Epitaph For A Desert Anarchist: The Life And Legacy Of Edward Abbey

by James Bishop Jr.

Through Abbey's own writings and personal papers, as well as interviews with friends and acquaintances, Bishop gives us a penetrating, compelling, no-holds-barred view of tile life and accomplishments of this controversial figure.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Westerns

282 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Jim, an award-winning author and Sedona resident for 33 years, died on April 23, 2019 after a brief illness.

He was 82 years old. Bishop, a former journalist, also was a well-known environmental activist and champion of the arts throughout the Verde Valley.

Reviews

[Socraticgadfly · Rating 4 out of 5]

While still not perfect, this is the best of the three Abbey bios I've read.

It's the most honest about some of his problems such as perceived (and often actual) racism and sexism. It's also the most honest about his inconsistencies. And, some were big enough that the reverse or them was not a foolish consistency.

Bishop also works to nuance Abbey's version of anarchism, and looks a bit at some of his longer-term friends.

At the same time, like the other two bios, I think Bishop misses the biggie. The elephant in the room.

Labeling behaviors, not people, I think Cactus Ed was an alcoholic-level drinker. Offers some explanation of four wives, not counting the one lost to death. Offers more for the pancreatitis. It's about the only cause of esophageal varices, which Bishop never mentions.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful, accessible biography and critical examination of Edward Abbey — the famously cantankerous writer, environmentalist, and anti-establishment icon whose works like Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang helped shape the radical environmental movement in America.

He also wrote "The Brave Cowboy' subsequently made into a film "Lonely Are The Brave"

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fair introduction to the intellectual history and literary world Abbey inhabits. The book simply has a critical fault for me: it is irresponsible with citations and the bibliography - having none of the former and a very incomplete of the latter.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

WONDERFUL!

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ed Abbey is one of my heroes. I first discovered his writing when I moved to Utah in the late 70s and read Desert Solitaire, his essays on his time as a seasonal ranger in Arches. It is hard to believe it is over 20 years now since his death. And in the time since Monkey Wrench Gang, Desert Solitaire and other early works were published, much of what he wrote has now been embraced and his predictions realized as this book takes pains to point out. Often labeled a nature or environmental writer, Abbey disavowed both and this book is a comprehensive look at the many sides of Abbey, a person of many contradictions, but absolutely non compromising in his defense of what the American Southwest means in a shrinking naturall world. It may not happen in my lifetime, but I am convinced Glen Canyon Dam will one day be gone, not from monkeywrenching, but from havingf silted itself up or a sensible water policy for the Colorado River. First and foremost, Abbey was a writer and in love with language and his books are the kind that can be read over and over. This book is an both an excellent introduction to Abbey's life and writing for those not familiar with this 20th Thoreau, but a insightful look into the man and his writing life. I would also recommend it for one of the best bibliographies I have come across on the desert Southwest and the philosophy of wilderness.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

While there have been a number of books and biographiies about Ed Abbey, despite the comments of some critics I found this treatment of the man and the myth to be the most engaging. The criticism has largely come from the fact of several glaring inconsistencies most notably Biship's claim that Abbey died at home whereas he died somewhere in the Cabeza Prieta wilderness of southern Arizona according to his close friend and confidante Doug Peacock who should know as he was among those who carried out the Ed's wishes to be buried in an unmarked grave in the Arizona wilderness. That aside Bishop portrays Abbey in all his glorious paradox's - the man who extolled the virtues of the wilds but drove a gas guzzling Cadillac and was known to throw his beer cans throughout the forest as he drove, the misogynist who had a deep love for women (a real horndog as one person told me who should know as he admired the man enough to search out and purchase said Cadillac). Read Abbey and if you want to know more about the man and his motivations you should read this book.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the first biography I ever read. It happens to be about an American author, Edward Abbey, whom I've never read. While it seems somewhat backwards to me to first read a biography about a person you know nothing else about, in a way, it proved to be an intriguing introduction to his work. I would like to read some Edward Abbey now, primarily Desert Solitaire, and the infamous Monkey Wrench Gang.

What I responded to most, in his biography, was the depiction of Abbey as a true American individualist. The author depicts Abbey as a contradictory (and complex) man, who proves himself amazingly human in his passionate conviction to become an author of the highest integrity, while simultaneously propelling the destructive myth of his own fragile ego. I also admire that he did not seem afraid of confrontation in the name of upholding his values, be what they may.

I hope to read some Ed Abbey soon, and, when given the opportunity, to act upon my own values as passionately as Abbey did.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Ed Abbey's iconoclastic voice and views. He looks at nature and humanity with a Darwinian objectivity tinted with a love for the American landscape and the lone hero facing the prospect of the disappearing wilderness. Bishop does a nice job of flushing out Abbey's inconsistencies as well as his strong, near-militant opinions about nature, government, and humanity's relationship with both. Bishop includes balanced and detailed reviews of all of Abbey's writing and provides numerous key quotations from Abbey's published novels, essays, and journals.

[Wes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good perspective on an author I have enjoyed learning about in this biography of the man and his works.
It inspired me to read three of Edward Abbey's works. He seems like a man I would want to go hang out with and chat about whatever comes to mind.

[Georgia Roybal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed understanding Edward Abbey better. He sounds like a most unique character. I especially enjoyed it because one of Abbey's best friends (Jack Loeffler) is a friend of mine also. After reading this book, I understood some of Abbey's impact, but especially his uniqueness.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm obsessed. I get it. It's fine.

[Ender · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography that gives you Abbey's philosophies without having to read his books. Well crafted.

[Devin · Rating 4 out of 5]

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