Edward Abbey’s The
Monkey Wrench Gang is supposed to be his best novel. Abbey is primarily known for this novel, and
his non-fiction book, Desert Solitaire. This, unfortunately, is not an entirely
successful book. Abbey paints in a
broad strokes, and often gets lost in those details. He juggles too many characters, and in the
process, we never really see much beneath their surfaces.
But Abbey is writing a comic novel, so perhaps the point is
not an in depth treatment of human nature. But even the comedy falls flat after a
while. The novel is too long for its
subject matter and grows repetitive. This book works as a political statement, perhaps, but not as a work of art.
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