Edward Abbey: A Life

Edward Abbey: A Life
by James M. Cahalan
3 of 5 stars

I don’t read many autobiographies (In fact, the only other one I can remember reading is one about Ben Franklin.). This book did not whet my appetite for them; I struggled through it. Cactus Ed is one of my favorite and most admired writers, and a fantastic Western character. The Monkeywrench Gang is one of my top 20 books of all time. I loved Edward Abbey: A Life because it revealed the dichotomy that was Ed Abbey by describing how Abbey created a public persona, Cactus Ed—a virtual caricature of himself—while disclosing the real Ed—a scholar, self-denied naturalist, and introvert. The book also did a good job of describing the events of Abbey’s life, his process of writing, and his passion for the wilderness that often caused him to sacrifice family and relationships. I hated this book for its redundancy (the author tells you at least five times that Doug Peacock was the inspiration for Hayduke in TMG and Hayduke Lives! before Peacock is even introduced as a friend of Abbey’s, then he tells you at least three more times) and its inability to follow a timeline. I wouldn’t have been so worried about the chronological order of things, but the chapters have names like 1959-1964, yet they contain events from long before and long after these dates, confusing things bit. Also, the book was a bit too scholarly. I felt like I was reading a biography of Hubert Humphrey. All in all, I’m glad I read it for the content, despite the style. My recommendation: Read this book in a lookout tower over the Grand Canyon or in the bottom of a slickrock canyon outside of Moab.