Edward Abbey was an American author and essayist who wrote about conservation issues and direct action. His most famous work, The Monkey Wrench Gang, inspired the radical environmental movement. Abbey was a radical anarchist who rejected anthropocentric views of nature and conservation. He believed that nature is better off without humans. Abbey’s books are prized by the anarchist community for their views on capitalism, development, sabotage, and radical conservation. He died in 1989 and was buried in the Arizona desert, leaving a legacy of radical environmentalism.
Edward Abbey was an American author and essayist who wrote passionately about conservation issues, public land policy, and direct action. His most famous work of fiction is The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975), a novel long considered semi-autobiographical and an inspiration to the radical environmental movement. Edward Abbey is also known for Desert Solitaire (1968), about his time working for the National Parks Service.
Edward Abbey was born in 1927 in rural Pennsylvania, traveling west at 17 and falling in love with the natural wonders he found there. Lui studied at the University of New Mexico where he received his Masters and also spent some time at the University of Edinburgh. In the 1950s, he took a position with the Park Service at Arches National Park in Moab, Utah, then a largely undiscovered area. His time there affected him profoundly, and selections from his journals written there were edited and published as Desert Solitaire, which Edward Abbey claimed was “not a travel guide, but a eulogy”.
Edward Abbey was a very abrasive man, deeply committed to conservation, who rejected anthropocentric views of nature and conservation. He believed that nature is better off without humans and he has boldly stated this many times. He was a radical anarchist and Edward Abbey’s books are prized by the anarchist community for their views on capitalism, development, sabotage and radical conservation.
Edward Abbey made himself a difficult man to pin down, sometimes championing conservative causes and rejecting both left and right most of the time. He often mocked liberals in his books, but he also wrote derisively about conservative values and ideals. Edward Abbey spoke steadfastly about his fear of becoming a fashionable figure among “campus liberals” and fought fiercely to maintain his independent spirit.
The Monkey Wrench Gang, Edward Abbey’s best-known fictional work, is about a team of eco-saboteurs who destroy the desert by damaging equipment and tools. Edward Abbey has repeatedly stated that the book was intended solely for entertainment, however there are strong autobiographical elements in the book, including several characters who were clearly based on real people. The book can also be said to serve as a primer for eco-sabotage, as the Monkey Wrench Gang does not hurt people, only property.
Edward Abbey believed that Americans were destroying their natural world with sidewalks and cars and that it was probably too late for conservation. He has written many essays urging people to stay at home rather than raid national parks. In his personal life, many of Abbey’s friends have said that he was highly misanthropic and a very difficult man.
Abbey died in 1989 of surgical complications. He ordered his friends to wrap him in a sleeping bag and bury him in a desert, throwing a party on the grave. According to reports, he is buried somewhere in the Arizona desert with a small headstone, though the grave site has never been found. Edward Abbey has left a legacy of radical and hard-hitting environmentalism and a very aggressive approach to conservation issues. His books serve as cornerstones for the radical environmental movement and Abbey himself as a sort of prickly father.
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