The Best of Edward Abbey

In 1984, the late great Edward Abbey compiled this reader, endeavoring, as he says in his preface, "to present what I think is both the best and most representative of my writing--so far." Two decades later, it remains the only major collection of his work chosen by Abbey himself, a rich feast of fiction and prose by the singular American writer whom Larry McMurtry called "the Thoreau of the American West" and whom Alice Hoffman hailed as "the voice of all that is ornery and honorable." 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. There is even an excerpt from a novel he was working on in 1984, eventually published as The Fool's Progress. Scattered throughout are the author's own petroglyph-style sketches. Abbey went on publishing new work until his untimely death in 1989 at age sixty, so this new edition includes a selection of later Abbey: a chapter from Hayduke Lives!, the hilarious sequel to The Monkey Wrench Gang; excerpts from his revealing journals; a little-known account of a trip to the Sea of Cortez; 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 largerthan- life figure in American letters.

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)

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.

Review :
"Abbey can attain a kind of glory in his writing. He takes scenes that have been well-traveled by other writers and recreates them as traditional American myth."--"New York Times Book Review "Praise the earth for Edward Abbey."--"Los Angeles Times Book Review