radiokills Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Does anyone read any Edward Abbey? a while ago i picked up The Monkey Wrench Gang and finished it in 2 sittings. since then he's essentially all i've read. anyways, discuss Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sweetheart-mine Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Does anyone read any Edward Abbey? a while ago i picked up The Monkey Wrench Gang and finished it in 2 sittings. since then he's essentially all i've read. anyways, discussmy brother read "desert solitaire" and loved it so much that he moved from boston out to utah and changed his whole life. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the carlos Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 I do and have. a lot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 "Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion." "A knowledge of the true age of the earth and of the fossil record makes it impossible for any balanced intellect to believe in the literal truth of every part of the Bible in the way that fundamentalists do. And if some of the Bible is manifestly wrong, why should any of the rest of it be accepted automatically?" Both quotes attributed to Edward - yeah, he is a hero of mine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spawn's dad Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 My own ambition, my deepest and truest ambition, is to find within myself someday, somehow,....the ability to do nothing Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Smokestack Joe Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 weird, i just discovered this guy at the bookstore yesterday and i see this post. i guess some strange force wants me to read Ed Abbey Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lance Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 The Fool's Progress is one of my favorite pieces of fiction. Too bad he had to taste test all that alkali desert water... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NightOfJoy Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 'Desert Solitaire' is a wonderful book. I wish he wrote more like that. 'Monkeywrench Gang' I found a bit juvenile but still a pleasant read. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Smokestack Joe Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 wow another Ed Abbey moment today. Im reading Bernd Heinrich's A Year in the Maine Woods and he quotes Edward Abbey. that totals three Ed Abbey signs in less than 48 hours.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Yeah, I've read Desert Solitaire and The Journey Home. Good stuff. His newest posthumous collection of letters is pretty cool too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
radiokills Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 im in the middle of Down the River, his essays on thoreau are amazing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skian Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Time to move on to Hayduke Lives.Check out The Brave Cowboy and then Fire On The Mountain.There is a great movie from the 50's called Lonely Are The Brave. It is the storyof The Brave Cowboy (Jack Burns), starring Kirk Douglas, he has said it was his favorite roll/character in a movie.Also worth searching for are tapes/CD of Abbey reading Abbey. Dry but good stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
radiokills Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 yeah, i need to read Hayduke Lives Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Smokestack Joe Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 i just finished Desert Solitare after a few Edward Abbey sightings in books and bookstores and reading this post. i loved this book. I can see that it can be life-changing. i would love to retrace his steps in the Arches National Park, yes it has probably changed some but his writing moved me and made me feel invigorated. i agreed with a lot of things he said about preservation of wildlife and culture/civilization. His style to me is like a naturalist Bukowski, rough and tough, honest, and heartfelt. The book was a quick read and hard to put down. I loved the story about the Moon-Eyed Horse and the Husk Family, blazing stuff. looking forward to reading more but not sure where to venture. I'd prefer the personal stories rather than fictional tales. thanks for introducing me to a great writer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the carlos Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 The Journey Home : Some Words in Defense of the American West is a good next step. oh man. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
radiokills Posted July 29, 2008 Author Share Posted July 29, 2008 The Journey Home : Some Words in Defense of the American West is a good next step. oh man. i will have to read this Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NightOfJoy Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 I finished "Fools Progress" a few weeks ago. Outside of the fascination with his schlong and the 'reveal' in the last third of the book, it was ok. I'd rate it a 'meh'. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the carlos Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Fools Progress is one of my favorite books. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moe_Syzlak Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 My first real trip in the Rockies was in this area for two weeks in 1987 and I read this book while there. My first peak in the Rockies was Tukuhnikivats which has a whole chapter dedicated to it. Needless to say, this book means a lot to me. Some of Abbey's eco-terrorism leanings rub me the wrong way, but I do love this book. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the carlos Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 I think Abbey would take serious exception to your choice of words or at least your definitions. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moe_Syzlak Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 I think Abbey would take serious exception to your choice of words or at least your definitions.Is that response to me? If so, with which "definitions"? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 My first real trip in the Rockies was in this area for two weeks in 1987 and I read this book while there. My first peak in the Rockies was Tukuhnikivats which has a whole chapter dedicated to it. Needless to say, this book means a lot to me. Some of Abbey's eco-terrorism leanings rub me the wrong way, but I do love this book. You are thinking of Earth First - I take it: Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that emerged in the Southwestern United States in 1979. Inspired by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Aldo Leopold's land ethic, and Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang, a group of activists pledged "No Compromise in Defense of Mother Earth!" Environmental activist Dave Foreman, ex-Yippie (Youth International Party) Mike Roselle, Wyoming Wilderness Society representatives Bart Koehler and Howie Wolke and former Park Ranger Ron Kezar were traveling in Foreman's VW bus from the Pincate Desert in northern Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Provoked by what they considered a sell-out by mainstream environmental advocates during the "RARE II" (the Forest Service's Roadless Area and Review Evaluation) meetings, the activists envisioned a revolutionary movement to set aside multi-million acre ecological preserves all across the United States. "Suddenly Foreman called out 'Earth First!' The next thing you know," Wolke says, "Roselle drew a clenched fist logo, passed it up to the front of the van, and there was Earth First!" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the carlos Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 yes it is in response to you. your take on his "eco-terrorism leanings." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moe_Syzlak Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 yes it is in response to you. your take on his "eco-terrorism leanings."Perhaps you're not that familiar with the Monkey Wrench Gang and his quotes such as "Keep America beautiful: grow a beard, take a bath, burn a billboard." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the carlos Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 awesome. I think you are proving my point. "The most common form of terrorism in the U.S.A. is that carried on by bulldozers and chain saws." Ed Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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