About this title: The vividly presented hero of this novel, Henry Holyoak Lightcap, is a misanthrope, a drunk, and a hell-raiser. When his third wife leaves him, he takes off for his home town in West Virginia, accompanied by a sick dog, to meet his demons. Edward Abbey always claimed that his 1988 novel is not autobiographical, but conceded that it had certain similarities to events in his own life.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Holt McDougal
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780805057911ISBN:0805057919
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Near very good, tightly bound, little edge wear. A few sparse notes in the margins in first 1/3 of book. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 528 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: First Edition; First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780805009217ISBN:0805009213
Description: Very Good-in Very Good-dust jacket. 0805009213. Unmarked, cover and edges are rubbed and bumped. Mild soiling to page edges. Dust jacket is scuffed, edges are bumped and lightly chipped. Original price intact on flap.; Small 4to 9"-11" tall; 485 pages. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co, New York, New York, U.S. A
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780805009217ISBN:0805009213
Description: Very Good in Good jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Page edges are a bit soiled and the dustjacket has some wear along the edges and a small scratch on the lower right front edge. read more
Edition: 1st printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780805009217ISBN:0805009213
Description: Clean and tight, no marks. 1st state dustjacket with "mist-" and "Mickey" on flaps, price intact, in a clear Brodart protector. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. 485 p. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co., New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780805009217ISBN:0805009213
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
Date Published: 1998-08-15
ISBN-13:9780805057911ISBN:0805057919
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780805057911. read more
Edition: Later Printing
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company-Owl Books, New York
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780805057911ISBN:0805057919
Description: As NEW. An Honest Novel. Wraps in deep blue and brown pictorial spine and covers. This "novel, the "fat masterpiece, " as Ed labeled it, was his most important piece of writing: it reveals the complete Ed Abbey, from the green grass of his memory as a child in Appalachia to his approaching death in Tucson at age sixty-two. [Abbey]...manages to transcend his own notions of himself. " New book with no flaws. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Owl Books
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780805057911ISBN:0805057919
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt, NY
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780805009217ISBN:0805009213
Description: Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a trace of edgewear. Not priceclipped and no markings. This is an unusual copy in that while it is a third printing, it has a first state dust jacket with the misspelling of "mist" for myth on the front flap and the misidentification of Abbey's daughter Becky as "Mickey" on the rear flap. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt, NY
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780805009217ISBN:0805009213
Description: Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. 0805009213. Abbey's finest novel. First printing in the first state dust jacket (uncorrected errors on front and rear flaps). 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."
"An autobiography that reveals much of Abbey and the stuff that went on in his mind. It reveals a character that you grow to love. Definitely worth reading even if you never heard of him."
"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."
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