Abbey's Road: Take the Other

Rating:
Summary: Hit or Miss
Review: This is an entertaining firsthand account of Abbey's adventures as he travels through some of the most remote and beautiful locales in the world. The first chapter, in which he travels through Australia, is by far the most entertaining, and Abbey's wit really shines here. He also makes strong arguments throughout the book about why preserving beautiful natural areas is so important. Some of the subsequent stories come off as so much fluff, in which Abbey is trying to find events of significance and/or peril in the face of a mundane trip. The events seem to me to be interesting enough without having to be dolled up.



Rating:
Summary: Abbey is great, but this collection is not his best
Review: Do not let this book be your introduction to Edward Abbey. There is plenty of brilliance here, but an established fan will be able to appreciate that brilliance best.

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Abbey
Review: This collection of previously published magazine articles is vintage Abbey, alternatively moving and funny, sacred and profane, flip and dead serious (well almost) and at all times entertaining. Divided into three categories - Travel, Polemics and Sermons, and Personal History - the subjects range from the Great Barrier Reef to technology to women to Winnebagos to hallucinogenic drugs - with many stops in between. The introduction, wherein Abbey comments on nature writing - and various nature writers - is itself worth the price of admission.

Rating:
Summary: A disappointing first introduction to Ed Abbey
Review: This was my first introduction to the well known author, Edward Abbey. My impression was that Abbey wrote with a strong environmental voice and was an advocate of wildlands. Instead, I read about a man who kicks animals that don't get out of his way, who drags trashed cars through the Australian outback, who tosses his empty wine bottles into remote canyons,and who expresses a superior attitude to just about everybody. His writing style is highly variable, ranging from sophomoric (usually) to pure Americana (very occasionally). When he hits the latter, he can rival Mark Twain, which is probably why he enjoys the reputation he does. However, this reputation obviously wasn't made with the essays contained in this anthology. Folks looking for an introduction to Abbey are advised to try another book.

Rating:
Summary: Wistfully Abbey's best desert writing outside USA
Review: This wistful collection of essays captures the spirit, the essence of the great deserts of Australia and Mexico. There is a yearning for all that is wild in the great Australian outback which captures the reader's inner core. Abbey makes clear that though Australia is his kind of place he is obliged to return to his mother country. He captures the spirit of place by describing the weird smells emanating from gedgi trees, the bitter taste of Aussie Black Swan lager, the distant and near views of Ayers Rock, his longing for an Aussie barmaid who almost accepts his invitation to travel with him in a rented 2-wheel drive vehicle across the impenetrable western desert. He captures the Australian or Strine vernacular and the desperation of the modern aborigine. This yearning of Abbey carries over onto a desert isle off the coast of Mexico where there's not much but isolation, scarce water, no women, and beans for dinner. That's pure Abbey