Cahalan, James M. Edward Abbey, a life.Univ. of Arizona Press. 357p. illus. notes. index. c2001. 0-8165-2267-7. $16.95. SA This is a successful attempt to separate the fact and fiction (author's stated purpose) surrounding a sometimes controversial writer. Cahalan has obviously done the research and knows Abbey's life and work, which is well documented in journals and writings and attested at·test v. at·test·ed, at·test·ing, at·tests v.tr. 1. To affirm to be correct, true, or genuine: The date of the painting was attested by the appraiser. 2. to by friends and relatives. Born in 1927 in Indiana, PA, Abbey created for himself a rebellious re·bel·lious adj. 1. Prone to or participating in a rebellion: rebellious students. 2. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a rebel or rebellion: rebellious behavior. , sexist sex·ism n. 1. Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women. 2. Attitudes, conditions, or behaviors that promote stereotyping of social roles based on gender. , racist, and sometimes just crazy persona as a Western writer. But many knew him, in the words of Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is an American fiction writer. She has written several novels, poems, short stories, and essays, and established the Bellwether Prize for "literature of social change. , to be "gracious, respectful to the point of deference, and wonderfully guileless ..." Labels and attitudes that became associated with him are just as easily refuted as proven by his life and writing. Much of the fiction was his own doing; calling Home, PA his birthplace, which was listed in most reference sources as fact. With his deep love for the natural surroundings of the American West, burning billboards, tossing beer cans on the highways, and his FBI file, Abbey is an enigma. His thesis subject was anarchism anarchism (ăn`ərkĭzəm) [Gr.,=having no government], theory that equality and justice are to be sought through the abolition of the state and the substitution of free agreements between individuals. , which remained his lifelong political persuasion. Beginning in high school, writing was the career of Abbey's life. He earned an actual living sporadically, rarely doing the same job more than a year until the last decade of his life, when he held a university position. He was restless by nature and married five times, remaining faithful only to his last wife. He fathered five children and had meaningful relationships with three of them. His most popular book, Desert Solitaire solitaire or patience, any card game that can be played by one person. Solitaire is the American name; in England it is known as patience. There are probably more kinds of solitaire than all other card games together. (1968), became required reading after the 1970s influence of the Earth First! Movement, which was avidly supported by Abbey. His novels (the best known is The Monkey Wrench wrench or spanner Tool, usually operated by hand, for tightening bolts and nuts. A wrench basically consists of a lever with a notch at one or both ends for gripping the bolt or nut so that it can be twisted by a pull at right angles to the axes of the lever Gang) borrowed heavily from his personal life and experience. His best works were his many essays and his constant protest letters and responses to other people's protests. He loved controversy. His popularity increased after his death in 1989 and his illegal burial at a remote desert site in Arizona. Cahalan's work chronologically deals with life events and writings and their influence on one another. Extensively footnoted and indexed, it is an accurate and thorough inquiry into Abbey's life; a must for the Abbey enthusiast or anyone researching the environmental movement of the 20th century. Ann Hart. Trustee, Juniata county Library, Mifflintown, PA |
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