In Defense of the American West

Abstract

This article discusses Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness. It is a key foundational work of critical reflection from the growing canon of American environmental writing, and this book remains well-worth reading by the general public, environmental policy-makers, and ecological thinkers. The analysis reviews the conflicted but enduring popularity of Abbey in the American environmental movement based upon his remarkable meditations in this book about the desert Southwest, modern industrialism, the Grand Canyon, and American society as these thoughts grew out of his work as a park ranger at The Arches National Monument.