“A taste of mountains; I could not say I had come to know them in any significant way. All I had learned was something about myself. I had discovered that I am the kind of person who cannot live comfortably, tolerably, on all-flat terrain. For the sake of inner equilibrium there has to be at least one mountain range on at least one of the four quarters of my horizon— and not more than a day’s walk away.”All I had learned was something about myself.

apart from "Desert Solitaire," Abbey's nonfiction is rather indistinguishable to me, still I've read and enjoyed it, and always take some Abbey with me on trips to the desert--"Be Prepared. That is my belief and that is my motto. My practice, however, is a little different. I tend to go off in a more or less random direction myself, half-baked, half-assed, half-cocked, and half-ripped. Why? Well, because I have an indolent and melancholy nature and don't care to be bothered getting all those thi...

Noted nature writer and iconoclast, Abbey’s oeuvre is centered in the deserts and canyon countries of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. These essays focus on ecology and the preservation of the land. Written in the 1970’s it is certainly prophetic as he warns against the corporate takeover of the wilderness, the extraction of oil and minerals which taint the earth and particularly the question of water which is one that desert inhabitants are increasingly encountering. One of the strongest voices in...

poignant, poetic, abrasive. edward abbey in a nutshell. no one has done it better

Despite the imperialist and sexist bullshit, i can't manage to quite give up on Ed Abbey, and this collection is one of the reasons why. I'm interested in his unabashed embracing of his own hypocrisies and contradictions, and this book contained some of the most compelling examples of those contradictions. There are evocative descriptions of many places i know well and some i don't know at all. Interesting to read his 30+ year old writing on the necessity of zero population growth as global popu...

Eward Abbey could be called a naturalist, but I don't think that's a rough enough sounding description for him. I don't think he ever pressed a flower into his journal. I doubt he ever collected rocks. He was content to explore the earth and leave it as he found it. And if he found it paved he was content to throw a beer can out his car window because, as he'd say, it's already ruined. He fantasized about blowing up the Glen Canyon Dam, the massive piece of industrial violence that caused the fl...

This book had a surprisingly profound effect on me. The Journey Home is a collection of essays "in defense of the American West," but Abbey fills it with more emotion than that, more spirit. A better explanation of the book might be: "in defense of humanity's need for wildness and wilderness; in defense of the spiritual renewal that can be gained from the American West."This book is not just cheesy nature writing. It's fresh. It's gutsy. And it's a plain interesting style. Abbey inexplicably inc...

3 3/4 stars

This collection of stories is disappointing. Early on Abbey talks about taking his fiancé’s “brand-new Ford convertible, a gift from her father,” on a closed road in Big Bend. It didn’t work out. He wrecked the car going through the many washouts and she left him, for good. The self-indulgence is grating. The book has too much of what - of overwriting? Rather than being used to tell a story artfully, language focuses on how something is said, not what is said. Thus, while hiking in Glacier and e...

Each of the essays in this volume stands alone. I give two stars as a whole because while I loved the first few essays and his overall writing style (there are some great quotes early on in this book) some of the essays in the latter half are understandably (nearly 4 decades later) out of date and consequently hard to sit through.There IS relevance to his overall themes of preservation, solitude and the allure of desert landscapes, but when it comes to the inner-workings and failures of state po...

Interesting book. He is definitely in favor of preserving the natural wilds. He thinks there can be a compromise between what is currently being allowed by commercial entities in the wilderness and what should be in order to preserve our natural resources. He thinks the wilderness is necessary for survival of all animals, even man. Man needs somewhere to escape civilization to renew themselves and he see the wilderness as a viable place to recharge. I think he is correct.

Updated January 2022: what was I thinking when I read this before? Some of Abbey’s best writing is here. The BLOB Comes to Arizona; The Second Rape of the West; Walking; The Crooked Wood ; Mountain Music; Shadows from the Big Woods; Freedom and Wilderness, Wilderness and Freedom. I know Abbey did not think of himself as a “prophet” but there is much that is prophetic in here:“The citizens of our American cities enjoy a high relative degree of political, intellectual and economic liberty; but if

I am a huge huge fan of Edward Abbey and this book did not disappoint. I have been slowly reading through his works for years. I read the Monkey Wrench Gang probably 20 years ago. I read Desert Solitare about a year ago and this year I read the Journey Home. This book is differnt that Desert Solitare in that is is a collection of self contained essays--because it is Abbey all of them are entertaining. His personality comes through so loud and clear in his writing. I can imagine so clearly why al...

I have read a significant helping of environmentalist literature over the last 6 months and this was by far the best. Abbey's humor (while at times offensive and disagreeable), dazzling imagery, and philosophy for the laymen create a book both lively and easy-to-read, yet rich in value and meaning. These more radical or 'deep' ecological books are important to pick up in the 21st century, where our society is more out of balance with the wild than ever, and as more people realize this, the anthr...

Edward Abbey is not going to influence my philosophy or provide guidance for my actions. However, I still read him for several reasons. Abbey has spent time in many locations that I would like to travel to and spend time at. So, the descriptions of places and sights give me incentive to chose one place over an other. However, do I need to hear another story of how Abbey trashes a car in the wilderness. Not for me. And, at times, Abbey comes up with a wonderful story/essay that I like to read. So...

This book was so uneven. It covers memoire like stories of Abbey’s experiences along with satires, rhapsodies on nature, and even a mood piece. To be completely honest, I didn’t quite know what to make of the collection. I know I agree with Abbey’s desire to protect wilderness, to leave space for adventure and a simpler way of life, but some of the anger, the espousing of extreme views (was this for effect?) was irritating if not downright distressing. Misogyny? Pro alcohol use? Use not preserve...

I've read some other books by Edward Abbey, and this was my least favorite. It's a collection of essays and stories -- I think they were each previously published elsewhere -- so the compilation came across as a bit of a mishmash, and uneven. Some of the stories appealed, and were better written, more than others. Also, oddly, although the subtitle emphasizes the West, there are a couple of stories set in the eastern U.S. For me, this jerky nature of the collection interfered with the overall na...

This is a collection of essays describing Abbey's love of the West but I wasn't able to appreciate his "leave it as it was" attitude. He paints himself a jerk by throwing beer cans on the roads and destroying a girlfriend's new car. Perhaps the American West would be better of with more of his novels and fewer of his essays.

For my money, no one evokes the wild desert landscape in its totality quite like Edward Abbey, in a way that I feel deep in my bones. This keeps me coming back. His critical analysis of the culture of extractive industry, including mechanized tourism, is sadly borne out, and his masterful use of humor and acid wit takes the piss out of his enemies far more successfully then something extremely earnest or fire-breathingly righteous can, or does. I could, however, really do without his sociologica...

This is a collection of Edward Abbey's essays mainly about the American West first published back in 1977. These essays range from environmental writing to descriptions of places to autobiographical writing. His voice is powerful and evocative and these essays capture that well, in ways that his fiction might not. Even though the essays are more than 40 years old, they do not seem dated and would be a good companion to anyone visiting that area of the country.