Rating: 
Summary: A good story marred by bad writing and characterization.
Review: Don't trust any of the reviews that give either five or one stars. Most of the reviewers were judging the book on its political/ecological merit. _The Monkey Wrench Gang_ is an enjoyable novel, but a pretty mediocre one. Good points: Abbey is great with details and is brutally honest about sensitive topics such as the American Indians and the way modern industry treats the environment as commodity. The story alone will is compelling enough to keep you reading 'till the end. Bad Points: I haven't read any other of Abbey's work, but TMWG is badly written. Abbey's style is like that of an eager freshman-level creative writing class student. He beats us over the head with his pulpy prose. He could have made a great living as a "Penthouse Forum" writer. Also, he sucks at character development. His characters are, at best, two dimensional; and his attitude towards women gives me the uneasy feeling that at the time of writing THMG, Abbey hadn't been laid in a long, long time.
Rating: 
Summary: A terrific ride through the desert
Review: The Monkey Wrench Gang is something that readers of Ed Abbey have come to expect: crude behavior combined with a social message. This book is often criticized for being "too different" from Desert Solitaire because of the destructive message that it sends. I think Abbey's intention was to create a unique, adventurous book that would draw SOME kind of reaction, positive or negative. As a nature writer, his position is obviously going to that of contempt and loathing for government. But I think that his message was to get readers thinking about what could or should be done about the preservation of the environment. I will definitely read this book again sometime down the road. Ultimately, if you like adventure and colorful characters, buy this book. You won't be disappointed!
Rating: 
Summary: Monkey Wrench Gang By Edward Abbey illustrated by R. Crumb
Review: Edward Abbey's comedic novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang, is available in an illustrated hardbound edition by visionary cartoonist and social commentator, R. Crumb. R. Crumb's illustrations and Edward Abbey's prose are a perfect complement to one another. First published in 1985, this new edition contains all of the R. Crumb artwork for the book and calendar, from 1987. Abbey & Crumb met one another for the first time in Arches National Park, in 1985, on the occassion of the first publication of this book. Despite their obvious completely different orientations towards life, they became friends. This is their only collaboration. ED ABBEY LIVES!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I thought this story would be about the beauty and the enjoyment of the desert southwest. Instead its a book about the glorification of vandalism and the destruction of property. Desert Solitude is a much better book, its hard to believe they are by the same author. If Abbey had only wrote the Monkey Wrench Gang I doubt he would have been so famous.
Rating:
Summary: laugh through the tears humor for thoughtful adults
Review: There is only one book I have read three times in my adult life (and the fourth is soon!). I first discovered the Monkey Wrench Gang while working at a bookstore in Billings, MT in 1976 and having a customer turn me on to it. Then I reread it when hired by the Bureau of Reclamation (Bu-Wreck), and finally, during the depths of divorce-induced depression. It is funny, wise, sad. It is intensely visual, and the first time I read it, I cast the movie--Walter Matthau was Doc, Jane Fonda was Ms Abzug, Robert Reford was Seldom Seen, and only Dustin Hoffman could be Hayduke. I actually cannot believe that a movie has not been made before. Now I live in the southwest, and begin to understand where Abbey was coming from, and his cleverness in using humor to preach what is essentially a sermon of despair. Man's greed IS changing the desert, and not for the best. Please, read this book--laugh, enjoy,cry. Then pass it on to everyone you see--before it is too late.
Rating:
Summary: Monkey Wrench Gang
Review: This is definitely a different book. For a fifteen year old like me, it makes damn sure that we realize that the crap the media fills the world with aint true at all. I read Desert Solitaire over the summer, and enjoyed it thourougly, leading me to check out MWG from teh school library. Too many people try to peg Abbey as a naturalist. He's not. He says so in the forward to "Journey Home" (which I started last night). They then try to peg him as a "social terrorist," though I don't see what their reasoning is behind that. This book proves that though he was motivated to do so, he also had the common decency to not blow up bridges or other such nonsense. He stopped at burning billboards. Really, the greatest purpose of this book seems to be that it reminds people that there are some of us left-wingers out here. If that's the most it does, I think that Abbey would still be satisfied. Austin
Rating:
Summary: Fun and adventure with a point.
Review: Too often people only think of this book in relation to eco-terrorism, as some sort of call to arms. Abbey did want the book to motivate people to do something about growth for the sake of growth. But I think it was just as important for him that the book be fun, and full of adventure. It is something that anyone could read, environmentalist or not, for an exciting story. And the Abbey style of writing is highly original. It is vulgar and honest and harsh and dry. Just like the canyonlands where the book is set.
Rating: 
Summary: Abbey Lives!
Review: I am reluctant to give this book five stars, because it is really not all that well-written, and certainly does not compare to Desert Solitaire. However, it is a timeless book, and is as relevant today as it was twenty years ago. The Canyonlands area (which is one of the most beautiful regions in the world) is still being threatened by morons who want to build condominiums all along the Colorado River and destroy what little remains of the wild places in America. Therefore, in spite of my belief that Edward Abbey is not a great fiction writer, I feel that this book will always be worth reading, so long as it continues to inspire people to fight against the senseless desecration and commercialization of our nation's wilderness.
Rating:
Summary: Misinterpreted and horribly written
Review: This novel has been glorified as a great call-to-arms against the destruction of the environment. What most people don't seem to get is that the book is actually Abbey's defense of his own hypocritical pseudo-environmentalism. Abbey lived almost his entire life in cities and enjoyed driving big gas-guzzling cars and indulging in all the wasteful conveniences of modern society. Notice that the "heroes" in this book don't give a second thought to spreading their OWN pollution and litter through the wilderness. They only get upset when other people do it. Just like Abbey. On top of this, the prose is wretched. I know that Abbey intended this book to be semi-comic, but was he really shooting for the tone of a third-rate romance/adventure novel? I suspect that he was trying to hide his own lack of writing talent behind a mask of "cheesy humor", the equivalent of tripping over a step and saying: "I meant to do that!"
Rating:
Summary: Definately worth Reading!
Review: This book is about humans, real flesh and blood, imperfect humans, and their resistance against the ecological rape of our great country. They fight only with what they have, and only how they know. This is a great book with a great story. I just can't wait to read Heyduke Lives! True, I don't consider it of the same caliber as some other classic books I have read, but it is still one of the best. Not quite 5 stars (I wanted to rate it 4 1/2 stars), but definately NOT a waste of time.
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