A Favorite Book

Scrutinizing the books in my library I came across Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey, a collection of personal accounts of life as a park ranger for three summers in southeastern Utah. The essays were the first in which I recognized the pursuit of solitude and aloneness, a theme I’ve explored since.

The Deadman at Grandview Point, one of the essays in the collection, has remained with me since I first read it and has fueled many daydreams and thoughts about life.

Abbey also wrote The Monkey Wrench Gang, his most famous novel which told the story of activists sabotaging environmentally damaging activities.  Today those activities would be regarded as terrorism in some quarters.

A Man on Foot

Abbey was a wanderer, hiker, backpacker among the many other things he did with his life.  His writings appeared for me at a time when I was restless and helped quiet the discord in my head.  I still remember on of the lines from this book:

“A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a hundred miles.”
― Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

I’ve walked a lot of miles and can attest to the truth of that statement EXCEPT I include the Vespa scooter along with foot, horse and bike.

Book Inscription

Almost 26 years ago I wrote, “To remember my growing disgust with civilization” inside my copy of Desert Solitaire.  I don’t remember now what caused me to write those words and without some research regarding the politics of the time or a retrieval of a journal from that time I won’t know for sure. It’s a strange reminder though of who I was and what I was thinking.  Different than I feel today.

My father would say I have a case of the old mellows.  I gave him a copy of this book.  He didn’t like it.  It’s not for everyone.