Desert Solitaire: A
Season in the Wilderness by Edward Abbey has a much deserved reputation of
being one of the finest book written about the American West. Abbey spent time as a park ranger in Arches
National Park in the late 60s, and in the process, traveled all around southern Utah and northern Arizona. This book
is the outcome of that stay, yet it is so much more.
Abbey uses this book as a platform not only
to make observations about the geography, fauna and flora of Utah, but as a
place to vent his spleen at the destruction of the natural world, and the
dehumanizing nature of our society. The
book is also filled with humor, pathos, and great sensitivity. His prose is elastic, conversational at some
points, poetic and profound at others.
Desert Solitaire is a master piece of non-fiction. Abbey moves from topic to topic with ease. Each piece stands alone, but they are
interconnected. In a relatively
short amount of space, he writes strongly and convincingly about a host of
topics. For this skill, we can forgive
him his obvious misanthropy. He hates everyone.
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