The Serpents of Paradise A Reader

by Abbey, Edward; Macrae, John

• ISBN13: 9780805031331
• ISBN10: 0805031332
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-05-15
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks

Summary

This book is different from any other Edward Abbey book. It includes essays, travel pieces and fictions to reveal Ed's life directly, in his own words. The selections gathered here are arranged chronologically by incident, not by date of publication, to offer Edward Abbey's life from the time he was the boy called Ned in Home, Pennsylvania, until his death in Tucson at age 62. A short note introduces each of the four parts of the book and attempts to identify what's happening in the author's life at the time. When relevant, some details of publishing history are provided. Edward Abbeywas born in 1927 in Pennsylvania. He earned graduate and postgraduate degrees from the University of New Mexico. He wroteDesert Solitairewhile working as a Park Ranger in Utah. He is also the author ofThe Monkey Wrench Gang, Abbey's Road, andThe Journey Home, among others. He died in March 1989. The Serpents of Paradisecollects the best and most inflammatory writings of the late naturalist, environmentalist, and libertarian, a former National Park ranger and the author ofDesert Solitaire,The Journey Home, and many other works. It offers students the perfect introduction to the thought of one of our most influential environmentalists. "A splendid summary of his best work . . . Anyone who doesn't already know his work will find this volume, culled from more than a dozen books of fiction and nonfiction, and addictive introduction."Publishers Weekly "Praise this earth for Edward Abbey . . . The announcement of a new Abbey book, whether essays or fiction, stirs a personal craving no other current American writer can satisfy."Los Angeles Times Book Review "Abbey was a true independent, a self-declared extremist and 'desert mystic,' and a hell of a good writer . . . John Macrae has wisely chosen to organize these outstanding essays, travel pieces, and works of fiction to parallel events in Abbey's unusual life."Booklist

Author Biography

Edward Abbey was born in 1927 in Pennsylvania. He earned graduate and postgraduate degrees from the University of New Mexico. He wrote Desert Solitaire while working as a Park Ranger in Utah. He is also the author of The Monkey Wrench Gang, Abbey's Road, and The Journey Home, among others. He died in March 1989.

Table of Contents

Editor's Note	xi
Ned: The Early Years	1	(56)
1927-37: Stump Creek, West Virginia	3	(19)
Hallelujah on the Bum	22	(9)
How It Was	31	(13)
Drunk in the Afternoon	44	(6)
Journal IV: November 10, 1951-Edinburgh, Scotland	50	(7)
Ed: The Early Years	57	(106)
From The Fool's Progress	59	(13)
From The Brave Cowboy	72	(13)
Manhattan Twilight, Hoboken Night	85	(10)
Author's Introduction to Desert Solitaire	95	(3)
The First Morning	98	(6)
The Serpents of Paradise	104	(6)
Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks	110	(18)
Tukuhnikivats, the Island in the Desert	128	(13)
Appalachian Pictures	141	(9)
Appalachia, Good-bye	150	(3)
My Life as a P.I.G., or The True Adventures of Smokey the Cop	153	(10)
Ed Moves On	163	(106)
From Black Sun	166	(9)
1971-77:Henry in Love-An Interlude	175	(44)
The Wooden Shoe Conspiracy	219	(14)
The Raid at Comb Wash	233	(22)
Death Valley Junk	255	(5)
Meeting the Bear	260	(4)
Aravaipa Canyon	264	(5)
Postlude	269	(126)
A Colorado River Journal	272	(15)
From Good News	287	(11)
Desert Images	298	(13)
The Damnation of a Canyon	311	(7)
Gather at the River	318	(30)
River Solitaire: A Daybook	348	(10)
Free Speech: The Cowboy and His Cow	358	(8)
Theory of Anarchy	366	(4)
Eco-Defense	370	(3)
Immigration and Liberal Taboos	373	(4)
A Writer's Credo	377	(13)
Postlude to the Fool's Progress	390	(5)
``A Few Words in Memory of Edward Abbey''	395	(2)
Wendell Berry
A Selected Bibliography of Works	397	(2)
Edward Abbey
Acknowledgments	399