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Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54 EAN: 9780816510573 ISBN: 0816510571 Label: University of Arizona Press Manufacturer: University of Arizona Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 255 Publication Date: April 01, 1988 Publisher: University of Arizona Press Studio: University of Arizona Press Sales Rank: 89983
Product Description: At last, one of the most popular books on the American West is available once again in hardcover. In celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Desert Solitaire, the University of Arizona Press is pleased to publish a new edition featuring a new introduction by the author, his definitive corrections to the text, and new illustrations commissioned exclusively for this volume. Edward Abbey's account of two summers spent in southeastern Utah's canyonlands is surely one of the most enduring works of contemporary American nature writing. In it he tells of his stint as a park ranger at Arches National Monument, of his love for the natural beauty that surrounded him, and of his distaste for the modernizing improvements designed to increase visitation to the park. "I confess to being a nature lover," admits Abbey more than thirty years after his sojourn in the wilderness. "But I did not mean to be mistaken for a nature writer. I never wanted to be anything but a writer, period." First published in 1968 to "a few brief but not hostile notices," Desert Solitaire quietly sold out of its first printing but eventually developed a loyal enough following in paperback to earn Abbey the "nature writer" label he claims never to have wanted. Desert Solitaire lives on because it is a work that reflects profound love of nature and a bitter abhorrence of all that would desecrate it. "Abbey is one of our very best writers about wilderness country," observed Wallace Stegner in the Los Angeles Times Book Review; "he is also a gadfly with a stinger like a scorpion." "This book may well seem like a ride on a bucking bronco," added Edwin Way Teale in the New York Times. "It is rough, tough, combative...passionately felt, deeply poetic." But perhaps the spirit of the man, the work, and the circumstances of its writing were best summarized by Larry McMurtry in his review for the Washington Post: "Edward Abbey is the Thoreau of the American West."
Amazon.com Review: With language as colorful as a Canyonlands sunset and a perspective as pointed as a prickly pear, Cactus Ed captures the heat, mystery, and surprising bounty of desert life. Desert Solitaire is a meditation on the stark landscapes of the red-rock West, a passionate vote for wilderness, and a howling lament for the commercialization of the American outback.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Road Trip Companion
I loved this book and stayed up nights under the desert stars reading Abbey's writting that brought the desert to life. His appreciation for the wilderness fueled by the reflection of civilization gives ... Read More
Rating: - Pretty good
In 1968 Edward Abbey wrote a memoir, Desert Solitaire, A Season In The Wilderness, that would instantly be hailed as a nature classic, as well as his bestselling work. While familiar with EA's name the only ... Read More
Rating: - Not just desert love
Sure, this book may speak strongly for the respect and preservation of the desert southwest, and for that, it deserves proper credit.
But for me, it has had a much deeper impact. This is a lot ... Read More
Rating: - I now understand why this is considered a "Nature Classic".
I purchased this book because David Quammen referenced it in one of his books, and I really enjoy Quammen's books. It is listed on various websites and in some magazines as a "Nature Classic".
Rating: - Must reading
An early environmentalist even before the term came into use. Ranks up there with Sand County Almanac and Silent Spring. A must read for those who care about the environment. Abbey predicted some of the water ... Read More
- Road Trip Companion
- Pretty good
- Not just desert love