Synopses & Reviews
“The best biography ever about Ed. Cahalans meticulous research and thoughtful interviews have made this book the authoritative source for Abbey scholars and fans alike.”—Doug Peacock, author, environmentalist activist and explorer, and the inspiration for Hayduke in
The Monkey Wrench GangHe was a hero to environmentalists and the patron saint of monkeywrenchers, a man in love with desert solitude. A supposed misogynist, ornery and contentious, he nevertheless counted women among his closest friends and admirers. He attracted a cult following, but he was often uncomfortable with it. He was a writer who wandered far from Home without really starting out there. James Cahalan has written a definitive biography of a contemporary literary icon whose life was a web of contradictions. Edward Abbey: A Life sets the record straight on "Cactus Ed," giving readers a fuller, more human Abbey than most have ever known. It separates fact from fiction, showing that much of the myth surrounding Abbeysuch as his birth in Home, Pennsylvania, and later residence in Oracle, Arizonawas self-created and self-perpetuated. It also shows that Abbey cultivated a persona both in his books and as a public speaker that contradicted his true nature: publicly racy and sardonic, he was privately reserved and somber. Cahalan studied all of Abbey's works and private papers and interviewed many people who knew himincluding the models for characters in The Brave Cowboy and The Monkey Wrench Gangto create the most complete picture to date of the writer's life. He examines Abbey's childhood roots in the East and his love affair with the West, his personal relationships and tempestuous marriages, and his myriad jobs in continually shifting locationsincluding sixteen national parks and forests. He also explores Abbey's writing process, his broad intellectual interests, and the philosophical roots of his politics. For Abbey fans who assume that his "honest novel," The Fool's Progress, was factual or that his public statements were entirely off the cuff, Cahalan's evenhanded treatment will be an eye-opener. More than a biography, Edward Abbey: A Life is a corrective that shows that he was neither simply a countercultural cowboy hero nor an unprincipled troublemaker, but instead a complex and multifaceted person whose legacy has only begun to be appreciated. The book contains 30 photographs, capturing scenes ranging from Abbey's childhood to his burial site.
Review
"Abbey is a complex figure, but James Cahalan, an English professor at
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, has managed to do justice to his life and
times, his eloquence and orneriness, in fewer than 300 pages of text." Dennis Drabelle, the Washington Post
Review
"Affectionate but not
besotted with his subject, Cahalan presents Abbey's strengths and shortcomings in equal light and without judgment, in
the end clearing up many misunderstandings." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Determined to cut through myth and rumor, Cahalan
meticulously tracks the course of Abbey's often feral yet always creative and resonant life, chronicling his
Appalachian boyhood, devotion to literature, and love for his adopted territory, the Southwest." Donna Seaman, Booklist
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [315]-336) and index.