Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside

by Edward Abbey

In this wise and lyrical book about landscapes of the desert and the mind, Edward Abbey guides us beyond the wall of the city and asphalt belting of superhighways to special pockets of wilderness that stretch from the interior of Alaska to the dry lands of Mexico.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Nature, Natural History, Ecology, Travel, Outdoors

203 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Edward 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.

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding fare from one of the modern age's greatest scribes on the American West. I snuck a peak at Wikipedia and agree with Larry McMurty's depiction of him as the "Thoreau of the American West". Having read Abbey's earlier pro-environmental novels ("The Monkey Wrench Gang", "Hayduke Lives") and travelogues on national parks and the Colorado River ("Desert Solitaire", "Down the River" some years back, I found this gem in the bargain bin at a library sale. Abbey is always dependendable. He will move you with transcendent prose, describing canyons, rivers, wildlife and flowers like a pilgrim while denouncing the forces of progress. He will transport you there to the campfire under the stars, to the rapids and ravines amidst the rattlers and coyotes. You walk with him as he trudges through deserts worrying about his water supply and the accuracy of his maps. You share his outrage as he looks at the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell and the industrial tourism they have spawned. And you feel his euphoria at the end of his journey as he looks at the miracle of the desert wilderness.

[WM Rine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've devoured most of Abbey's books over the years, but this is the one I return to most often. The first two pieces in this collection provide the best introduction to his work I can think of. "A Walk in the Desert Hills" describes a 115-mile walk across the Sonoran Desert, in search of adventure, wisdom, and water. "How It Was" describes his first incursions into the Four Corners and Glen Canyon area, before the pavement came. "How It Was" will make you understand what got Abbey intoxicated with the desert. "A Walk ..." tells why it was still more magical than bourbon even thirty years later. For these two pieces alone this is my favorite of Abbey's books. The remainder of the pieces in the book, which describe forays around the Colorado River region, the Sea of Cortez, and a rafting trip in northern Alaska, are pure, delightful gravy.

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abbey--who died almost 30 years ago--trudges, climbs, hikes, slips along several desolate landscapes in this collection of essays that describe the American wilderness. He decries waste and pollution. He is cranky.
But his prose is lyrical and direct. His path often meanders through the Southwest terrain he loves. Interestingly, he concludes the book recounting a camping expedition to Alaskas Brooks Range.
Abbey's book made me want to fill up a large canteen with water and strike out for a distant desert landmark--possibly a deserted shack or rusted windmill, a range of purple mountains, a giant saguaro where I could find shade while I let my feet rest.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edward Abbey's Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside is an outstanding collection of essays about travels in the wild. Even for the essays which were the texts of coffee table books -- where one does not expect to find high quality, he was spot on. I have read half a dozen of Abbey's books, and I find this one to be equal to his best. Highly recommended.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abbey writes so descriptively of the desert that I felt like I was trekking right along with him in the heat through various mountain ranges. Abbey likes the desert best when it’s empty and undisturbed and is extremely disdainful of tourism that encourages people to come in RVs on roads that dump you right at the feet of natural formations you used to have to hike to, while actually engaging with the land right around you. similarly, I felt his anger over the destruction of Glen Canyon, which was justified in part by claiming that more people would have more access to “recreation”, which he summarily takes down as bullshit. some people would probably describe him as arrogant because of attitudes like this but I share them to an extent, which is why I’m attracted to Abbey in the first place. the way in which he engages with the desert allows him to show us how beautiful and dangerous and vulnerable it is. as long as Abbey isn’t writing about women or Indians (he’s kind of a chauvinist— I almost put Desert Solitaire down because of some of his obnoxious views), I can get lost reading for hours.

[Eric North · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Edward Abbey is incredibly passionate and observant toward the wild, whether it's the desert Southwest (most often) or the frigid Alaskan wilderness. His honesty and gun-point criticisms of "civilized" society are always refreshing, and consistently over the top; they are not entirely reasonable or gracious, but always hilarious, and somehow resonant within the heart of any thoughtful lover of nature. Apart from the few sections where he meticulously describes the characteristics of obscure desert plants, I enjoyed these stories of travel and adventure. They make me want to be back there in the BLM campsites under the bulging red rock outside Canyonlands, sipping whiskey and swapping stories by the evening campfire under a twisted juniper.

[Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abby in this less-than-characteristically pugnacious collection of essays casts an introspective eye on the soul of the West and the hearts that long to love it. A trenchant commentary on the decay that cleverly markets itself as our moral society it remain as timely and topical a social critique as it was when it first printed decades ago.

And as bit of travel literature for the mind and eye that yearn for the desert Abby slakes our thirst. I picked up this book after walking one of the canyons he commits to page, his descriptions are simple and live up to the wild they describe. Yet to the unlearned foot and back his call is as unromantic and as inclusive as ever.

He, never pedantic, lets the wilderness tug the reader to it and to protect it.

I only gave it four stars because nothing blew up.

[Sean A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

abbey is a great fuckin writer and if his ideas are taken seriously, a very dangerous writer. are his ideas taken seriously enough, judging by the undeniably sorry state of the environment//world at large i would guess not.
still there is a lot of serious joy and frollick to be taken from his descriptions and natural insight.
great read.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A man grows up with the desert and knows it well: its plants, its rocks, its water, its animals. He walks or drives--more often walks--through solitary places. In parts, the book reads like poetry. In other parts, the arrogance of the author pushes me away. But Abbey knows the desert and he shows the reader extrordianry images.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edward Abbey can penetrate the soul by penetrating to world of outside the walls of civilization. His writing does that as he puts words to adventure and experience. His Thoreauvian attention to detail makes the experience come alive.

[andy ringgold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

Makes me want to get the hell out of my corporate day job and immerse myself in what’s out there

[Laurence Zimmermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

On suit ici le narrateur et ses compagnons de fortune au travers dix nouvelles qui nous font voyager des parcs du grand Ouest jusqu’à l’Alaska. Chaque récit fourmille de détails sur la faune et la flore, de descriptions des lieux, de ressentis de l’auteur face à la beauté de la nature et l’impact de l’homme sur son environnement.
C’est parfois ardu ( la liste de noms d’animaux et de plantes est sans fin), mais l’auteur n’hésite pas à user d’humour et de légèreté pour nous permettre de souffler. Tout comme il n’hésite pas à tacler, quitte à se fâcher avec certains, les chasseurs de trophée, les touristes, les entreprises et leurs appâts du gain, mais aussi les propriétaires terriens et surtout les natives.
Je les ai suivi dans les montagnes, les plaines et les déserts. J’ai embarqué avec eux pour affronter les caprices des eaux et ceux du gel. Je me suis émerveillée en même temps qu'eux face à la beauté du spectacle.
J’ai eu la chance d’avoir pu voir quelques-uns des parcs cités, sinon petit conseil, faites comme moi, regardez quelques images des sites, plantes et animaux qui vous sont inconnus, ça permet de totalement s’immerger et ça rend le(s) voyage(s) d’autant plus agréables.
Une très jolie découverte que je conseille à tous les amoureux de la nature.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Edward Abbey book. Actually a collection of short-stories, or maybe essays or travelogues, most all set in the desert southwest and Mexico, and ending with an adventure trip in Alaska. I was hesitant after the first story, I have recently visited the Grand Canyon, so I enjoyed all the description of places that I had seen or knew of, but there seemed like a bit too much off the wall commentary that was only vaguely related to the story, or not at all...
But I kept going and ended up really enjoying the book. His writing style takes a bit to get used to, his writing and stories tend to meander and jump around a bit, but I learned to like it, and it gave me a better feel for his personality, and his meandering and jumping writing was probably a good relection of his thinking and state of mind during his adventures.
I will definitely be reading more of his books and would love to visit some of the places he's been!

[Conor Flynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edward Abbey writes with the panache and punchy chain of thought of Hunter S. Thompson, but about hiking alone in the desert.

This is great writing and I would have rated it higher except that this is written as non fiction but the real locations in his essays are, either intentionally or unintentionally, not accurate. I’ve been to many of the places in these stories. I know the plants and animals there, the trails, and the landmarks. And his stories don’t make sense. The plants he describes don’t grow where he says he is. The mountains he describes are all mixed up.

I’m not sure if he purposefully changed the locations so others couldn’t follow him, or he didn’t take very good notes and this was written long afterwards. Either way, the lack of a reliable narrator makes these stories just literary fiction; nice and entertaining, but not pointing toward truth…..

[Bob Sharpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of short stories will delight anyone who loves Ed Abbey and the American Southwest. I've been to many of the places that serve as backdrops to these stories. There were some surprises. I was particularly pleased to read Abbey's account of time spent in the Guadalupe Mountains of Trans-Pecos Texas, for example. I also enjoyed "A Walk in the Desert Hills" because it read like something I'd do. "How It Was" and "Damnation of a Canyon" are compelling.

Ed Abbey was my favorite outdoor writer and this book is treasure. The assault on wilderness continues pretty much unabated. There will be less tomorrow than there is today. Best to take Abbey's advice and get out in it, beyond the wall, while there's still time.

[Elly Sands · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suppose today any book with the word "wall" in it would no doubt be political. But the wall referred to here is the asphalt and walls of the city. A truly wonderful book. Abbey's "Desert Solitaire" is one of my all time favorite top ten books. He truly knows and loves the desert and so beautifully translates that feeling with his words. These essays are brilliant. I'm not a river person but his ride down an Alaskan river had my heart pumping. But it's the smell of the Creosote bush and the baked earth, the intensity of the cactus spines, the ever present lizards, the vast wide open spaces that capture my attention. Also I'm crazy about his dry and sometimes profane sense of humor. He's just the best!!

[Alison Neumann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I read an Edward Abbey book, I fall more in love with his writing and his sense of self. No other author can tell stories like he does. This book consists of 10 short essays, some better than others. The first and the last were standouts, as was the one about the dory boat trip.

I stopped to read a passage aloud to my husband countless times as I journeyed through this book. We both laugh, relate, and agree wholeheartedly with the writing. Quotes such as, "The achievement of middle age is itself an achievement." and "A few grinning kids race up and down the dirt street, among the melting snowbanks, on their Honda ATCs. What we call 'road lice' back in the Southwest." speak volumes to me.

The author left this world in the 1980's, but his mind and voice were so forward thinking, it amazes me. I cannot imagine what he would think of the world today, but I'm so glad he shared what he did think when he was here.

[Paul Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desert Solitaire is my all time favorite book. Beyond the Wall was not quite as good, but had its moments. Interesting in that I tried to read it years ago and it didn't work for me at all. This time around, it struck a chord and worked for me pretty well. All depends on one's mood, I guess. I was on my way to Tucson, Arizona to spend the winter when I started it this time, so that may have played a role in making it more relatable.

[Dave Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great collection of some of Abbey's adventures in the American Southwest (and one in Alaska). Colorful and personal they are highly descriptive of both nature and self as he relates to the natural surrounding. I like to read them near a PC or tablet so I can look up plants, animals, people and places he mentions such as the Cliff Rose and the Cardon Cactus, the Coatimundi and the Ring Tailed Cat, Seldom Seen Slim and Cass Hite, Guadeloupe National Park and Bagdad, Arizona.

[Tess Girard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superbe écriture et passages vraiment très drôles, c’est brillant.
Ça m’a fait découvrir toute la faune et la flore du désert. Je me souviendrai (j’espère) des saguaros, cardons, des pecaris et des chulus entre autres. J’ai adoré ces aventures, réflexions ecolos et cette recherche d’eau constante. J’adore cet auteur, une pensée très joyeuse malgré la grande lucidité de l’auteur sur la prédation et la destruction des hommes sur le vivant.

[Kasey Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Fortunately the American desert remains open to all, most of it still our public domain. No passports needed, no examinations to undergo, no special equipment required, no experience necessary. A journey into the wilderness is the freest, cheapest, most nonprivileged of pleasures. Anyone with two legs and the price of a pair of army surplus combat boots may enter. You will never see a “Public Property—Keep Out” sign in the back of beyond.”

[Nathan Szwarc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think it gets much better than this, a collection of wanderings from the desolate Mexican coastline to a rafting trip in remote Alaska. His walk through the Arizona desert to start. To myself it’s perfect in depth description of the world around him and how he relates and feels to it and constant blows at modern society I enjoy it makes me want to just be out there

[John Varner · Rating 4 out of 5]

An evocative collection of essays for anyone left wanting more after reading Desert Solitaire. It's very much reminiscent of that book and at times it feels a bit tossed together, but that's to be expected from a collection like this. What's here is definitely good though.

[Allan Kugler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this excursion of mind &body❗️

Abbey takes you with him wherever he goes, gives you grist and fodder to wander
and see what most will never see. Read with Google Earth open.Then go and see

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edward abbey starts this one with his trudge across the desert, writes with true insight into the abhorrent dam of Glen Canyon, having seen it before the damnation. He jaunts into Mexico and delightfully writes of a trip to Alaska. Classic Abbey prose.

[Fletcher Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Edward Abbey essays, might be my favorite essay book of his after Desert Solitaire. Helps that he doesn’t write about any harmful stereotypes about Mexicans or indigenous people. His writing still manages to take me to the desert

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way Edward Abbey takes the reader along with him on his journeys. I really feel like I have experienced walking and sleeping and smelling and feeling the desert. Lovely

[Madhusree · Rating 5 out of 5]

He is a writer that appeals as much to my gut as my mind. Best thing about him is that he takes me back to the southwest physically (almost) with him as he writes about it.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories had more prose than I could chew. At times Abbey seems pedantic and at others he comes across as thinking himself superior to others.

[John Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun but a bit disjointed. Good essays on many topics over a period of time. Some are great some are Ok, all are worthy of reading so no spoilers.