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Rating: 
Summary: Bumpersticker Abbey!!
Review: A great service was provided Edward Abbey fans with the publication of this marvelous little tome. Now we anarchists have a handy source of short bits by Abbey to plaster on our webpages, our mail, and even our car bumpers! Up with nature, down with Empire!
Rating:
Summary: Vox et Abbey! Fantastic little book!
Review: After Ed's passing, there were many holes, despite the prolific nature of the self proclaimed bastard. This small book offers a wonderful insight into the man behind the Monkey Wrench. Through his journals, poems and other unpublished work, another ray of desert sunlight falls upon Ed's hulking form. We miss you Abbey, but this eases the emptiness a little
Rating: 
Summary: Skip it!
Review: Edward Abbey is quite possibly the most overrated author of the 20th Century. For proof, look no further then this little book of pseudo-wisdom. You'll have the pleasure of watching as Ed spouts tiresome untruths (all government is bad, all science is bad, all rebels are good, etc.) with the petulant attitude that he is the very first person in history to say them all, and that it makes him great. Environmentalists who think that Abbey was some kind of hero might be shocked by the elitist arrogance of this "man of the people" (he thanks nuclear physicists for inventing the atomic bomb) or by right-wing moronics worthy of the most brainless militiaman ("the rifle and handgun are 'equalizers'--the weapons of a democracy"). Abbey even puts the s-word in print and brags about it as if he were the first person on the planet to do it. If you are an environmentalist (like me) and you want inspiration, read Emerson, read John Muir, even read Wendell Berry--but skip Edward Abbey.
Rating:
Summary: Skip it!
Review: Edward Abbey is quite possibly the most overrated author of the 20th Century. For proof, look no further then this little book of pseudo-wisdom. You'll have the pleasure of watching as Ed spouts tiresome untruths (all government is bad, all science is bad, all rebels are good, etc.) with the petulant attitude that he is the very first person in history to say them all, and that it makes him great. Environmentalists who think that Abbey was some kind of hero might be shocked by the elitist arrogance of this "man of the people" (he thanks nuclear physicists for inventing the atomic bomb) or by right-wing moronics worthy of the most brainless militiaman ("the rifle and handgun are 'equalizers'--the weapons of a democracy"). Abbey even puts the s-word in print and brags about it as if he were the first person on the planet to do it. If you are an environmentalist (like me) and you want inspiration, read Emerson, read John Muir, even read Wendell Berry--but skip Edward Abbey.
Rating:
Summary: If you have read a lot of Abbey this is a great book.
Review: If you have read only a few of Abbey's books these quotes might not mean anything to you. This is not a story but is just a collection of quotes. Although he likes to make broad generalizations like 'all rebels are good' that is part of what makes Abbey so endearing. He doesn't sugar coat his opinions. I may not agree with all he says but I do respect him for at least putting it out there and not backing down. It also gives a lot of insight into his writing and reveals some specfics that you would have to read every book of his carefully in order to understand. It does make for a great reference and is interesting to see him contradict himself. You could very easily write 'Down the River with Abbey' by using this book and it would have much the same feel as his book concerning Thoreau. A great book for just thumbing through or reading out load to friends on a long car trip.
Rating:
Summary: If you have read a lot of Abbey this is a great book.
Review: If you have read only a few of Abbey's books these quotes might not mean anything to you. This is not a story but is just a collection of quotes. Although he likes to make broad generalizations like 'all rebels are good' that is part of what makes Abbey so endearing. He doesn't sugar coat his opinions. I may not agree with all he says but I do respect him for at least putting it out there and not backing down. It also gives a lot of insight into his writing and reveals some specfics that you would have to read every book of his carefully in order to understand. It does make for a great reference and is interesting to see him contradict himself. You could very easily write 'Down the River with Abbey' by using this book and it would have much the same feel as his book concerning Thoreau. A great book for just thumbing through or reading out load to friends on a long car trip.
Rating: 
Summary: The voice is still echoing
Review: The voice is silent now, but the echoes will remain. This was Edward Abbey's last book, published the same year that he died. It's a very brief book, containing a short introduction followed by a collection of personal quotes and sayings from the private journal (in 21 volumes) that Abbey had kept since 1948. These fragments, as Abbey calls them, vary in quality from the brilliant to the not quite so insightful. They are divided into 13 chapters: Philosophy, Religion, and So Forth; Good Manners; Government and Politics; Life and Death and All That; On Writing and Writers, Books and Art; Sport; Music; On Women, Love, Sex, Et Cetera; On Nature; Science and Technology; Money, Et Cetera; On Cows and Dogs and Horses; and Places.
For me, the first chapter, on religion and philosophy, contained by far the best material. Chapter three, on government and politics, wasn't bad either, and there were some gems scattered in most of the other chapters as well. One chapter were Abbey's wisdom failed, however, was the one on science and technology. Abbey, like the "desert philosopher" that he was, couldn't, unfortunately, like so many others, see that the only hope for nature and the environment is the continued use of science and the continued development of future technology, so that the need for the exploitation of nature will at some point disappear. People will always be consumers, which is why the "back to nature" idiocy could never work, not to mention that very few sane people would really want to live like animals, in "harmony" with nature, when the going starts getting tough. So the thing to do is to find a way for people to continue being consumers without harming the environment. And this can, and will, be accomplished only through science and future technology.
Back to the book. A Voice Crying is an absolute treasure trove for people looking for Edward Abbey quotes. There are many memorable one-liners, and some longer quotations as well (to about half a page in length). Abbey's atheist and libertarian anarchist opinions make his thoughts all the more enjoyable for those few people in this world who are still sane and rational. Recommended.
The book is illustrated by Andrew Rush.
Rating: 
Summary: 4.5 is closer to it.
Review: This is not Abbey's grand work nor was it intended to be. This is a small collection of one-liners and pithy observations of a highly talented, self-admitted misanthrope. "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell" is a prime example. Abbey was a truck riding good ole boy and was about as politically correct as a punch to the head. His backpack was not designed by Gucci and his boots were mostly army surplus but he spent a life time outdoors, not behind a desk finding fault. His writings, his actions and his public appearances brought more awareness of nature and its plight to the public than did the combined number of his critics by a factor of 1000. Borne just before the depression, he did not see all wild game as Bambi or Thumper but, as a child, watched as his father hunted for the table. Abbey may not be for everyone, but, by the same token, neither is Mr. Rogers.
Rating:
Summary: 4.5 is closer to it.
Review: This is not Abbey's grand work nor was it intended to be. This is a small collection of one-liners and pithy observations of a highly talented, self-admitted misanthrope. "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell" is a prime example. Abbey was a truck riding good ole boy and was about as politically correct as a punch to the head. His backpack was not designed by Gucci and his boots were mostly army surplus but he spent a life time outdoors, not behind a desk finding fault. His writings, his actions and his public appearances brought more awareness of nature and its plight to the public than did the combined number of his critics by a factor of 1000. Borne just before the depression, he did not see all wild game as Bambi or Thumper but, as a child, watched as his father hunted for the table. Abbey may not be for everyone, but, by the same token, neither is Mr. Rogers.
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