For the first time in softcover, Edward Abbey’s last book, a collection of unforgettable barbs of wisdom from the best-selling author of The Monkey Wrench Gang. Notes from a Secret Journal Edward Abbey on: Government—“Terrorism: deadly violence against humans and other living things, usually conducted by a government against its own people.” Sex—“How to Avoid Pleurisy: Never make love to a girl named Candy on the tailgate of a half-ton Ford pickup during a chill rain in April out of Grandview Point in San Juan County, Utah.” New York City—“New Yorkers like to boast that if you can survive in New York, you can survive anywhere. But if you can survive anywhere, why live in New York?” Literature—“Henry James. Our finest lady novelist.”
Author
Edward Paul Abbey (1927–1989) was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. Abbey attended college in New Mexico and then worked as a park ranger and fire lookout for the National Park Service in the Southwest. It was during this time that he developed the relationship with the area’s environment that influenced his writing. During his service, he was in close proximity to the ruins of ancient Native American cultures and saw the expansion and destruction of modern civilization. His love for nature and extreme distrust of the industrial world influenced much of his work and helped garner a cult following. Abbey died on March 14, 1989, due to complications from surgery. He was buried as he had requested: in a sleeping bag—no embalming fluid, no casket. His body was secretly interred in an unmarked grave in southern Arizona.
