shotguns, Vol II of THE WORLD IS MY ASHTRAY, picks up where Pepperoni, Jalapeños & LSD left off. Paul and Lonnie disappear into a Rocky Mountain ghost town to decompress from a manic year in Boulder, Colorado. The town of Eldora is spectacular, serene, virtually uninhabited. Perhaps a hundred hermits are scattered throughout the mountain valley, cleaning their guns and guarding their bongs. Now twenty years old and even more determined to write his way to financial freedom, Paul hunkers down at his typewriter in his new, idyllic setting and begins banging out his first novel, helped/hindered by 1,000 beers."The liquid acid I’d taken to celebrate having liquid acid rolled clean and strong..."Full of Budweiser, hallucinogens, and a young man’s lust, Paul cannot resist the temptation of the larger, manic world, of course. Before long, he’s relentlessly chasing new women, blasting through the mountains on his motorcycle, and tripping acid on the mountain peaks surrounding the Eldora valley. Wedding weirdness, stunning sunsets, puppy poop, brutal loss, hard drugs, continuous betrayal, and strange mountain saloons punctuate this continuation of P. H. Mountain’s whirlwind comedic memoir. Set against the backdrop of the final decade before the tech revolution, Nuns with Shotguns is a full embrace of reckless living, an unapologetic testament to the stunning beauty of attacking life with the throttle open and arms spread wide.“I knew I had to die, dammit, but since I had to die, I decided there could be no better moment to do so, and the intense awareness of perfect death made me suddenly fall madly in love with life. The moon, the night, the cold sting of mountain air, a madman at the wheel, his wailing scream penetrating nature’s wildly illuminated darkness. Damn. It was worth it, enduring all this long life, all the hidden terrors just over the horizon, the heartache and heartbreak, the hard work and easily achieved misery, if only for ten minutes as such.”
“You are NOT funny!” she claimed, falsely.Nuns with Shotguns, Vol II of THE WORLD IS MY ASHTRAY, picks up where Pepperoni, Jalapeños & LSD left off. Paul and Lonnie disappear into a Rocky Mountain ghost town to decompress from a manic year in Boulder, Colorado. The town of Eldora is spectacular, serene, virtually uninhabited. Perhaps a hundred hermits are scattered throughout the mountain valley, cleaning their guns and guarding their bongs. Now twenty years old and even more determined to write his way to financial freedom, Paul hunkers down at his typewriter in his new, idyllic setting and begins banging out his first novel, helped/hindered by 1,000 beers."The liquid acid I’d taken to celebrate having liquid acid rolled clean and strong..."Full of Budweiser, hallucinogens, and a young man’s lust, Paul cannot resist the temptation of the larger, manic world, of course. Before long, he’s relentlessly chasing new women, blasting through the mountains on his motorcycle, and tripping acid on the mountain peaks surrounding the Eldora valley. Wedding weirdness, stunning sunsets, puppy poop, brutal loss, hard drugs, continuous betrayal, and strange mountain saloons punctuate this continuation of P. H. Mountain’s whirlwind comedic memoir. Set against the backdrop of the final decade before the tech revolution, Nuns with Shotguns is a full embrace of reckless living, an unapologetic testament to the stunning beauty of attacking life with the throttle open and arms spread wide.“I knew I had to die, dammit, but since I had to die, I decided there could be no better moment to do so, and the intense awareness of perfect death made me suddenly fall madly in love with life. The moon, the night, the cold sting of mountain air, a madman at the wheel, his wailing scream penetrating nature’s wildly illuminated darkness. Damn. It was worth it, enduring all this long life, all the hidden terrors just over the horizon, the heartache and heartbreak, the hard work and easily achieved misery, if only for ten minutes as such.”
264 pages, Paperback
Published November 7, 2023
30 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
P.H. Mountain
8 books22 followersP.H. Mountain was partially educated at the University of Minnesota before earning his undergraduate degree from the Boulder Public Library and his master's from The Sundown Saloon. At 29, he founded a software company that continues to thrive. He has lived in three different vehicles, fifteen different states, and five different countries, but he generally considers Colorado home. In a moment of clarity, Paul married his wife Stella in 2001. To this day, he still considers her the luckiest woman alive.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 30, 2023
4.25 stars
I’ll rate part 2 the same as part 1.
Another fun, easy read. Don’t know if there is going to be a part 3, and I hope there is, because I want to know what happened between him and Lonnie, and if he ever confronted her, and/or if Phil told Lonnie….
If you are confused by my review then read both books!
I’ll rate part 2 the same as part 1.
Another fun, easy read. Don’t know if there is going to be a part 3, and I hope there is, because I want to know what happened between him and Lonnie, and if he ever confronted her, and/or if Phil told Lonnie….
If you are confused by my review then read both books!
February 25, 2026
Nuns with Shotguns by P. H. Mountain is a raucous, high-octane continuation of his autobiographical series The World Is My Ashtray, picking up where Pepperoni, Jalapeños & LSD left off.
Set primarily in the Rocky Mountain ghost town of Eldora, Colorado, the memoir immerses readers in a surreal microcosm of hermits, mountain saloons, and twenty-year-old ambition. The setting spectacular, serene, and sparsely populated becomes both sanctuary and launchpad. Paul retreats there determined to write his way to financial freedom, hunched over a typewriter, fueled by beer, hallucinogens, and relentless self-belief.
What makes Nuns with Shotguns compelling is its tonal duality. On the surface, it’s comedic and irreverent motorcycle blasts through mountain roads, acid trips on alpine peaks, chaotic romances, and absurd social encounters. But beneath the bravado lies something more introspective: an awareness of mortality, loss, and the fragile beauty of fleeting moments.
The prose carries a magnetic, stream-of-consciousness intensity. Mountain does not romanticize recklessness so much as embrace it fully presenting a young man determined to squeeze life for every drop of sensation before the tech revolution reshapes the world.
The memoir’s episodic structure weddings, betrayals, brutal losses, mountain epiphanies mirrors the turbulence of early adulthood. It captures that volatile period where identity is still forming, where ambition and self-destruction often coexist.
For readers drawn to countercultural memoirs, mountain-town eccentricity, and stories that balance absurd humor with existential reflection, Nuns with Shotguns offers an unapologetic, vividly told ride.
Set primarily in the Rocky Mountain ghost town of Eldora, Colorado, the memoir immerses readers in a surreal microcosm of hermits, mountain saloons, and twenty-year-old ambition. The setting spectacular, serene, and sparsely populated becomes both sanctuary and launchpad. Paul retreats there determined to write his way to financial freedom, hunched over a typewriter, fueled by beer, hallucinogens, and relentless self-belief.
What makes Nuns with Shotguns compelling is its tonal duality. On the surface, it’s comedic and irreverent motorcycle blasts through mountain roads, acid trips on alpine peaks, chaotic romances, and absurd social encounters. But beneath the bravado lies something more introspective: an awareness of mortality, loss, and the fragile beauty of fleeting moments.
The prose carries a magnetic, stream-of-consciousness intensity. Mountain does not romanticize recklessness so much as embrace it fully presenting a young man determined to squeeze life for every drop of sensation before the tech revolution reshapes the world.
The memoir’s episodic structure weddings, betrayals, brutal losses, mountain epiphanies mirrors the turbulence of early adulthood. It captures that volatile period where identity is still forming, where ambition and self-destruction often coexist.
For readers drawn to countercultural memoirs, mountain-town eccentricity, and stories that balance absurd humor with existential reflection, Nuns with Shotguns offers an unapologetic, vividly told ride.
December 28, 2025
Another chapter in the story of Paul Mountain. I liked this book, not quite as much as the first, but almost. He has some interesting things to say and I am encourage to finally read "Atlas Shrugged" as an e-book and I already have it on Audible for roadtrips. I read this 2nd of Paul's books on the Kindle App (on my laptop and phone, still haven't committed to an e-reader). I am even tempted to try some acid, or more likely, micro-dosing some mushroom.
There is a sense of fantasy, every woman is drop dead gorgeous and sees Paul as some sort of sex god, but maybe that just part of his story and whether it's the absolute truth or not doesn't really matter. I had some trouble again with the infidelity, but there was more to the dalliances this time, and the stories are entertaining. Imagining what these girls look like in my mind is a sort of adventure too.
Haven't quite decided on the 3rd book, but I'll check it out. An intersting way to end 2025!! This was my 60th book this year, 27K pages.
There is a sense of fantasy, every woman is drop dead gorgeous and sees Paul as some sort of sex god, but maybe that just part of his story and whether it's the absolute truth or not doesn't really matter. I had some trouble again with the infidelity, but there was more to the dalliances this time, and the stories are entertaining. Imagining what these girls look like in my mind is a sort of adventure too.
Haven't quite decided on the 3rd book, but I'll check it out. An intersting way to end 2025!! This was my 60th book this year, 27K pages.
February 23, 2025
I enjoyed this one as much as the first !
By the end I did feel the over explained sexcapades were getting alittle tedious . Although entertaining in the beginning by the end it just felt like I was losing the storyline in detailed lsd trips and sex . It became repetitive.
However, the writing and actual storytelling compelled me forward . I would definitely continue with the series !
Fully invested !!
By the end I did feel the over explained sexcapades were getting alittle tedious . Although entertaining in the beginning by the end it just felt like I was losing the storyline in detailed lsd trips and sex . It became repetitive.
However, the writing and actual storytelling compelled me forward . I would definitely continue with the series !
Fully invested !!
August 28, 2025
P H Mountain does it again
This is a great coming of age series for those of us that didn’t follow the societal blue print; graduate college at 22, faceless drone in corporate America, marry and start having 2.5 kids. Pablo is an endearing protagonist with the soul of an explorer and courage of a bull fighter.
Hunter S Thompson for the next generation.
This is a great coming of age series for those of us that didn’t follow the societal blue print; graduate college at 22, faceless drone in corporate America, marry and start having 2.5 kids. Pablo is an endearing protagonist with the soul of an explorer and courage of a bull fighter.
Hunter S Thompson for the next generation.
May 27, 2025
Wow!
I’m not sure how this book got into my TBR pile. I rarely read memoirs. I didn’t even realize it was a memoir until I was almost finished with it. It was an unexpected wild ride. I really enjoyed it.
I’m not sure how this book got into my TBR pile. I rarely read memoirs. I didn’t even realize it was a memoir until I was almost finished with it. It was an unexpected wild ride. I really enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews