A Voice Crying in the Wilderness: Notes from a Secret Journal (Vox Clamantis in Deserto)

Abbey needs to be rediscovered. Despite his flaws he great. This is one of his best. It's up there with Mark Twain. Written shortly before his death.

Edward Abbey kept a journal throughout his adult life. Toward the end of that life, he collated some of the "fragments" from these journals. He wrote the introduction two weeks before he died on March 14th, 1989. In this introduction he wrote, " An isolate voice, crying from the desert. 'Vox clamantis in deserto' is a role that few care to play, but i find pleasure in it. The voice crying from the desert, with its righteous assumption of enlightenment, tends to grate on the nerves of the multitude. But it is mine" (p. xi). So whether you find this collection of fragments grating, healing, funny, or inspirational, it is all Ed Abbey. Below is a sampling of what you can expect. "Whatever we cannot easily understand we call God; this saves much wear and tear on the brain tissues" (p. 3). Christian theology: nothing so grotesque could possibly be true" (p. 3). "From the point of view of a tapeworm, man was created by God to serve the appetite of the tapeworm" (p. 4). "Mormonism: Nothing so hilarious could possibly be true. Or all bad" (p. 5). "Society is like a stew. If you don't keep it stirred up, you get a lot of scum on top" (p. 21). "In a nation of sheep, one brave man forms a majority" (p. 25). "Truth is always the enemy of power. And power the enemy of truth" (p. 27). "There has never been an 'original' sin: each is quite banal" (p. 35). "I have found through trial and error that I work best under duress. In fact, I work only under duress" (p. 38). "As a confirmed melancholic, I can testify that the best and maybe only antidote for melancholia is 'action'. However, like most melancholics, I suffer also from sloth" (p. 43). "If my decomposing carcass helps nourish the roots of a juniper tree or the wings of a vulture - that is immortality enough for me. And as much as anyone deserves" (p. 44). "I intend to be good for the rest of my natural life - if I live that long" (p. 49). "I've never yet read a review of one of my own books that I couldn't have written much better myself" (p. 53). "The best thing about graduating from the university was that I finally had time to sit on a log and read a good book" (p. 54). "It is always dishonest for a reviewer to review the author instead of the author's book" (p. 60). "Most of what we call the classics of world literature suggest artifacts in a wax museum. We have to hire and pay professors to get them read and talked about" (p. 64). "Whenever I see a photograph of some sportsman grinning over his kill, I am always impressed by the striking moral and esthetic superiority of the dead animal to the live one" (p. 69). "As between the sulking and furtive poacher, who hunts for the sake of meat, and the honest gentleman shooter, who kills for the pleasure of sport, I find the former a higher type of humanity" (p. 69). "How to Avoid Pleurisy: Never make love to a girl named Candy on the tailgate of a half-ton Ford pickup during a chill rain in April out on Grandview Point in S

A great service was provided Edward Abbey fans with the publication of this marvelous little tome. Now we anarchists have a handy source of short bits by Abbey to plaster on our webpages, our mail, and even our car bumpers! Up with nature, down with Empire!

This is not Abbey's grand work nor was it intended to be. This is a small collection of one-liners and pithy observations of a highly talented, self-admitted misanthrope. "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell" is a prime example. Abbey was a truck riding good ole boy and was about as politically correct as a punch to the head. His backpack was not designed by Gucci and his boots were mostly army surplus but he spent a life time outdoors, not behind a desk finding fault. His writings, his actions and his public appearances brought more awareness of nature and its plight to the public than did the combined number of his critics by a factor of 1000.Borne just before the depression, he did not see all wild game as Bambi or Thumper but, as a child, watched as his father hunted for the table. Abbey may not be for everyone, but, by the same token, neither is Mr. Rogers.

If you have read only a few of Abbey's books these quotes might not mean anything to you. This is not a story but is just a collection of quotes. Although he likes to make broad generalizations like 'all rebels are good' that is part of what makes Abbey so endearing. He doesn't sugar coat his opinions. I may not agree with all he says but I do respect him for at least putting it out there and not backing down. It also gives a lot of insight into his writing and reveals some specfics that you would have to read every book of his carefully in order to understand. It does make for a great reference and is interesting to see him contradict himself. You could very easily write 'Down the River with Abbey' by using this book and it would have much the same feel as his book concerning Thoreau. A great book for just thumbing through or reading out load to friends on a long car trip.

After Ed's passing, there were many holes, despite the prolific nature of the self proclaimed bastard. This small book offers a wonderful insight into the man behind the Monkey Wrench. Through his journals, poems and other unpublished work, another ray of desert sunlight falls upon Ed's hulking form. We miss you Abbey, but this eases the emptiness a little