Synopses & Reviews
This is the only major collection of Abbeys writings compiled by the author himself: in his own words, to present what I think is both the best and most representative of my writingso far.” It serves up a rich feast of fiction and prose by the singular American writer whom Larry McMurtry called the Thoreau of the American West.”
Devoted Abbey fans along with readers just discovering his work will find a mother lode of treasures here: generous chunks of his best novels, including The Brave Cowboy, Black Sun, and his classic The Monkey Wrench Gang; and more than a score of his evocative, passionate, trenchant essaysa genre in which he produced acknowledged masterpieces such as Desert Solitaire. Scattered throughout are the authors own petroglyph-style sketches.
This new edition adds selections from work that appeared shortly before Abbeys death: a chapter from Hayduke Lives!, the hilarious sequel to The Monkey Wrench Gang; excerpts from his revealing journals; and examples of his poetry. A new foreword by Doug PeacockAbbeys close friend and the model for the flamboyant activist Haydukeoffers a fond appreciation of this larger-than-life figure in American letters.
Synopsis
"The original fly in the ointment."--Thomas McGuane
"He had about him an authenticity that springs from the page and is beloved by a rising generation of readers."--Edward Hoagland
Table of Contents
[Asterisk * indicates material added to the Second Edition.]
*Foreword
The Author's Preface to His Own Book
From Jonathan Troy (1954)
From The Brave Cowboy (1956)
From Fire on the Mountain (1962)
From Desert Solitaire (1968)
Cowboys
The Moon-Eyed Horse
Havasu
The Dead Man at Grandview Point
Bedrock and Paradox
From Appalachian Wilderness (1970)
Appalachia
From Black Sun (1971)
From The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975)
Seldom Seen at Home
From The Journey Home (1977)
The Great American Desert
Death Valley
Manhattan Twilight, Hoboken Night
Telluride Blues--A Hatchet Job
From Abbey's Road (1979)
Anna Creek
The Outback
A Desert Isle
Sierra Madre
Down There in the Rocks
Science with a Human Face
In Defense of the Redneck
Fire Lookout
The Sorrows of Travel
From Good News (1980)
From Down the River (1982)
Down the River with Henry Thoreau
Watching the Birds: The Windhover
Of Protest
My Friend Debris
Floating
From The Rites of Spring (novel in progress)
*From Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside (1984)
Down to the Sea of Cortez
*From The Fool's Progress: An Honest Novel (1989)
*From Hayduke Lives! (1990)
Bonnie's Return
*From Earth Apples: The Poetry of Edward Abbey (1994)
Flash Flood
Down the River
A Sonnet for Everett Ruess
*From Confessions of a Barbarian: Selections from the Journals (1994)