The Best of Edward Abbey

by Edward Abbey (Editor), Doug Peacock (Foreword by)

Overview

This is the only major collection of Abbey's writings compiled by the author himself: in his own words, "to present what I think is both the best and most representative of my writing—so 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 essays—a genre in which he produced acknowledged masterpieces such as Desert Solitaire. Scattered throughout are the author's own petroglyph–style sketches.

This new edition adds selections from work that appeared shortly before Abbey's 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 Peacock—Abbey's close friend and the model for the flamboyant activist Hayduke—offers a fond appreciation of this larger–than–life figure in American letters.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578051212
Publisher:	Catapult
Publication date:	07/01/2005
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	458
Sales rank:	265,698
Product dimensions:	5.37(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.25(d)

About the Author

Edward Abbey was born in the town of Indiana, Pennsylvania on January 29, 1927. He grew up around the nearby village of Home, which now has a state historical marker commemorating Abbey. After a brief military career 1945-1947 in Naples, Italy he attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

In 1944 at age 17 he left the family farm in Home and set off to see the American West. He hitchhiked and rode the rails—across the Midwest to the Rockies and the West Coast, returning by way of the Southwest. He fell in love with the desert, a love that shaped his life and art for more than 40 years. For 15 years and well into his forties, he worked as a part-time ranger and fire lookout at several different national parks, his two seasons as a ranger at Arches National Monument (later a national park) in Utah providing the inspiration and raw material for Desert Solitaire.

In 1987, Edward Abbey was offered a major award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Abbey declined the honor. He died in 1989.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	ix
	Notes from the Arroyo
	The Author's Preface to His Own Book	xv
	From Jonathan Troy (1954)	1
	From The Brave Cowboy (1956)	5
	From Fire on the Mountain (1962)	15
	From Desert Solitaire (1968)	25
	Cowboys	26
	The Moon-Eyed Horse	40
	Havasu	54
	The Dead Man at Grandview Point	65
	Bedrock and Paradox	74
	From Appalachian Wilderness (1970)	81
	Appalachia	82
	From Black Sun (1971)	95
	From The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975)	101
	Seldom Seen at Home	102
	From The Journey Home (1977)	107
	The Great American Desert	108
	Death Valley	118
	Manhattan Twilight, Hoboken Night	131
	Telluride Blues-A Hatchet Job	143
	From Abbey's Road (1979)	155
	Anna Creek	156
	The Outback	174
	A Desert Isle	188
	Sierra Madre	201
	Down There in the Rocks	219
	Science with a Human Face	224
	In Defense of the Redneck	231
	Fire Lookout	243
	The Sorrows of Travel	249
	From Good News (1980)	261
	From Down the River (1982)	271
	Down the River with Henry Thoreau	272
	Watching the Birds: The Windhover	308
	Of Protest	315
	My Friend Debris	327
	Floating	344
	From The Rites of Spring (novel in progress)	355
	From Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside (1984)	385
	Down to the Sea of Cortez	386
	From The Fool's Progress: An Honest Novel (1989)	397
	To the Mississippi	398
	From Hayduke Lives! (1990)	403
	Bonnie's Return	404
	From Earth Apples: The Poetry of Edward Abbey (1994)	419
	Flash Flood	420
	Down the River	422
	A Sonnet for Everett Ruess	424
	From Confessions of a Barbarian (1994)	425
	Selections from the Journals	426
	About the Author	433