Desert Solitaire cover art

Desert Solitaire

A Season in the Wilderness

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Desert Solitaire

By: Edward Abbey
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
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About this listen

When Desert Solitaire was first published in 1968, it became the focus of a nationwide cult. Rude and sensitive. Thought-provoking and mystical. Angry and loving. Both Abbey and this book are all of these and more. Here, the legendary author of The Monkey Wrench Gang, Abbey's Road and many other critically acclaimed books vividly captures the essence of his life during three seasons as a park ranger in southeastern Utah. This is a rare view of a quest to experience nature in its purest form -- the silence, the struggle, the overwhelming beauty. But this is also the gripping, anguished cry of a man of character who challenges the growing exploitation of the wilderness by oil and mining interests, as well as by the tourist industry.

Abbey's observations and challenges remain as relevant now as the day he wrote them. Today, Desert Solitaire asks if any of our incalculable natural treasures can be saved before the bulldozers strike again.

©1968 Edward Abbey (P)2011 Tantor Ecosystems & Habitats Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science

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Critic reviews

"Like a ride on a bucking bronco . . . rough, tough, combative. The author is a rebel and an eloquent loner. His is a passionately felt, deeply poetic book . . . set down in a lean, racing prose, in a close-knit style of power and beauty." ( The New York Times Book Review)
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Most relevant
Great writing beautifully read. A breath of fresh air in desperate times. Fuck em all!

We miss you Ed.

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excellent recollections, I enjoyed abbey's style and delivery.as good today as it was 40 years ago.shame he didn't more on the same subject. Thanks for the ride.

edward abbey great

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A timeless book describing the deserts of Utah in the 1960’s. It brings to life the deserts of the south west USA. A recommended read for anybody interested in the outdoors or natural history.

An outdoor classic

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I have been dreaming about canyons when I was reading this book. It took me out on a journey there into Utah, so far away from Europe (Warsaw, Poland and London, UK where I live) Absolutely marvellous. I hope I can find something else like this.

I have been dreaming about canyons when

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I first read this book 40 years ago. it was very good then and it is even better now. since my first reading, I've spent much of my time in wilderness settings. this life in nature has made me more human as it did. Edward Abbey. he found his voice early and has fed and entertained his readers. he speaks truths that are contemporaneous with every age. desert solitaire is as important of work as Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Abby was prescient about industrial tourism and the dehumanization of the rat race. he returned to the desert and spent much of his life there and is now buried in the desert in an unknown grave. I share his love for the desert and this book helped me to ReDiscover what delighted me about it when I first saw the desert in 1969. some of us are desert rats and Edward Abbey is one of the best.

A Fine Contemplative Written

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