Editorial Review

Ed Abbey called Read more

Reviews (96)

Eco-Terrorists as anti-heroes
I was familiar with this book several years before I chose to read it.I knew that it was about a bunch of "lawbreakers" who, in a spirit of environmental idealism, set about to ruin what they considered myriad evidence of massive anti-environmentalism.Their activities included the destruction of highway billboard advertisements, burning and exploding bridges that carried hugh oil tankers across them, as well as sabotaging the oil tankers themselves, and blowing up government built dams that resulted in the drying up of some of nation's most majestic rivers.The four members of the "Monkey Wrench Gang," Doc A.K. Sarvis, his feminist girlfriend Bonnie Abbzug, Joseph "Seldom Seen" Smith, a polygamist Mormon, and George W. Hayduke, also wanted some payback for massive deforestation and for the forced death of thousands of cattle and other animals who were fenced in by barbed wire, thereby prevented from escaping from fierce winter snows and related frigid weather conditions.
Edward Abbey's Legacy...Great Literature and a Greater Appreciation for the American Southwest...And the Glen Canyon Dam
The name Edward Abbey is a foul couple of words for some, and is followed by foul language off the tongue of the same people. But, it shouldn't...both for his great body writings and for his fierce appreciation for everything that makes the American West great. "The Monkey Wrench Gang" and its sequel "Hayduke Lives" are classic American Literature as well as important social commentary on who we are and what should matter to us as a society and a country. (This review is for both books so might be a bit longer than usual.)
Not fine literature, just a story for fun
Edward Abbey's writings tend to attract a love `em or hate `em response."It changed my life.""I've found a hero." "The guy's an idiot.""Monkey wrenchers are criminals."
Read more

Subjects:  1. Environmental protection    2. Environmentalists    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. General    6. Humorous fiction    7. Southwestern States    8. Fiction / General    9. Modern fiction   

Reviews (2)

THE BOOK FOR ABBEY FANS
This is a wonderful book for Ed Abbey fans because it reflects in his letters the many sides of Abbey we find in his writings, from his curmudgeonly old crank statements, his love of wilderness, and his heart felt feelings (such as his letter to his dad March 1975).I especially liked the foreward by Terry Williams.Oh! Where are you George Washington Heyduke?Someone should make of movie of the Gang!

Abbey: Now, more than ever
This book is a great reminder of how far ahead of his time Abbey was.Issues he was concerned about 40 or 50 years ago are argued with a passion and intellect that is missing from today's political discourse.Also missing today is the humor and constructive anger which served as an undercurrent for much of his writing.Beyond all this literary mumbo-jumbo, Abbey still makes for a great read.This is possibly the last of his writing to be published.Savor it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1927-1989    2. 20th century    3. Abbey, Edward,    4. American - General    5. Authors, American    6. Correspondence    7. General    8. Letters    9. Literary Collections    10. Literature - Classics / Criticism    11. Literature: Classics    12. Nature / Essays   

Editorial Review

With language as colorful as a Canyonlands sunset and a perspective as pointed as a pricklypear, Cactus Ed captures the heat, mystery, and surprising bounty of desert life. Read more

Reviews (104)

I try to imagine a ride along the river...
Edward Abbey is a contradiction. A poet when describing the wonders of the desert and the joys of solitude; then he becomes a strident critic ofhis fellow man if they have the audacity to disagree with him. There is a definite will and intelligence driving the prose, but it is partially spoiled by the rants that Abbey goes on. The book has a split personality; celebrating the wilderness, but using a voice that often becomes so disagreeable that you might want to take asphalt to the park yourself. Finally though the poet wins out and you go along for the ride. I try to think of this book as rafting down the river, enjoying the wonders and trying to avoid the jagged rocks. A little white water is fine; just don't hold me underwater forhours at a time.

A yawn as big as the Grand Canyon
When this book first came out, it started a nationwide cult, primarily of college-aged students, who suddenly became entranced with nature and began to rally against the forces trying to contain it.Although he had written three prior books, this was Abbey's first major success as he relates stories from his two summers as a Park Ranger in the Arches National Monument in southeast Utah.There is no straight narrative here, just bits and pieces from his experiences in this desert land.He also finds time to boat down the Colorado River through the Glen Canyon before it is forever flooded by another massive dam. Although I stuck with this book to the end, I found it more sleep inducing than inspiring.Although written well, Abbey seems to find it necessary to include the names, bothEnglish and Latin, of every single plant and bush that grows in this desert.He even endlessly names the rocks. Then he goes on to the stars! And that trip down the river was mostly repetitive glimpses down side canyons.However, this is a forerunner to one of my favorite books, Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang," as he gives us glimpses into the beginnings of eco-terrorism with the pulling up of surveyors' stakes and the destruction of billboards.I have read the "Gang" many times, "Solitaire" will just be once.

"Arches" Outshines Abbey's Militant Gibberish
Abbey is the type of person that you will either love or hate.There is no middle ground.Personally, I find few things in this book that do Arches the justice that it deserves and I can't tolerate Abbey's selfish militant eco-hermit gibberish.That being said, I'm a scientist and I realize the importance of preservation of our wild lands and I constantly encourage people to become involved BUT I will never become so selfish as to propose exclusion of these places to handicapped people.Futhermore, I could never place a snake's life in higher regard than a human unless the human is a worthless piece of sh*t.So, you can tell I'm not on the majority's side here...I won't glorify this Abbey's book like others have done in these reviews.Do yourself a favor and VISIT Arches and see these things for yourself.Its the most beautiful place you will likely see out West.For something really enjoyable, read anything by John Wesley Powell...won't be written about Arches but will describe the West in its early, unexplored days. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Arches National Park    2. Biography    3. Desert biology    4. Essays    5. General    6. National parks and reserves    7. Natural Resources    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Park rangers    11. United States    12. Utah    13. Modern fiction    14. Nature / Natural Resources   

Editorial Review

Just before he died in 1989, Ed Abbey published what he called his "honest novel," one loosely based on his own life. Early in its opening pages, Abbey's alter ego, Lightcap, takes off from his nearly empty home (its contents just removed by a disgruntled spouse) in Tucson, Arizona--but not before shooting his refrigerator, a hated symbol of civilization. Lightcap makes a winding journey by car to his boyhood home in the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania, calling on old friends along the road, visiting Indian reservations and out-of-the-way bars, and reminiscing about the triumphs and follies of his life. Readers would be mistaken to view this as pure autobiography, but Read more

Reviews (80)

i really liked it
My boyfriend introduced me to Edward Abbey. He likes to live vicariously through him and wanted me to read him so I could see what a womanizer and a hard living guy really is like!!!!!!!. Ha! He was right. It is heartbreaking and funny. I could not put it down. I am look9ing forward to reading many more.

A Fool's Progress - by Edward Abby
A Fool's Progress by Ed Abby
Kinda makes you think
From what I gather, Edward Abbey has somewhat of a cult following.I had never read anything by the guy, never even heard of him before I got this book.I just thought I should point that out before going on.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Modern fiction   

Reviews (5)

Bumpersticker Abbey!!
A great service was provided Edward Abbey fans with the publication of this marvelous little tome. Now we anarchists have a handy source of short bits by Abbey to plaster on our webpages, our mail, and even our car bumpers! Up with nature, down with Empire!

4.5 is closer to it.
This is not Abbey's grand work nor was it intended to be.This is a small collection of one-liners and pithy observations of a highly talented, self-admitted misanthrope."Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell" is a prime example. If you have read a lot of Abbey this is a great book.
If you have read only a few of Abbey's books these quotes might not mean anything to you.This is not a story but is just a collection of quotes.Although he likes to make broad generalizations like 'all rebels are good' that is part of what makes Abbey so endearing.He doesn't sugar coat his opinions.I may not agree with all he says but I do respect him for at least putting it out there and not backing down.It also gives a lot of insight into his writing and reveals some specfics that you would have to read every book of his carefully in order to understand. It does make for a great reference and is interesting to see him contradict himself.You could very easily write 'Down the River with Abbey' by using this book and it would have much the same feel as his book concerning Thoreau. A great book for just thumbing through or reading out load to friends on a long car trip. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abbey, Edward - Prose & Criticism    2. American - General    3. Aphorisms and apothegms    4. Literature - Classics / Criticism   

Reviews (16)

clunky, but enjoyable read
I tore through "Black Sun" in a couple days. I find Abbey's dialogue, both here and in his more famous "Monkey Wrench Gang," to be a bit clunky, but his nature descriptions are spot on.
Wilderness and Loneliness
This is probably Edward Abbey's least political work, and the cranky old desert conservationist came up with a surprisingly emotional and bittersweet love story. The main character has escaped his painful past by taking up a very lonely job at a fire tower near the Grand Canyon, getting closer to nature and further from other people, as a way to battle his demons. He then unexpectedly falls in love with a younger woman who is working at the park, but can't figure out how to make her part of his lonely existence, which may or may not be bringing him true happiness. But in the end, he has loneliness forced upon him again anyway, as the girl disappears back into nature herself. One problem with this novel is the stilted interpersonal dialogue, which was never Abbey's strength, while he was even less adept at building a believable romance. But on the good side, this novel, based to an unclear degree on Abbey's true experiences, is a remarkably emotional exploration of the true loneliness that can be found when one communes with nature for the long haul, and how this loneliness can both lift and crush one's spirits. [~doomsdayer520~]

black sun
Beautiful, lyrical, magical - the best book Abbey ever wrote, in my opinion.I suppose many would argue the point, as Abbey doesn't address environmental issues at all, and the story is strictly a love story.But it is a wonderful story written in remarkable metaphorical prose - fantastic. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Romance    3. Forest rangers    4. Middle aged men    5. Romance - Western    6. Romance: Modern    7. Separation (Psychology)    8. Wilderness areas   

Reviews (5)

Better places to start with Abbey
In some ways this book reflected a more mature Edward Abbey than was present in Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness but in many other ways though he just came across as older (not wiser.)
Best of Abbey
The first two pieces in this collection provide the best introduction to Abbey I can think of. "A Walk in the Desert Hills" describes a 115-mile walk across the Sonoran Desert, in search of adventure, wisdom, and water."How It Was" describes his first incursions into the Four Corners and Glen Canyon area, before the pavement came."How It Was" will make you understand what got Abbey intoxicated with the desert."A Walk ..." tells why it was still more magical than bourbon even thirty years later.For these two pieces alone this is my favorite of Abbey's books.The remainder of the pieces in the book, which describe forays around the Colorado River region, the Sea of Cortez, and a rafting trip in northern Alaska, are pure, delightful gravy.

Beautiful Simplicity
Although Desert Solitaire is Abbey's most popular work of non-fiction and is an undeniable American masterpiece, Beyond the Wall in many ways surpasses it in its praise of the beauty and granduer of nature and as a meditation on humanity's place in it. As a work primarily concerned with Abbey's experiences on several hiking/camping trips alone in the Desert, from Southern Colorado, and West Texas, through theNew Mexico and Arizona wilds to the Sea of Cortez, the reader is allowed an glimpse into his psyche that is unsurpassed in these quiet revelations, documented in many a lonely, but not lonesome walk. In Beyond the Wall, Abbey is closest to his comparison with Thoreau, in the way that the simple description of Nature itself is the focus of this work. In many ways this book is both a eulogy and a celebration of Glen Canyon and raw unspoiled Nature.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1927-    2. 1927-1989    3. Abbey, Edward,    4. Description and travel    5. Deserts    6. General    7. Literature - Classics / Criticism    8. Nature/Ecology    9. United States - West - General    10. West (U.S.)    11. Other prose: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (14)

Brave Author, Great Publisher
While other reviews will give you a plot synopsis and their reaction to the book, or a comparison with the movie, "Lonely Are The Brave," I will limit my review to a few off the wall observations.First, I liked this book a lot and believe the adaptation by Dalton Trumbo to be one of the most faithful by any screenwriter.Often it is difficult not to think of the movie a book is based on while reading it (if you've seen the movie first).But Abbey is so good he made me forget I'd seen the movie and allowed me to lose myself in his words and story.So, a great book, well written, that didn't back away from some of the political hot potatoes most writers and publishers would rather avoid (draft dodging, property rights, etc.).
Abbey's free-spirited, fugitive, and very mythic cowboy. . .
It was one of Edward Abbey's regrets that he was appreciated more for his nature writing ("Desert Solitaire") than his fiction. And it was another regret that he was mostly forgotten as the author of the story on which the movie "Lonely are the Brave" was based. However, after reading "The Brave Cowboy," I'd have to vote with those who find his nonfiction far more inspiring and satisfying. It's a novel that still rewards the reading, but almost 50 years after its publication in 1956, it seems somewhat dated, while "Desert Solitaire" remains as fresh and relevant as if it were written yesterday.
Born in the wrong time
When Jack Burns encounters a barbed-wire fence as he comes across the West Mesa (Albuquerque)on horseback he scans in both directions for a gate before he clips the wire to ride through.He wouldn't have cut it if it wasn't in his way, or if there'd been a gate nearby.Thus begins the book with a scene that tells much about the main character.Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Fiction / Westerns    5. Westerns   

Editorial Review

"I am not a naturalist. I never was and never will be a naturalist." So Ed Abbey opens Read more

Reviews (9)

The Journey Home
As usual Abbey was brilliant. It was one of the best novels I ever read.

A good collection of essays to follow "Desert Solitaire"
When I sit down to write about Edward Abbey, I feel a pang of affection and sorrow, because through his writing I have really grown to like the guy.I wish I'd been able to meet him.
He had a great sense of adventure.
Much as others have already said Edward Abbey was a remarkable man. There is no doubt that Desert Solitaire stands out like a beacon in the desert of the usual literature, now called nature writing, available today. It is the shear life, zest and energy that permeates the work as it does here, although not all the time, in "The Journey Home". Abbey's stories this time are more personal and although still not at all self conscious they are deeper because of this. In this sense they are akin to the great work of Jack Turner, "The Abstract Wild" and Doug Peacock's "Grisly years". At no time do they suggest they are great writers, rather it is their spirit which wakes the reader with its realness. As yet I have only read these two books of his but each of them is different with its own seams to unwind, the first that of the younger man and the second that of the older. Its unfortunately rare to meet people like Abbey nowadays when much of the way the world is drives out this sense of adventure and joy in nature. This is not made easy by people's unfamiliarity with nature and even fear to tread outside their comfort zones, myself included. But if you want that kind of experience and living at the edge as Abbey knows well how to do then you have to jump off that cliff sometime. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1927-    2. 20th century    3. Abbey, Edward,    4. Authors, American    5. Biography    6. Essays    7. Homes and haunts    8. Intellectual life    9. Literature - Classics / Criticism    10. Nature/Ecology    11. West (U.S.)    12. Wilderness areas    13. Abbey, Edward    14. Travel / Essays & Travelogues    15. Travel writing   

Reviews (11)

The desert between covers
This was the very first book of Edward Abbey's I ever read, back when I was a seventeen year old college freshman.
New Mexico, Edward Abbey style
Being one of the 1.5 million people who live in New Mexico, (yes it is a state in the United States)I really enjoyed this book. My brother actually went through something like what had happened in this story, and the reference to certain NM landmarks made me feel at home as soon as read the first few pages. I have actually camped in several of the places mentioned in this book! VERY COOL! Typical Ed Abbey style, he describes breathtaking sunsets, desert stillness, and other New Mexico feelings with ease and passion.It is a quick reader and is hard to put down.GREAT BOOK!

The Truth as we're told
The book and the movie are as close to the true story as Mr. Abbey and the public could ever get. I am the main character's great grandson, in real life. If a reader wants to get a feel for eminent domain and how your life's work can be taken away, this novel will put things into perspective. A truly fine piece for Mr. Abbey! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Nature / General   

Editorial Review

In his passionate defense of wilderness and wild-ness, Edward Abbey is always worth reading for those who value a wolf's howl more than the ka-chink! of a cash register, and no matter what the subject, Cactus Ed always shoots from the hip. This collection of essays is no different, and contains the invaluable "A Writer's Credo," wherein Abbey tells would-be scribes to rock the boat and make a stand, else the noble craft is reduced to a mess of pottage, and the muse has no reason for staying. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Hit and miss collection of Abbey essays
Edward Abbey's curmudgeonly persona permeates this collection of essays organized by topic (politics, travel, books and art and nature love). This is one of Abbey's later books, a mish-mash of essays, magazine articles and book prefaces, and it has a disjointed feel.
Abbey reveals some weakness in his character and writings
I had great expectations after reading the first essay: Free Speech.I feel like the book went downhill from there.Abbey seems particularly fond of wandering off by himself, but frankly, when he's part of a white-water rafting excursion, I have serious doubts that they would even let him do that.I'm certain now that he's taking considerable "artistic license" in some of these essays.For me the low point was "Writer's Credo".I felt a strong level of insincerity in this piece -How can a writer feel it's his duty to criticize everyone around him without first subjecting himself to the same standards.Frankly, at best, "Credo" is just a justification for Abbey's misanthropic tendencies.At worst, it's a lie. Abbey's best non-fiction after Desert Solitaire
Of all Abbey's non-fiction titles, I liked One Life at A Time best after Desert Solitaire.It's vintage Abbey at his best.You may not agree with his political views in this book of essays.But you'll find his argumentscompelling and logical."Immigration And Other Liberal Taboos"is a classic.So is "The Future of Sex" in which he asks thequestion, "What is femininity?"Gloria Steinham be damned. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1927-    2. 20th century    3. Abbey, Edward,    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Environmentalists    8. Literary    9. Naturalists, Gardeners, Environmentalists    10. Novelists, American    11. Park rangers    12. Personal Memoirs    13. United States    14. Literary Collections / Essays    15. Modern fiction   

Editorial Review

Curmudgeon, environmental brawler, and literary desert rat, Edward Abbey nursed dreams of one day walking out into the wild "to become one with the landscape. To just... disappear." He made valiant efforts to make good on that dream of escape in sometimes harebrained, often dangerous expeditions to difficult places, adventures some of which are recounted in this lively collection of essays.Read more

Reviews (6)

If you enjoy Edward Abbey, this is as good as it gets!
All of the material in this cassette is available elsewhere, but nowhere else can you hear the intonation, humor, and on occasions rants of Cactus Ed in his own voice.I have played this for friends who have never heard of Abbey and universally comment that they have never heard anything quite like it.Whether he's drinking with pigs in the desert, musing on planting a tree under the nuclear umbrella, or playing cat and hiker with a puma, there is wisdom and absurdity in every spoken sentence.If they ever get another copy and you beat me to it - mine has worn out - you have won a real prize.

Hit or Miss
This is an entertaining firsthand account of Abbey's adventures as he travels through some of the most remote and beautiful locales in the world. The first chapter, in which he travels through Australia, is by far the most entertaining, and Abbey's wit really shines here. He also makes strong arguments throughout the book about why preserving beautiful natural areas is so important. Some of the subsequent stories come off as so much fluff, in which Abbey is trying to find events of significance and/or peril in the face of a mundane trip. The events seem to me to be interesting enough without having to be dolled up.
Vintage Abbey
This collection of previously published magazine articles is vintage Abbey, alternatively moving and funny, sacred and profane, flip and dead serious (well almost) and at all times entertaining. Divided into three categories - Travel, Polemics and Sermons, and Personal History - the subjects range from the Great Barrier Reef to technology to women to Winnebagos to hallucinogenic drugs - with many stops in between. The introduction, wherein Abbey comments on nature writing - and various nature writers -is itself worth the price of admission. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1927-    2. Abbey, Edward,    3. American - General    4. Essays    5. Literature - Classics / Criticism    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Travel    8. Voyages and travels    9. Wilderness areas    10. Abbey, Edward    11. Journeys    12. Travel / Essays & Travelogues    13. Travel writing   

Reviews (4)

A Nest of Anarchists
Edward Abbey's novels displayed his Sagebrush-style conservationist ideals, and his near-Anarchist sentiments took greatest root here. This is a near-future dystopia tale in which a thinly described economic disaster has forced most people to flee Abbey's beloved desert southwest, leaving just a few hardy naturalist survivors trying to create a non-government lifestyle. Meanwhile the wasted city of Phoenix becomes the base for a big-thinking ex-military man who wants to take control of all of humanity and eliminate dissenters who stand in his way. This novel is overflowing with excellent and thought-provoking political philosophy, especially when it comes to the exact meaning of "freedom" and how that term is actually defined by whoever has power. Unfortunately, this book's politics may be a little outdated, because nowadays I suspect that a western power-hungry demagogue would be the exact ideological opposite of Abbey's villain here (this guy's a socialist). The novel has a few other problems, such as longwinded and tiresome monologues from the characters. Most of the action is rather predictable chase scenes, and the story is capped off by an inconclusive ending, which cries out for a sequel that never appeared. This is a very hard-hitting and thought-provoking novel, but Abbey's basic ideas are better defined elsewhere. [~doomsdayer520~]

Forget '1984'
This is not only one of Abbey's best novels but a great novel in its own right.As both a city and a country dweller I can not only relate but confirm much of his notion that cities are not nearly as healthy for a man's soul as the country is.In addition this is a great story about social decay and what it takes to over come the challanges that arise from such a situation.We have grown soft and forgetful of what our forefathers went through to create a country like ours and this book gives a realistic and easy to swallow insight into their frames of mind and their state of heart.This is the wild west and the futurama all mixed together with an iron fisted military group to boot.I still can't believe this was never made into a movie.

A rare anarcho-classic!
Abbey's best work will always be his essays, but this novel is one of those "forgotten" dystopian classics that deserves much more attention. Forget Orwell's "1984." It's too European. Forget Levin's "This Perfect Day." It's too fantastic. Abbey has written the best post-apocalypse American novel to date. And his politics, as always, ring true. Up the rebels! An anarcho-classic ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. General    3. Literature - Classics / Criticism    4. Fiction / Literary    5. Self-Help & Practical Interests   

Reviews (1)

An excellent introduction to Edward Abbey's work
After reading this collection, which serves as a retrospective of the writin career of one of the better SW writers, I was left with a feeling that the selection could have been better, but this probably reflects my own eclectic readings of his work.Abbey's writings always seemed uneven, particularly in his fiction.His comments about the role of the independent writer versus that of the commercial hired of the establishment press seems right on.In spite of his many years of part-time non-writing service to various agencies he still managed to maintain his freedom to say what he wished about the rot he saw in the management of public lands.I suspect that he was always a bit shocked abouthow cheaply managers of public linds could be bought off. As a review of his lifetime of writing the book is excellent.McCrae includes some of his fiction, both the excellent ("The Brave Cowboy") and only fair (The Monkey Wrench Gang").The sampling from his writings might be occasionally dated, but are still mostly relevant to the problems of the SW.His polemic about the cowboy ("Free Speech - The cowboy ans his cow") clearly points to the problems of allowing anythinglike an unrestricted use of and romanticism about what can easily become an extractive industry.At the same time Abbey'sfollowers should have a difficult time justapositionng his sense of anarchy with this complaints about the institutional anarchy of commercial capitalism. To finish.A good read and certainly worthwhile for someone new to Abbey's work while being a fair sample of his writings for a person with only a passing acquaintance with the writings of one of the West's best essayist.The closing comments in Wendell Berry's poem about his friend are most appropriate. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Fiction    3. Nature    4. Fiction / Literary    5. Modern fiction    6. Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (1)

An Exceptional Protrayal
An outstanding portrayal of what it means to be on foot in the middle of the harsh desert wilderness. Of the balance between beauty and the harsh reality of an environment where every animal (from stealthy mountain lionsto invisible bugs) every plant (from majestic saguaros to innocent weeds)and even the land itself (from river-bottom quick sand to valley feverlurking in the dust) is at any moment ready to strike, sting, bite,scratch, poke, infect or crumble away beneath your feet withoutwarning.Read more

Subjects:  1. Ecology    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Literary Criticism    5. Literature - Classics / Criticism    6. Reference    7. Short Stories (single author)    8. United States - State & Local - General    9. Literary Criticism & Collections / General    10. Modern fiction    11. USA   

Reviews (1)

I really liked this book
When I first read this book I was in Sata Fe, New Mexico's public library looking for some other poetry book.When I cam across it I thumbed through it at first but then a few poems just grabbed me and I ended up reading theentire thing there in the public library. The poems are real.I likeEdward Abbey's poetry because it is not so flowery and wordy that you losethe point, but just enuff.His metaphores and style of writting truleycapture the sense of whatever momment he may be writting about. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Poetry    2. Modern fiction   

Editorial Review

Ed Abbey's 1975 novel, Read more

Reviews (16)

Edward Abbey's Legacy...Great Literature and a Greater Appreciation for the American Southwest...And the Glen Canyon Dam
The name Edward Abbey is a foul couple of words for some, and is followed by foul language off the tongue of the same people. But, it shouldn't...both for his great body writings and for his fierce appreciation for everything that makes the American West great. "The Monkey Wrench Gang" and its sequel "Hayduke Lives" are classic American Literature as well as important social commentary on who we are and what should matter to us as a society and a country. (This review is for both books so might be a bit longer than usual.)