Edward Abbey: A Life

During the Spring of 1977 I skipped my college semester and headed to the southwest with girlfriend to explore uncharted territories of the desert and canyons. On the way, she bought a copy of The Monkey Wrench Gang and was laughing out loud and reading passages of it to me as I drove through empty spaces. I couldn't wait to read it and and when I did, I loved it. Since then, I've been an aficionado of Edward Abbey and read many of his books. This biography fills in many of the gaps in my knowledge -- some good and some not so good. In all, I have more respect for Abbey as an author and his dedication to writing. I have less admiration for Abbey as the person in that he was an unabashed womanizer, went through five marriages, abandoned show more children to divorced wives, and simply had a mean streak in him. I guess the bottom line is that you don't have to fully like someone to love their art. show less

Overall, this biography gave me what I wanted: a fairly comprehensive overview of Abbey the man and Abbey the writer/public speaker (two distinct personas). However, I felt that Cahalan bent over backwards to address some of what he clearly believes are unfair judgments of Abbey, namely that he was both a misogynist and a racist. The fact is that Abbey was human like all the rest of us, and as such, he was imbued with contradictions. His love life was a constant wreck until the last few years of his life due to his inability to remain monogamous and his tendencies to ignore and/or abandon his wives and children. He also made inflammatory comments here and there, some of which may have been misconstrued and blown out of proportion. But show more Abbey was not the kind of guy to let things lie so he needled his accusers and he publicly defended his statements and his behavior. So be it. Cahalan, though, insists on bringing up the same ammunition over and over to support his view that Abbey was neither a misogynist nor a racist, despite the fact that he provides plenty of factual information to allow readers to form their own educated opinions without being nudged by him. All I'm saying is I thought it was unnecessary and slightly annoying, as I prefer a minimum of authorial intrusion in biographies. That caveat aside, though, Cahalan had his work cut out for him (considering his subject), and he delivered the goods via extensive research and interviewing. Recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in Abbey and/or his important role, albeit somewhat reluctant, in the environmental movement. show less

Kind of long and fact-filled. The author used many interviews to write this. I just wanted to know the difference between the true Ed Abbey and the legend, like the reference librarian that I am. This does provide that. He mostly played a role and was not quite the character most people thought he was, but he was a good writer and I have liked the two books of his I've read (Brave Cowboy and Monkey Wrench Gang). I recommend this if you want a whole account of his life, his five marriages, friends, etc.