Edward Abbey

When first published, Desert Images was a watershed project in the nascent environmental movement bringing together two titans of American literature and art in their heyday. Still resonating all these decades later, Muench s evocative photography and Abbey s fiery, poetic text remain an unsurpassed tribute to this extraordinary American landscape. Those who imagine that the desert is merely a monotonous vista of sand and rock will be surprised by the variety of landforms, plants, and other natural phenomena shown on these pages. As Abbey wrote, For some of those who have learned not only to live in but also to love the desert, it offers rewards greater than its visual appeal to the sense of beauty the promise implicit in all that rugged wildness, that open, unfenced, untrammeled space the sense of adventure, the reality of freedom, the hope of a refuge. This photographic and literary passport to a great American wilderness will be treasured by all those who cherish the natural world.

The timeless novel that chronicles a reckless romance in the wilderness, from Edward Abbey, one of America's foremost defenders of the natural environment.Black Sun is a bittersweet love story involving an iconoclastic forest ranger and a freckle-faced "American princess" half his age. Like Lady Chatterley's lover, he initiates her into the rites of sex and the stark, secret harmonies of his wilderness kingdom. She, in turn, awakens in him the pleasure of love. Then she mysteriously disappears, plunging him into desolation.Black Sun is a singular novel in Abbey's repertoire, a romantic story of a solitary man's passion for the outdoors and for a woman who is his wilderness muse."Like most honest novels, Black Sun is partly autobiographical, mostly invention, and entirely true. The voice that speaks in this book is the passionate voice of the forest," Abbey writes, "the madness of desire, and the joy of love, and the anguish of final loss."

"A thing of beauty. . . . A wildly funny, infinitely wise, near to tragic tale of man against the bog god machine." --Houston ChronicleA special 50th anniversary edition of Edward Abbey's classic tale of rebellion, camaraderie, and environmental justice--a prescient, comic masterpiece of destructive mayhem and outrageous civil disobedience that speaks to us today--with a new introduction by the real-life inspiration for George Hayduke's character, Doug Peacock.When Ex-Green Beret George Hayduke returns from war to find his beloved Southwestern desert threatened by industrial development, it's up to him to take the noxious bull by the horns. Joining forces with Bronx exile and feminist saboteur Bonnie Abzug, wilderness guide and outcast Mormon Seldom Seen Smith, and libertarian billboard torcher Doc Sarvis, Hayduke is primed to fight the power. Strip miners, clear-cutters, and highway, dam, and bridge builders beware Now, fifty years after the original publication, the Monkey Wrench Gang is on the move again. This collectible anniversary edition is both a tribute to Abbey's legacy and a timeless call to arms for preserving the natural world. The introduction by Doug Peacock provides a window into his decades-long friendship with Abbey, and offers fresh insights into the novel's lasting relevance and impact.

These eloquent meditations, philosophical musings, and whimsical doodles offer us the clearest window into the soul of this American literary legend. Few have cared more about American wilderness than the irascible Cactus Ed. Author of eco-classics such as The Monkey Wrench Gang and Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey reveals all his rough-hewn edges and passionate beliefs in this witty, outspoken, maddening, and sometimes brilliant selection of journal entries that takes the writer from his early years as a park ranger and would-be literary author up to his death in 1989. Everything is here: the acute wit, the searing cynicism, and the lyrical, effortless prose. This new edition features an interview with his friend and editor David Petersen in which Abbey speaks candidly about his own work, his approach to writing, and technique. Original sketches made by Abbey himself and a detailed index are also included.

‘My favourite book about the wilderness’ Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild In this shimmering masterpiece of American nature writing, Edward Abbey ventures alone into the canyonlands of Moab, Utah, to work as a seasonal ranger for the United States National Park Service. Living out of a trailer, Abbey captures in rapt, poetic prose the landscape of the desert; a world of terracotta earth, empty skies, arching rock formations, cliffrose, juniper, pinyon pine and sand sage. His summers become spirit quests, taking him in search of wild horses and Ancient Puebloan petroglyphs, up mountains and across tribal lands, and down the Glen Canyon by river. He experiences both sides of his new home; its incredible beauty and its promise of liberation, but also its isolating, cruel side, at one point discovering a dead tourist at an isolated area of the Grand Canyon. In his own irascible style, Abbey uses his time in the desert to meditate on the tension between nature and civilisation, and outlines a personal philosophy that would come to heavily influence the environmentalist movement. Now published in a special edition to celebrate its 50th Anniversary, this classic seems remarkably prescient, and has lost none of its power.

From acclaimed author and literary genius Edward Abbey comes this classic novel that inspired the motion picture Lonely Are The Brave--a stirring and unforgettable tribute to the American hero and the American West."We are living. . . among punishments and ruins. For those that know this, Edward Abbey's books remain an indispensable solace." -- Wendell BerryThe Brave Cowboy is a classic of modern Western literature. It follows Jack Burns, a loner at odds with modern civilization. He rides a feisty chestnut mare across the New West--a once beautiful land now smothered beneath airstrips and superhighways. An "anarchist cowboy," he lives by a personal code of ethics that sets him on a collision course with the keepers of law and order. After a prison breakout plan goes awry, he finds himself and his horse, Whisky, pursued across the desert towards the mountains that lead to Mexico, and to freedom. With local law enforcement, the feds, and the military on their tails, the cowboy and his horse race towards their destiny.

"The Thoreau of the American West." -- Larry McMurty, author of Lonesome DoveA half-century after its original publication, Edward Abbey's classic 1962 novel, Fire on the Mountain, still retains its beauty, power, and relevance. Now with a new introduction by New York Times bestseller Douglas Brinkley (The Wilderness Warrior, Walter Cronkite), this extraordinary tale by the legendary icon of the environmentalism movement and author of The Monkey Wrench Gang proudly celebrates rugged American individualism, as it tells the story of one tough old loner's stand against the combined, well-armed forces of government that are determined to clear him from his land.

Drift down the Colorado River through Glen Canyon and explore the people and places that encompass the history of this majestic canyon before it drowned in the rising waters of Lake Powell. Author Gregory Crampton led the historical investigations of Glen and San Juan Canyons from 1957 to 1963 under contract with the National Park Service. The objective was to locate and record historical sites that would be lost to the rising waters of the reservoir. This book records that effort. First published in 1986, this edition has been revised to include several new ""ghosts"" of Glen Canyon, including a never-before-published foreword by Edward Abbey. It also showcases stunning color photographs by Philip Hyde and includes hundreds of black-and-white photographs taken by the original salvage crews. This informative guide to the historic treasures of Glen Canyon includes numbered maps keyed to each location. It is a book for both the armchair traveler and the lake enthusiast eager for a journey through the past to a place few had the privilege to know.

“But hell, I do like to write letters. Much easier than writing books.” And write letters Edward Abbey—“the Thoreau of the American West” (Washington Post)—did. At once incendiary and insightful, cantankerous and profoundly perceptive, Abbey was a singular American writer and cult hero, as famous for books like Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang as he was infamous for the persona of “Cactus Ed.” A true iconoclast with a rich sense of humor, his polemics and salvos—Wallace Stegner once likened Abbey to the “stinger of a scorpion”—were not limited to any one arena. Abbey’s postcards and letters, legendary during his lifetime, convey the fullness of the man and reveal, along with his wisdom and savage wit, a tender side seldom seen before. For readers new to Abbey, this collection is an awe-inspiring introduction to the man and his works. And for devoted fans, the letters chronicle his evolution as an authentic American voice in the wilderness.

"A thing of beauty. . . . A wildly funny, infinitely wise, near to tragic tale of man against the bog god machine." --Houston ChronicleEdward Abbey's classic tale of rebellion, camaraderie, and environmental justice--a prescient, comic masterpiece of destructive mayhem and outrageous civil disobedience that speaks to us todayEx-Green Beret George Hayduke has returned from war to find his beloved Southwestern desert threatened by industrial development. Joining with Bronx exile and feminist saboteur Bonnie Abzug, wilderness guide and outcast Mormon Seldom Seen Smith, and libertarian billboard torcher Doc Sarvis, M.D., Hayduke is ready to fight the power--taking on the strip miners, clear-cutters, and the highway, dam, and bridge builders who are threatening the natural habitat. The Monkey Wrench Gang is on the move--and peaceful coexistence be damned

“But hell, I do like to write letters. Much easier than writing books.” And write letters Edward Abbey—“the Thoreau of the American West” (Washington Post)—did. At once incendiary and insightful, cantankerous and profoundly perceptive, Abbey was a singular American writer and cult hero, as famous for books like Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang as he was infamous for the persona of “Cactus Ed.” A true iconoclast with a rich sense of humor, his polemics and salvos—Wallace Stegner once likened Abbey to the “stinger of a scorpion”—were not limited to any one arena. Abbey’s postcards and letters, legendary during his lifetime, convey the fullness of the man and reveal, along with his wisdom and savage wit, a tender side seldom seen before. For readers new to Abbey, this collection is an awe-inspiring introduction to the man and his works. And for devoted fans, the letters chronicle his evolution as an authentic American voice in the wilderness.

'Revolutionary ... An extravagant, finely written tale of ecological sabotage' The New York TimesAudacious, controversial and hilarious, The Monkey Wrench Gang is Edward Abbey's masterpiece - a big, boisterous and unforgettable novel about freedom and commitment that ignited the flames of environmental activism. Throughout the vast American West, nature is being vicitimized by a Big Government / Big Business conspiracy of bridges, dams and concrete. But a motley gang of individuals has decided that enough is enough. A burnt-out veteran, a mad doctor and a polygamist join forces in a noble cause: to dismantle the machinery of progress through peaceful means - or otherwise.

"Erämaa on välttämätön osa sivistystä."Seikkailukas autiomaakirja, josta on tullut luontokirjallisuuden klassikko ja ympäristöväen suosikki."Amerikan Lännen Thoreau" kertoo tässä pääteoksessaan Utahin kanjoniseudun syrjäisessä kansallispuistossa viettämistään kesistä, seudun luonnosta ja historiasta sekä koskemattomasta luonnosta yleensä ja sen merkityksestä ihmisille. Lopputuloksena on värikäs mosaiikki, jossa on extreme-retkeilyä ja toimintakomediaa, runoutta ja filosofiaa, kansalaistottelemattomuutta januotiotunnelmia. Ennen kaikkea teoksesta muodostuu villin luonnon puolustuspuhe.Kirjaa voi suositella luonnonsuojelusta, luonnosta ja/tai hyvästä kirjallisuudesta kiinnostuneelle lukijalle. Teos on Green Spotin toinen kirjakustanne.

When his third wife abandons him in Tucson, boozing, misanthropic anarchist Henry Holyoak Lightcap shoots his refrigerator and sets off in a battered pick-up truck for his ancestral home in West Virginia. Accompanied only by his dying dog and his memories, the irascible warhorse (a stand-in for the "real" Abbey) begins a bizarre cross-country odyssey--determined to make peace with his past--and to wage one last war against the ravages of "progress."

This book is different from any other Edward Abbey book. It includes essays, travel pieces and fictions to reveal Ed's life directly, in his own words.The selections gathered here are arranged chronologically by incident, not by date of publication, to offer Edward Abbey's life from the time he was the boy called Ned in Home, Pennsylvania, until his death in Tucson at age 62. A short note introduces each of the four parts of the book and attempts to identify what's happening in the author's life at the time. When relevant, some details of publishing history are provided.

Down the River is a collection of essays both timeless and timely. It is an exploration of the abiding beauty of some of the last great stretches of American wilderness on voyages down rivers where the body and mind float free, and the grandeur of nature gives rise to meditations on everything from the life of Henry David Thoreau to the militarization of the open range. At the same time, it is an impassioned condemnation of what is being done to our natural heritage in the name of progress, profit, and security. Filled with fiery dawns, wild and shining rivers, and radiant sandstone canyons, it is charged as well with heartfelt, rampageous rage at human greed, blindness, and folly. It is, in short, Edward Abbey at his best, where and when we need him most.

The Journey Home ranges from the surreal cityscapes of Hoboken and Manhattan to the solitary splendor of the deserts and mountains of the Southwest. It is alive with ranchers, dam builders, kissing bugs, and mountain lions. In a voice edged with chagrin, Edward Abbey offers a portrait of the American West that we'll not soon forget, offering us the observations of a man who left the urban world behind to think about the natural world and the myths buried therein. Abbey, our foremost "ecological philosopher," has a voice like no other. He can be wildly funny, ferociously acerbic, and unexpectedly moving as he ardently champions our natural wilderness and castigates those who would ravish it for the perverse pleasure of profit.

In Good News, Edward Abbey's acclaimed underground classic, the West is wild again. American civilization as the twentieth century knew it has crumbled. In the great Southwest, a new breed of settler, whites and Indians together, is creating a new way of life in the wilderness--a pastoral economy--with skills and savvy resurrected from the pre-industrial past. Meanwhile, in a last surviving bastion of urban life, the remnants of the power elite are girding their armed forces to re-impose the old order. This is a land of horses and motorcycles, high-tech weaponry and primitive courage, and the struggle for the American future is mounting in intensity. No quarter is asked or given, and the outcome hangs in perilous balance against a background of magnificent nature and eternal human verities. With this boldly satirical imaginary world, Abbey asks us to look around and take stock of what we value--before it is too late.