About this title: Author of "The Monkey Wrench Gang", this tragi-comic novel focuses on Henry, who, left flat by his third wife, responds by first shooting the refrigerator and then taking off in his old Dodge pickup, accompanied by his dying dog, Solstice. The story follows his journey and adventures.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Truly very good 1990 Avon softcover (first printing stated)no marks, covers glossy, bright, clean, binding square and tight, scuff on endpaper, very reliable shipper(shelf#19) read more
Description: Henry Holt, c1988, First edition, hardcover, pages bright, ; A solid copy, previous owner's small partial name label, else VERY GOOD, in a VERY GOOd bright dustjacket, in a new clear mylar DJ cover. A nice copy you will be happy to own! read more
Edition: First British edition, 1st printing
Binding: Hardcover.
Publisher: Bodley Head, London
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780370313313ISBN:0370313313
Description: Very Good in Fine jacket. The book condition is VG, several pages have been creased along the edges. The dust jacket is Fine. read more
Edition: Fourth Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, New York
Date Published: 1988
Description: Near Fine in Very Good jacket. 8vo-8"-9" Tall. Quarter blue cloth binding. Clean, tight and unmarked. 485pp. Dust jacket, very slightly rubbed, in new mylar cover. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, New York
Date Published: 1988
Description: Very Good in Near Fine jacket. 8vo-8"-9" Tall. Quarter blue cloth binding. Clean and unmarked copy showing light reader's use and handling. First printing in a first state jacket, with misprints on both flaps. 485pp. Dust jacket, with crease to rear flap, in new mylar cover. read more
Edition: 1st Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt, NY
Date Published: 1988
Description: Dust Jacket Included. First edition (so stated), 1st printing (with number sequence beginning with 1"). FINE (no names, bookplates, remainder marks, or writing of any kind, etc. ), with NEAR FINE+ dustjacket with the "19.95" price intact. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: hardcover
Publisher: Holt, NY
Date Published: (1988)
Description: Fine dust jacket. The last novel to be published in his lifetime by the author of the classics Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang; Abbey was quite ill at the time this was published, and he died within six months of its publication. Fine in a fine first issue dust jacket ("mist" for "myth" on front flap). read more
Edition: First British edition, 1st printing
Binding: Hardcover.
Publisher: Bodley Head, London
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780370313313ISBN:0370313313
Description: Near Fine in Fine jacket. The book condition is NF, minor bumping to heel of spine. The dust jacket is Fine. read more
Edition: First British edition, 1st printing
Binding: Hardcover.
Publisher: Bodley Head, London
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780370313313ISBN:0370313313
Description: Fine in Near Fine jacket. The book condition is Fine. The dust jacket is NF, creasing to top rear corner. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: New York, Henry Holt
Date Published: 1988
Description: First edition. The last novel published during his life, and one of his best. A very near fine copy in a near fine first issue dust jacket that has the typographical errors on the flaps. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: hardcover
Publisher: Holt, NY
Date Published: (1988)
Description: Near Fine dust jacket. His last novel to be published in his lifetime. Fine in a near fine first issue dust jacket ("mist" for "myth" on front flap) with an edge tear on the upper rear flap fold. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: The Bodley Head
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780370313313ISBN:0370313313
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. Near fine condition. The Bodley Head, 1989. First UK edition-first printing. Blue hardback(gilt lettering to the spine) with Dj(a couple of creases, some nicks and srcatches on the Dj cover), both in near fine condition. Nice & clean pages with a couple ink marks and light shelf wear on the outer edges, some creases and a very small mark on the edges of the pages, small pencil mark impression on the edge of the first blank page of the book. Nice & clean book with light ... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: NY: Henry Holt, 1988.
Description: 1st edition. NF/NF. Hardcover in 1st issue DJ. SIGNED and dated (Santa Feb, 11/88) on the ffep. Former owner's name on ffep. Laid in is a copy of an Edward Hoagland review from the Atlantic Monthly, titled: "Edward Abbey Standing Tough in the Desert. " read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, New York
Date Published: 1988
Description: Very good+ Uncorrected proof copy. 485 pp. Printed wrappers. With publisher's press release stapled to the inside of the front cover. Minor wear and soiling. Internally fine. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: NY: Henry Holt, 1988.
Description: 1st edition. Hardcover, Very Fine in a Very Fine 1st issue Dust Jacket. Inscribed, SIGNED and dated on the ffep. Inscribed by Abbey, in Spanish, to Nancy Quintana, "Buena Suerte! Edward Abbey. " Dated 11/88 in Santa Fe. read more
"Warning: If you are in grad school, or intend to go to grad school, avoid this book until you finish, unless you are abnormally enthusiastic about your life as grad student. (Now that I think about it, if you fit the latter description, you might not like this book anyway).
Aside from the warning, a really excellent novel. To enjoy, you must be able to appreciate road trips, the humor in awful things, wilderness, honesty, subtle foreshadowing, and you should not be looking for inspiration."
"excellent novel about returning home after a long life of misery. I especially liked how Abbey wrote in the first and third person depending on if the chapter was a memory or not. I have loved all of Abbey's books so far."
"To be honest, I was concerned while reading the opening scenes and almost put the book down: Henry Lightcap treats his current wife miserably. when she decides to leave him for a computer engineer, he is so distraught that he takes out a .22 and shoots the refrigerator (the culmination, as it turns out, of his hatred for technology and "modern civilization". Oh no, I thought, a self-absorbed misogynist tells his sufferings. For the most part, I was wrong (there is plenty of suffering). This was one of the best books I've read in a good long while.
The main character Henry, I learned later, is a close representation of the reclusive author. Abbey apparently reveals much of his own life through this "honest novel", but to what extent...I wish I knew. Henry grew up in the West Virginia backwoods, submerged in nature, and later rediscovered the even more intense wilderness of the West.
The flashback chapters to the past are interspersed with the Henry here-and-now, older, in his sixties, and harboring a grim secret. Like him, his truck is on it's last odometer rotations. The dog, Solstice, is also old and sickly, and is one of the few beings Henry is tender toward, and makes for some of the more touching scenes.
What initially perplexed and repelled me at first was Henry's treatment of women. Throughout his life he only falls for the bombshells who, ultimately, have nothing in common with him and his love of the wilderness. When he drags is first wife from NYC to barren New Mexico, things do not bode well. After so much trouble with women, evidence of Henry's first real love comes as a shock. Henry is more complex than he seemed, and I began to empathize with him.
This book seems outwardly like it would be a simple semi-memoir, but Abbey's descriptions, especially of nature and wild places, elevate it to something more. The tone is bleak, of a man looking back on his life and contemplating his regrets, but is not without humor (a certain Grand Canyon scene, for example, or his arrest in Denver). When I read Abbey, a (para)phrase from his Desert Solitaire comes to mind: get out of the car and walk, better yet crawl through the dirt and rocks and cactus. You can't get the full experience any way else--this philosophy sums up A Fools Progess well. Highly recommended."
"Great book, but STRONGLY recommend you **NOT** read this book until you've read Abbey's other books. This is a good book from the perspective of understanding Edward Abbey's world view and philosophies of life--ie what's the meaning of life--but will diminish your respect for his earlier work (re: Monkey Wrench gang et al) and his reputation as a supporter of wilderness and the environment."
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