Edward Abbey

[Petr]

In my meanderings around this website (and Mag's quote repository) I've run into a lot of Edward Abbey's work that I rather like. Can any fans out there recommend his best/most accessible work for me to start on? Thanks.

[Lone Wolf]

The Best Of Edward Abbey is good

[Lone Wolf]

The Best Of Edward Abbey is good

Abbey/dp/0871567865

[Lone Wolf]

The Best Of Edward Abbey is good

try this http://www.amazon.com/Best-Edward-Abbey/dp/0871567865

[RedneckRye]

Monkeywrench Gang is his best known work of "fiction".
Desert Solitare is one of his best non-fiction.
Fool's Progress is probably my favorite of his books.

[Morpheus]

I agree with RedneckRye's choices. I've read most of his work. I would pick "Desert Solitaire" myself because I enjoyed his autobiographical account of his time alone as a ranger in Moab before tourism ever took off.
Also on the same note, "The Dharma Bums" by Jack Kerouac was better for me than "On The Road". Dharma accounts for his time more into Zen and time spent in the woods rather than Road which is more like a drunk hobo.

[Petr]

The Best Of Edward Abbey is good

Well, that certainly seems like a reasonable place to start.

[dloome]

I like his non-fiction most, and would consider Desert Solitaire an absolute must-read and a good start. I've read it at least 10 times. A Voice Crying in the Wilderness isa good book just to pick up for a few minutes now and then. Mostly just random short thoughts, so maybe an easy thing to peruse if you haven't read Abbey before.

As far as fiction, I really liked The Monkeywrench Gang, Fire on the Mountain, and The Brave Cowboy.

Confessions of a Barbarian is my current project which is a lengthy collection of his personal journals. I think it's a lot more interesting if you have some idea of the man before starting it.

Enjoy whatever you try! You can't really go wrong with Abbey IMHO...

[burger]

Desert Solitaire was the first Abbey book I read and remains one of my all-time favorite non-fiction books. I've seen a bunch of other books about the canyon country, but none of them hold a candle to this one.

As for the novels, Fire on the Mountain is a good and quick read, The Monkey Wrench Gang is a lot of fun, and The Fool's Progress is probably his best and most serious novel. Of all his novels, though, I thought that Black Sun was most affecting.

If you're into essays, Beyond the Wall and Abbey's Road both have some good material.

[GlazeDog]

I've read everything he's written except Jonathon Troy (impossible to find--Abbey wouldn't let this, his 1st novel, be republished).

My picks:
Non-Fiction: Desert Solitaire (his best book probably--I've read this one 5 times)

Fiction: The Monkey Wrench Gang (read 3 times)

Also: Beyond the Wall (non-fiction)

Of White Blaze interest: Appalachian Wilderness (non-fiction)--I love his little digs against places like Gatlinburg and all its tourism-commerce-mania

But truly his ability to capture the American Southwest is awesome.

[OldStormcrow]

The Monkey Wrench Gang got me hooked initially, and now I think I have about everything of his that is still in print. Hayduke lives!

[RedneckRye]

I've read everything he's written except Jonathon Troy (impossible to find--Abbey wouldn't let this, his 1st novel, be republished).



The library here in town has a copy of Jonathan Troy.
I read about 1/3 of it a couple of years ago.
I can understand why Ed wouldn't allow it to be reprinted or republished.

Also, it isn't impossible to find, just rather expensive.....
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=jonathan+troy&x=0&y=0

www.abebooks.com is probably the best source for rare, out-of-print, etc books.

[GlazeDog]

The library here in town has a copy of Jonathan Troy.
I read about 1/3 of it a couple of years ago.
I can understand why Ed wouldn't allow it to be reprinted or republished.


That's great because my parents live in Columbus--I'm only a couple hours away. Maybe next time I visit I could have them snag that copy from the library for me to read.

You say it's not bad. Can't wait to read it. Which library was it?

Thanks--
GlazeDog

[The Scribe]

The Best Of Edward Abbey is good

Agreed.
Whiteblaze (and the Abbey references on it) got me reading him.

[DuctTape]

Desert Solitaire

anybody know where he's buried? ;-)

[Petr]

Well, I had little to do this fine Michigan Saturday so I strolled down to my local used book store and, lo and behold, found a copy of Desert Solitaire. Eight hours later, my eyes are tired but my brain is abuzz. I very much enjoyed it.

Interestingly, I enjoyed the five page "author's introduction" and the final 100 pages of the book the most. I think I probably enjoyed the former as much as I did because it is his most concentrated wit and snarkiness. The latter is a little harder to explain, and I only share as a cautionary tale for those type-A WB members out there:

I have been mired in formal education for longer than is healthy for the soul. Thus, I've acquired the unrepressible habit of reading as a means to an end. It is a struggle for me to slow down enough to really immerse myself in good writing, as I've been trained to tear through texts for the sake of educational economy. This is why I can't enjoy poetry; it is a medium which strives to get the maximum impact out of the fewest words, which is something that cannot be appreciated by those flying by at maximum velocity (or maybe I'm just too thickheaded to appreciate subtlety). Anyway, as I approached the final third of the book, the hour became late enough that I could justify two fingers (or six) of whiskey, which had the unsurprising side effect of slowing me down a bit, which, in turn, had the unsurprising side effect of me enjoying the musings of Mr. Abbey to a greater degree. In conclusion: for those of us who are innately competitive, pathologically goal-oriented, and helplessly compulsive, chill the F out, take your time, and finish the book/project/hike next week/month/year. It's about enjoying the process, not the finish line.

I will now go about ignoring my own advice and plan an ill-advised thru-hike with a 4.5 month time limit starting February 1st, 2010. Do as I say, not as I do, because I'm way beyond the point of changing.

[Dogwood]

In nine days I start a 900 mile westward hike starting in Arches NP and ending in Zion NP. The trail, or more like a route, crosses much of southern Utah and some of northern Arizona and goes through 6 National Parks and several National Monuments and National Forests. I plan on sitting down and staring up at many of the sights that Edward Abbey warmly mentions in Desert Solitaire. Since I first read Desert Solitaire I have admired the author's outside of the box thinking and thoughts on preserving these areas for future generations that don't bow to "industrial tourism." I appreciate the way he challenges what many consider to be the standard or norm. He has a way of cutting through entrenched ways of thinking by offering fresh perspectives that offer options that don't succumb to greed and economic development(MONEY). The trail is named in honor of him- The Hayduke Trail.

[zoidfu]

Monkeywrench Gang is his best known work of "fiction".
Desert Solitare is one of his best non-fiction.
Fool's Progress is probably my favorite of his books.

Good summation.

One life at a time, please is also an excellent colletion of op ed's and lectures. The Brave Cowboy is great too. Basically, anything by Abbey is great.

[jrwiesz]

...for those type-A WB members out there:

...chill the F out... It's about enjoying the process, not the finish line...


Thanks:sun

[Darwin again]

The best version of Desert Solitaire is the University of Arizona Press 1988 version. Abbey revised his original text for that version and the preface is by Abbey. He died in 1989.

As for his own works, in Confessions of a Barbarian (http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Barbarian-Selections-Journals-1951-1989/dp/0316004162) (selections from his journals -- I highly recommend it!) Abbey letter-graded them as follows:

Jonathan Troy: D-
Brave Cowboy: B
Fire on the Mountain: C
Black Sun: A
Monkey Wrench Gang: B
Good News: B
Desert Solitaire: B
Abbey's Road: A
Journey Home: C
Down the River: A

(Source: see above (http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Barbarian-Selections-Journals-1951-1989/dp/0316004162), pages 305-306)

I have them both and I agree that Abbey's Road and Down the River (mine is an autographed copy I got off ebay years ago) are excellent, probably purer Abbey than the right-brain stuff in Desert Solitaire, though I love that book as well.

/what can I say, I was an elglich mager.

[the goat]

Also on the same note, "The Dharma Bums" by Jack Kerouac was better for me than "On The Road". Dharma accounts for his time more into Zen and time spent in the woods rather than Road which is more like a drunk hobo.

uh, he spent a good amount of time getting hammered in dharma too.:)

[Morpheus]

True that Goat, but didn't you think the stories of monk-style, tantric sex and the glowing, electrified, firetower in a thunderstorm were more interesting than bohemian depravity in an urban setting? :eek:

[TrippinBTM]

I liked Fool's Progress quite a bit, it's very well written, though sad. Beyond the Wall is a good collection of essays, Desert Solitaire is of course the must-read classic, along with Monkey Wrench Gang. I read Hayduke Lives! which was alright but not something I'd call a favorite; it's a sequel to Monkey Wrench Gang. I have more of his books to read myself, so I can't recommend any others.

Oh, and I agree about the Kerouac books. I tried reading On the Road a second time after a few years in between, and couldn't do it; Bohemian depravity in an urban setting pretty much describes it. Not my kind of book. Dharma was much better. Even so, I'm not a huge Kerouac fan, much as I tried to be in my teens.

And hey, if you like Desert Solitaire, you'd probably like "Pilgrim on Tinker Creek" by Annie Dillard. Doesn't have Abbey's wit, but does have a lot of poetry. (That is, it's beautifully written. Don't be scared, it's not actually poetry).

[Morpheus]

I agree about Kerouac vs. Abbey. I think the fact that Kerouac reportedly wrote "On the Road" while on speed affected his focus a little. I saw Amazon.com has "Black Sun". I'm ordering tomorrow!