Edward Abbey (1927-1989) has been called "The Thoreau of the American West" by writer Larry McMurtry.  Abbey, who studied and remained in the American Southwest, made his mark on literature with his strong advocacy of environmentalism, often arousing controversy.

Book Title:  The Monkey Wrench Gang
Author: Edward Abbey
Publishing Company:  Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Year:  2006 (originally published 1975)
# of Pages: 480
ISBN-13:  978-0061129763
ISBN-10:  0061129766
$14.95 

5 Stars 

Reviewer:  Deborah Ground Buckner (Kansas City Correspondent - USA) 

Edward Abbey (1927-1989) has been called "The Thoreau of the American West" by writer Larry McMurtry.  Abbey, who studied and remained in the American Southwest, made his mark on literature with his strong advocacy of environmentalism, often arousing controversy.

Case in point:  Abbey's novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang, originally published in 1975.  Abbey introduces four characters (in the absolute sense of the word), Dr. A. K. Sarvis, a middle-aged surgeon who occupies his spare time setting fire to billboards; his companion, Ms. Bonnie Abbzug, a Jewish Gentile from New York, who may be Doc's accomplice but is very much her own woman; Seldom Seen Smith, a Jack Mormon who travels from home to home visiting his three wives and works as a river rafting guide; and George Washington Hayduke, a Vietnam veteran who returns to his beloved Southwest to find it riddled with technology in the form of highways, bridges, mines, and logging operations.

On a river rafting trip, the four are brought together, Doc and Bonnie as passengers, Hayduke drafted to assist Seldom Seen.  Through many a popped beer can and an occasional passed joint, the four decide to engage on an enterprise to stop the development.  Abbey provides rich detail of their provisions, their plans, and their escapades, such as draining the oil from bulldozers and filling the empty space with Karo syrup and sand, launching equipment into canyon rivers, and derailing trains.  Their ultimate plan is the destruction of Glen Canyon Dam, to be preceded by blowing up a bridge.

These are serious topics, treated in a comic way.  The four heroes would be more at home in the pages of Marvel than in a "classic" novel.  But The Monkey Wrench Gang has become an American classic for its well drawn characters (Abbey said they were based on bits and pieces of real people he has known, and that should scare everyone) and its theme of environmental preservation that is just as alive today as when the book first saw print in the mid-1970s.   

Abbey's works, including his non-fiction Desert Solitaire:  A Season in the Wilderness; Desert Images; and A Voice Crying in the Wilderness, demonstrate his familiarity with the American Southwest and his sincere concern for the environment.  The Monkey Wrench Gang is fascinating with its intricate descriptions of the networks of canyons and desert growth that become, at times, obstacles and safe havens for his destructive quartet.  It is not surprising that Abbey's work met with controversy from all sides.  Not only did business and government oppose some of his positions and, definitely, the methods employed by his characters, but environmentalists also found points to attack.  For example, there were strong objections to the fact that Abbey's characters, while on their crusade, have no problem tossing their beer cans out of car windows.  Of course, the characters hold the position that the highways themselves have already littered the landscape; what difference will a few old Schlitz cans make? 

The Monkey Wrench Gang is a fast-paced story of adventure packed with memorable characters.  Always circling around the story is the vulture, familiar to the Southwest, and, perhaps, an omen of what will be here to enjoy the remnants of civilization if environmental concerns are not addressed.  Hopefully, after reading this novel, one will be impelled to contact representatives of business and government and strive for change-rather than feeling the need to blow up a bridge!