Finding Abbey
The Search for Edward Abbey and His Hidden Desert Grave
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
When the great environmental writer Edward Abbey died in 1989, four of his friends buried him secretly in a hidden desert spot that no one would ever find. The final resting place of the Thoreau of the American West remains unknown and has become part of American folklore. In this book a young writer who went looking for Abbey’s grave combines an account of his quest with a creative biography of Abbey.
Sean Prentiss takes readers across the country as he gathers clues from his research, travel, and interviews with some of Abbey’s closest friends—including Jack Loeffler, Ken “Seldom Seen” Sleight, David Petersen, and Doug Peacock. Along the way, Prentiss examines his own sense of rootlessness as he attempts to unravel Abbey’s complicated legacy, raising larger questions about the meaning of place and home.
Customer Reviews
Passionate and unapologetic
A poignant and luminous read. Prentiss takes us on a literary pilgrimage that is both passionate and unapologetic. While following the traces of the writer Edward Abbey from Home, Pennsylvania to the deserts of the great American southwest, the author provides an eloquent voice to this exploratory ramble. Prentiss also provides a mindful personal chronicle as he searches simultaneously for many of his own answers and encourages the reader to do the same. The book inspires us to keep asking more questions, whatever the mystery, to get out there, get thirsty, get dirty, get scratched up. The "search" is held in high esteem within these pages. One of my favorite lines in the book is: "I don't take the book off the shelf, and I don't read it. I merely tap on the spine just to feel it." This is alluring prose but I recommend opening this book and enjoying the journey cover to cover.