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The Best of Edward Abbey
This is the only major collection of Abbey’s writings compiled by the author himself: in his own words, “to present what I think is both the best and most representative of my writing—so far.” It serves up a rich feast of fiction and prose by the singular American writer whom Larry McMurtry called “the Thoreau of the American West.”
Devoted Abbey fans along with readers just discovering his work will find a mother lode of treasures here: generous chunks of his best novels, including The Brave Cowboy, Black Sun, and his classic The Monkey Wrench Gang; and more than a score of his evocative, passionate, trenchant essays—a genre in which he produced acknowledged masterpieces such as Desert Solitaire. Scattered throughout are the author’s own petroglyph-style sketches.
This new edition adds selections from work that appeared shortly before Abbey’s death: a chapter from Hayduke Lives!, the hilarious sequel to The Monkey Wrench Gang; excerpts from his revealing journals; and examples of his poetry. A new foreword by Doug Peacock—Abbey’s close friend and the model for the flamboyant activist Hayduke—offers a fond appreciation of this larger-than-life figure in American letters.
Devoted Abbey fans along with readers just discovering his work will find a mother lode of treasures here: generous chunks of his best novels, including The Brave Cowboy, Black Sun, and his classic The Monkey Wrench Gang; and more than a score of his evocative, passionate, trenchant essays—a genre in which he produced acknowledged masterpieces such as Desert Solitaire. Scattered throughout are the author’s own petroglyph-style sketches.
This new edition adds selections from work that appeared shortly before Abbey’s death: a chapter from Hayduke Lives!, the hilarious sequel to The Monkey Wrench Gang; excerpts from his revealing journals; and examples of his poetry. A new foreword by Doug Peacock—Abbey’s close friend and the model for the flamboyant activist Hayduke—offers a fond appreciation of this larger-than-life figure in American letters.
458 pages, Paperback
First published March 12, 1988
157 people are currently reading
562 people want to read
About the author
Edward Abbey
77 books2,080 followersEdward Paul Abbey (1927–1989) was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views.
Abbey attended college in New Mexico and then worked as a park ranger and fire lookout for the National Park Service in the Southwest. It was during this time that he developed the relationship with the area’s environment that influenced his writing. During his service, he was in close proximity to the ruins of ancient Native American cultures and saw the expansion and destruction of modern civilization.
His love for nature and extreme distrust of the industrial world influenced much of his work and helped garner a cult following.
Abbey died on March 14, 1989, due to complications from surgery. He was buried as he had requested: in a sleeping bag—no embalming fluid, no casket. His body was secretly interred in an unmarked grave in southern Arizona.
Abbey attended college in New Mexico and then worked as a park ranger and fire lookout for the National Park Service in the Southwest. It was during this time that he developed the relationship with the area’s environment that influenced his writing. During his service, he was in close proximity to the ruins of ancient Native American cultures and saw the expansion and destruction of modern civilization.
His love for nature and extreme distrust of the industrial world influenced much of his work and helped garner a cult following.
Abbey died on March 14, 1989, due to complications from surgery. He was buried as he had requested: in a sleeping bag—no embalming fluid, no casket. His body was secretly interred in an unmarked grave in southern Arizona.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 2, 2025
REREAD
The best of Edward Abbey is good enough for me.
The best of Edward Abbey is good enough for me.
January 16, 2016
I should start out by saying I could see why someone wouldn't like Edward Abbey. And even though my focus here is to tell you why I loved this book, I think he wouldn't mind my saying so because he started his book with a selection from his most poorly received book.
I hated this selection, honestly- two pages of small print with no periods about a young man trying to find himself or whatever- and I dreaded what I felt would be a long and terrible experience. But then the rest of the book was funny and well written and explored a variety of topics besides the moronic Byronic onanist musings everyone seems to publish in the New Yorker in their twenties.
Oops. Pardon the sarcasm, that's usually not my style, that's just Edward Abbey coming through.
Some authors you get an idea of what they know- they, like the method actor, try to bring nothing of their own identity into the story. But other authors you get a great idea of who they are. Whether they're writing fiction, non-fiction, or that so-trendy-you-can-get-a-master's-degree-in-it amalgam creative non-fiction, you come away with a good sense of who they are.
And like it or not, Edward Abbey is the kind of guy who notices a lot and has a lot to say about the things he notices. Monologues or witty asides, this guy a sarcastic and sharp man who was never afraid to say a harsh word to anyone. But neither was he afraid to be kind.
It was sometimes difficult to tell whether Abbey was writing fiction, non-fiction, or the afore mentioned abomination creative non-fiction but it didn't much make a difference because through all his styles of writings and all three decades of his creative life, his values stayed the same.
This man had a deep love of nature, a natural life, sex, characters (the way your parents mean when they aren't sure if they like someone), hiking, walking, looking, and America.
He had a deep suspicion and mistrust for advertising, Authority, groups, real-estate developers, war, Institutions, blind patriotism, technology, and America.
And story after story, essay after essay, whether it was about some character, himself, or some foul and terrible necRomantic mannikin of himself in a piece of creative non-fiction, these values come through quite clearly.
Edward Abbey loved the land, used the land, lived with the land, defended the land, and tried to get other people to feel the same way about the land as he did. In a lot of ways the land is literally all we have. And even though he wrote mainly about the American Southwest, his few passages about Hoboken, NJ reveal a deep and honest love for that wilderness as well.
The section that best demonstrated for me his vision, his ideals, his intelligence, and his gifts as a writer and observer, was the story about his boating and hiking trip with a friend and each of their lovers through a little used canyon to a barely explored since the advent of writing canyon while reading On Walden Pond.
Not only did he give us a beautiful vision of the land he loves, and a sense of why that love is so important for all of us to feel, but he also made Thoreau more palatable for people like us who get suspicious of great and revered institutions. His love and appreciation for Thoreau came through just as well as his love for nature and I was able to feel it too.
But that's not all! Here's where it gets sort of deep- in his writing about his reading of Thoreau, he was modelling the process of how to make a book personal to you. How to relate it to your own life. How to make it your own.
For this reason alone, I would thrust this book into the hands of people who "don't really like to read."
Edward Abbey loves what he loves and hates what he hates and for the time you spend with him his feelings are quite contagious.
Some of his work is more heartbreaking though- specifically his description of how greed and "progress" destroyed one of his favorite backward redneck towns, Telluride and his prescient description of how Arizona was in the process of being destroyed by those very same forces, a prediction I found had become fact by the time I made it out to that area 30 years after these pieces were written.
This book, this chronological record of the highlights of a unique career, is the kind of book that I want other people to read. But I don't feel like I'm recommending a book. I feel like a feel when I want to introduce two friends I think might really hit it off.
I hated this selection, honestly- two pages of small print with no periods about a young man trying to find himself or whatever- and I dreaded what I felt would be a long and terrible experience. But then the rest of the book was funny and well written and explored a variety of topics besides the moronic Byronic onanist musings everyone seems to publish in the New Yorker in their twenties.
Oops. Pardon the sarcasm, that's usually not my style, that's just Edward Abbey coming through.
Some authors you get an idea of what they know- they, like the method actor, try to bring nothing of their own identity into the story. But other authors you get a great idea of who they are. Whether they're writing fiction, non-fiction, or that so-trendy-you-can-get-a-master's-degree-in-it amalgam creative non-fiction, you come away with a good sense of who they are.
And like it or not, Edward Abbey is the kind of guy who notices a lot and has a lot to say about the things he notices. Monologues or witty asides, this guy a sarcastic and sharp man who was never afraid to say a harsh word to anyone. But neither was he afraid to be kind.
It was sometimes difficult to tell whether Abbey was writing fiction, non-fiction, or the afore mentioned abomination creative non-fiction but it didn't much make a difference because through all his styles of writings and all three decades of his creative life, his values stayed the same.
This man had a deep love of nature, a natural life, sex, characters (the way your parents mean when they aren't sure if they like someone), hiking, walking, looking, and America.
He had a deep suspicion and mistrust for advertising, Authority, groups, real-estate developers, war, Institutions, blind patriotism, technology, and America.
And story after story, essay after essay, whether it was about some character, himself, or some foul and terrible necRomantic mannikin of himself in a piece of creative non-fiction, these values come through quite clearly.
Edward Abbey loved the land, used the land, lived with the land, defended the land, and tried to get other people to feel the same way about the land as he did. In a lot of ways the land is literally all we have. And even though he wrote mainly about the American Southwest, his few passages about Hoboken, NJ reveal a deep and honest love for that wilderness as well.
The section that best demonstrated for me his vision, his ideals, his intelligence, and his gifts as a writer and observer, was the story about his boating and hiking trip with a friend and each of their lovers through a little used canyon to a barely explored since the advent of writing canyon while reading On Walden Pond.
Not only did he give us a beautiful vision of the land he loves, and a sense of why that love is so important for all of us to feel, but he also made Thoreau more palatable for people like us who get suspicious of great and revered institutions. His love and appreciation for Thoreau came through just as well as his love for nature and I was able to feel it too.
But that's not all! Here's where it gets sort of deep- in his writing about his reading of Thoreau, he was modelling the process of how to make a book personal to you. How to relate it to your own life. How to make it your own.
For this reason alone, I would thrust this book into the hands of people who "don't really like to read."
Edward Abbey loves what he loves and hates what he hates and for the time you spend with him his feelings are quite contagious.
Some of his work is more heartbreaking though- specifically his description of how greed and "progress" destroyed one of his favorite backward redneck towns, Telluride and his prescient description of how Arizona was in the process of being destroyed by those very same forces, a prediction I found had become fact by the time I made it out to that area 30 years after these pieces were written.
This book, this chronological record of the highlights of a unique career, is the kind of book that I want other people to read. But I don't feel like I'm recommending a book. I feel like a feel when I want to introduce two friends I think might really hit it off.
June 26, 2016
Abbey's writing triumphed over my disagreement with him on co-evolving civilization and nature. I've been trying to follow his footprints invisible in the desert with limited means and gradually firming fortitude. I was in league with him, with little attention to examine every single action we (including Abbey) commit. This collection is (can be an introduction of Abby's complete works in different time period) for ones who love his prose style and appreciate how essential and rare a passionate literary figure like him a society needs.
July 3, 2009
Edward Abbey satisfies the populist bent in my politics and soul. I love his combination of contrarianism, nature and political observations, and his rough edge. I'm enjoying his essay, "In Defense of the Redneck". Though not a redneck, I personally don't fit in in bars - too many conversations and stimuli for me - and I don't drink beer - I still root for the working man, the farmer and rancher... Abbey is a odd mix of environmentalist yet still protective of his second amendment rights and approves of hunting, if to put meat on the table or in the frying pan. He essay "Down the river with Henry David Thoreau" with a lot of fun to read and to watch Abbey cut back and forth between himself and Thoreau - two curmudgeons cut from a similar cloth. I'm sure they would have enjoyed each others company, but to a point. When Henry was overtake with melancholy, Ed would have told him to shut up, popped a beer and then pissed off the corner of the porch where they have been talking...
March 8, 2015
What a rascal he is....An endearing irreverent soul...A man ahead of his time whose passion for nature shines in all of his works...A worthwhile read for those of us who fight against that constant pull into assimilation ...His descriptive prowess is remarkable when confronted with the beauty around us - both in the wilds and in the city...He truly understood dignity and the value of the human spirit... Would be aghast in today's techno- dominated world...RIP No Comment
January 8, 2017
Abbey can be an amazing writer for America's wild spaces, as is demonstrated by the excerpts from Desert Solitaire, his best book. But sometimes, he is just a kooky old man, raving about technology, big corporations and big government that are too large for a single individual to understand.
In some ways, Abbey is the best post-War American nature writer, following in the footsteps of Muir. Indeed, his prose is better, but he is crazier. Whereas Muir's writings are dominated by wilderness, Abbey too quickly transforms into the Jacksonian who hates anything that cannot be explained to the corn-pone farmer in less than five minutes. His writing some times plays into Trumpian themes.
But, like so many Trump voters, he makes interesting points and can be quite funny. In the passage on dating a park ranger at the North Rim entrance, he talks about a game he played with her, fondling the park ranger while she is trying to explain the fire danger to families in their station wagons. She returned the favor, fellating him while he tried to report fires.
In some ways, Abbey is the best post-War American nature writer, following in the footsteps of Muir. Indeed, his prose is better, but he is crazier. Whereas Muir's writings are dominated by wilderness, Abbey too quickly transforms into the Jacksonian who hates anything that cannot be explained to the corn-pone farmer in less than five minutes. His writing some times plays into Trumpian themes.
But, like so many Trump voters, he makes interesting points and can be quite funny. In the passage on dating a park ranger at the North Rim entrance, he talks about a game he played with her, fondling the park ranger while she is trying to explain the fire danger to families in their station wagons. She returned the favor, fellating him while he tried to report fires.
June 3, 2019
The Best of Edward Abbey contains many different stories written by him. The book could have many perspectives/opinions. Some people might not like it because literally, two or more pages talk about a man trying to discover himself or whatever... However, the book can be very enjoyable if you are a person who loves to read short stories in a short amount of time, instead of one long story that takes about like a week to finish. Personally, one of my favorite chapters was The Journey Home. I could see myself in those harsh situations, and it was similar to what I'm going through right now as well. Not the content, but emotions.
September 7, 2015
Love this guy! A cross between Thoreau and Hunter S. Thompson.
"The one thing we could do for a country like Mexico, for example, is to stop every illegal immigrant at the border, give him a good rifle and a case of ammunition, and send him home. Let the Mexicans solve their customary problems in their customary way."
"The one thing we could do for a country like Mexico, for example, is to stop every illegal immigrant at the border, give him a good rifle and a case of ammunition, and send him home. Let the Mexicans solve their customary problems in their customary way."
May 16, 2008
Another great one by Edward Abbey. This one is a collection of some of his best essays and non-fiction (which I enjoy much more than his novels). A good introduction to Abbey if you have never read any before.
October 23, 2014
I always enjoy his environmental, rebellious, seventies time travel.
May 20, 2019
There is some good tongue-in-cheek humour and that always makes me smile, yet Abbey's humour tends to come across in bitterness, which does not make me smile. But here's good example of his humour that made me smile in talking about the damming of a river system for some production/irrigation system which he disagrees with: (my paraphrasing) It's just a small dam they said. But it's just a small river I said! Dammit! Ha hah.
I don't particularly like how he stereotypes all scientists and technology as recking our earth -- sure as technology and science grew ahead of ethics surrounding research, things were done that were horrific, but still that was not all science. And although there is some part of me that may look back to simpler times and agree there are parts that seemed so much more healthier -- so much less electronic waste, plastic waste etc and so much more time out in nature. But disparaging all things new and retreating to desert locations as a drunk, naked, selfish, damn-the-world statement to spite people (which is what his stories seem to be about), is just pessimism and hermit-like behaviour. And it bugs me that Abbey so attacks the recking of nature for progress and tourism and capitalism, but he still chucks his empty beer can into a river. It smacks of hypocrisy. That coupled with his anarchist tendencies of burning billboards and crap like that -- not helpful. Grow up. Blah.
Perhaps I would have done better to read small bits of his writing instead of 380 pages of it. But I just don't agree with the tit for tat approach and the "you screwed it up" but don't talk to me about my womanizing, drunken, anarchist bullshit.
I don't particularly like how he stereotypes all scientists and technology as recking our earth -- sure as technology and science grew ahead of ethics surrounding research, things were done that were horrific, but still that was not all science. And although there is some part of me that may look back to simpler times and agree there are parts that seemed so much more healthier -- so much less electronic waste, plastic waste etc and so much more time out in nature. But disparaging all things new and retreating to desert locations as a drunk, naked, selfish, damn-the-world statement to spite people (which is what his stories seem to be about), is just pessimism and hermit-like behaviour. And it bugs me that Abbey so attacks the recking of nature for progress and tourism and capitalism, but he still chucks his empty beer can into a river. It smacks of hypocrisy. That coupled with his anarchist tendencies of burning billboards and crap like that -- not helpful. Grow up. Blah.
Perhaps I would have done better to read small bits of his writing instead of 380 pages of it. But I just don't agree with the tit for tat approach and the "you screwed it up" but don't talk to me about my womanizing, drunken, anarchist bullshit.
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October 23, 2025This book is a collection of thirty-one fiction and nonfiction pieces, selected by one of America's most popular and celebrated authors, including selections from his best-sellers The Monkey Wrench Gang, Desert Solitaire, The Brave Cowboy, Abbey's Road, Down the River, The Journey Home, and others. This gathering, which has the distinction of being both authored and edited by Abbey, provides a unity and consistency not found in any other collections.Those unfamiliar with Abbey will find this the ideal single-volume introduction to his work, while those who know his writing will treasure this reminder of the range of his talent. Abbey's writing - powerful, idiosyncratic, raunchy, eloquent, passionate, and profoundly honest - made him a unique voice among nature writers and brought him a wide following."The Best of Edward Abbey" is filled with laughter at human foibles, rage at human folly, and abiding love for what Abbey calls "this delicate planet circling around the sun which humankind calls Earth."
November 3, 2025
I gave this four stars because some of the writing is very uneven. When Abbey writes about the Southwest and his experiences he can be almost magical. Some of his fiction is not of the same quality. I did, however, enjoy this book and it is a good companion to Desert Solitaire. I may try one of his novels...perhaps the excerpts do not do them justice.
September 9, 2022
This is a collection of various essays/chapters out of Abbey's works. The collection is rather diverse with some of his usual great, ramblings about nature (leanings toward the desert). I could have done without the chapters from his novels.
April 13, 2020
Ugh, I’m just not a fan. I had 30 pages left and didn’t have the heart to finish it.
August 11, 2021
Loved this book! Environmentalist, wordsmith, comedian and great story-teller. Edward Abbey has it all.
October 2, 2025
I ran out my annual tolerance of masculine navel-gazing this year with Richard Brautigan. These men are just not that interesting.
October 19, 2007
A wonderful way to sample Abbey, but then, Abbey is not always
easy to take. Vivid descriptions portrayed by a man who
seemingly engaged life in three dimensions at all times,
and with strong opinions.
easy to take. Vivid descriptions portrayed by a man who
seemingly engaged life in three dimensions at all times,
and with strong opinions.
April 5, 2008
My all time favorite author.
October 26, 2009
This is good for reading a chapter/section at a time.
March 31, 2009
Great selection of short stories, actually compiled by Abbey so you get a great sense of what he thought about his own writing. A perfect books to pick up and read and intervals.
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July 30, 2009I am a huge Abbey Fan, but this was not his best work...anyway, what happen to "Rites of Spring"
January 2, 2012
Abbey has some interesting points of view but I definitely don't agree with some of his anarchist/anti-establishment POV.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews