Desert Solitaire

Edward Abbey

Aug 2011 · RosettaBooks

About this eBook

This memoir of life in the American desert by the author of The Monkey Wrench Gang is a nature writing classic on par with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
 
In Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey recounts his many escapades, adventures, and epiphanies as an Arches National Park ranger outside Moab, Utah. Brimming with arresting insights, impassioned arguments for wilderness conservation, and a raconteur’s wit, it is one of Abbey’s most critically acclaimed works.
 
Through stories and philosophical musings, Abbey reflects on the condition of our remaining wilderness, the future of a civilization, and his own internal struggle with morality. As the world continues its rapid development, Abbey’s cry to maintain the natural beauty of the West remains just as relevant today as when this book first appeared in 1968.

Ratings and reviews

One of my absolute favorite novels. It's definitely not something everyone will enjoy, but Abbey is brilliant in my opinion. I've spent my whole life exploring the areas he visits in the book and he is amazingly able to capture with words a world that seems indescribable. Having spent so much time there, I also have a greater appreciation of the culture and his attitude towards it. On top of his humor, wit, and power to harness the wild west with words, he is a poet through and through. Sure he's rough, proud, and a little unsavory but it's a character hard to not appreciate in some sense. If you like wild things and a little sarcasm, and you crave a desert escape, please pick up this book!

About the author

Edward Abbey was born in Home, Pennsylvania in 1927. In 1944, at the age of 17, Abbey set out to explore the American Southwest, bumming around the country by hitchhiking and hopping freight trains. It was during this time that Abbey developed a love of the desert, which would shape his life and his art for the next forty years. After a brief stint in the military, Abbey completed his education at the University of New Mexico and later, at the University of Edinburgh. He took employment as a park ranger and fire lookout at several different National Parks throughout his life, experiences from which he drew for his many books. Abbey died at his home in Oracle, Arizona in 1989.