Edward Abbey 25 Years Later

[boudreaux]

After reading Desert Solitaire, I went out and climbed the Abajos, Henrys and the LaSals, explored the Grand Canyon, creating my own adventure!

[MUni Rider]

Desert Solitaire for nonfiction, The Monkey Wrench Gang for fiction. Both great reads.

+1

---edit. Just remembered I've used one of his quotes in my signature line. Yep. I like his books.

[Bill Cummings]

If you're an Abbey fan, be sure to read The Fool's Progress, at some point. Semi-autobiographical and denser than Abbey's other work, it's not for the first-time Abbey reader. It is, however, a must for the serious Abbey enthusiast.

[planet54]

One of my favorite passages from Abbey comes from the book Hayduke Lives. A main character, Bonnie Abbzug is hiking alone in a canyon and decides to take a swim in a pothole. It turns out to be a keeper pothole and she can't get herself out. After some trial and error she hits on the idea that those big, soft things on her chest would make great suction cups. He then describes the extrication process. Pretty funny stuff.

[mountaingoat-G]

Subject: editorial from Jim Stiles (old friend of Abby)

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/57 ... n.html.csp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[justiner]

Ha ha. "Hypocrite" Show me a man, and I shall show you a hypocrite. Abbey was outspoken, sometimes a total a**hole, imperfect with the ladies, and controversial, but I'd be wary of calling him the big H.

I think it speaks volumes of how much he shaped out outlook of extreme radical conservation (however good or bad) on his (sometimes) actions and (mostly) words. Damming Glen Canyon is a really stupid idea; using the M.R.G. as a way to play with the fantasy of stopping what's obviously unsustainable growth in the West is a brilliant stroke, however crappy of a read it actually was (comes off as almost pulp). You're worried about a few cans chucked on the road, and a tire - there's how many more millions now living off the Colorado River in the past 25 years? What's their impact? Use the machine to destroy the machine was one of Ed's tactics. Could you imagine exploring Glen Canyon, pre-dam and thinking, "this should be saved, this is another national park" and then having it just not be there anymore? Having it just be another industrial project, much like mining an entire mountain from the top-down?

Desert Solitaire is an amazing read about something that's already gone - you can't go to Arches and experience that simple things he witnessed anymore - it's already gone. Abbey's Road is a good intro to The Man. His collection of journals shows him as confused, worried, dumb, happy, sad, and imperfect like the rest of us. I like the idea that rangers should you know: range, and that people should park their cars outside of National Parks and try walking for once.

I raise my beer glass to that over-famous survey market plucker-and-chucker that's certainly now roasting in Hell on the very wood of the billboards he helped saw down. To ol' Ed!

Abbey.png (344.59 KiB) Viewed 3122 times

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... s/2981273/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[justiner]

There's probably a million books to choose from, but if you like Ed, and the idea of National Parks, and the rangers in them and their opinions, may I suggest Kim Hecox's, The Only Kayak. Hecox worked as a park ranger in Glacier National Park, and recounts the changes he saw during a 25-odd year timespan and some of the controversy he stirred up, even though he never felt like quote the Abbey-esque rabble-rouser. His experience with locals who made their living fishing around, or even sometimes in the national park is particularly interesting.

http://www.tatteredcover.com/book/9781592288946" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[talamo71]

Edward Abbey

a man not with the dung he excreted

isn't political activism frowned upon at this site?
why hasn't this thread been moved off road or pulled?

i visit this site for mountaineering info, not political garbage.

[cheeseburglar]

"My role, I see myself as an entertainer. I try to write good books, make people laugh, make them cry... provoke them, make them angry, make them think, if possible. Get a reaction, give pleasure."

It seems like, 25 years after his death, it's working.

I think everyone should read Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang. I think they should be required reading in high school.

[ortegajv]

In one chapter, Abbey climbs Mt. Tukuhnikivatz and I remember his description of getting there and hiking it. It made it sound like he didn't have what I consider wilderness ethics - from the way he was thrashing along the road with his jeep to the way he kicked all the scree around on his way off the summit (causing a lot of erosion). It was probably in the 60's.

[OscarMayerSweener]

Edward Abbey

a man not with the dung he excreted

isn't political activism frowned upon at this site?
why hasn't this thread been moved off road or pulled?

i visit this site for mountaineering info, not political garbage.

"Political activism"...?

You clicked on the forum, brother. Or maybe you wanted to tro-lo-lo-lo-lo.

[Kent McLemore]

I read Desert Solitaire as a teen living on the Western Slope of Colo. the mid 70's. So did many of my friends. It was quite influential at that time and place. I've re-read it a couple of times over the years and it holds up well. There's no accounting for taste, but I much prefer his non-fiction.