Confessions of a Barbarian: Selections from the Journals of Edward Abbey, 1951-1989

Rating:
Summary: His Greatest Book
Review: This book is a must-read for all fans of Edward Abbey. Throughout his life, Abbey strove to write that one "great" book. He may have died believing that he had not accomplished that task. However, as it turns out, his life story is, in fact, his greatest "book".

Rating:
Summary: His Greatest Book
Review: This book is a must-read for all fans of Edward Abbey. Throughout his life, Abbey strove to write that one "great" book. He may have died believing that he had not accomplished that task. However, as it turns out, his life story is, in fact, his greatest "book".

Rating:
Summary: A must for all would-be monkey wrenchers
Review: This collection from Edward Abbey's journals pulls no punches. David Peterson should be praised for resisting the urge to censor Abbey's alternately brilliant, paranoid, suicidal, cynical, angry, loving, and often quotable journals. The man presented here is the real Abbey--defender of the American West, enemy of what he called the "techno-industrial state"--not an idealized version. It's a fascinating book if you've read some of his other works, to see another stage in the development of his novels and essays. This is a writer for whom the words flow freely, even effortlessly, onto the page. This book accomplishes, I think, what Abbey said was the reason he decided to write: "to entertain my friends and family, and to exasperate my enemies." Certainly Abbey had plenty of enemies, and plenty of admirers as well. I recommend these journals for anyone who loves Edward Abbey, but for the uninitiated, I would recommend "Desert Solitaire" (a classic in modern American literature) or "The Monkey Wrench Gang" (probably his best-known book).

Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Money
Review: This is the most self-absorbed author I have ever read. Perhaps this was not a good book to begin with, having never read any of his others. He is endlessly amused at his own wit, endlessly fascinated with his own horniness. His women are a sad parade of vaginas; world-shaking events reduced to how they will affect his own narrow, hedonistic world. The sad part is that I agree with many of his opinions on religion, the environment, business, etc. Unfortunately, his "look, Ma, I'm writing!" style of expression gets quite tedious. This is pseudo-intellectual, verbal vomit...don't waste your money like I did. (Sorry, Abbey-lovers)