Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #346737 in Books
• Published on: 1991-08-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Customer Reviews

The voice is still echoing
The voice is silent now, but the echoes will remain. This was Edward Abbey's last book, published the same year that he died. It's a very brief book, containing a short introduction followed by a collection of personal quotes and sayings from the private journal (in 21 volumes) that Abbey had kept since 1948. These fragments, as Abbey calls them, vary in quality from the brilliant to the not quite so insightful. They are divided into 13 chapters: Philosophy, Religion, and So Forth; Good Manners; Government and Politics; Life and Death and All That; On Writing and Writers, Books and Art; Sport; Music; On Women, Love, Sex, Et Cetera; On Nature; Science and Technology; Money, Et Cetera; On Cows and Dogs and Horses; and Places.
For me, the first chapter, on religion and philosophy, contained by far the best material. Chapter three, on government and politics, wasn't bad either, and there were some gems scattered in most of the other chapters as well. One chapter were Abbey's wisdom failed, however, was the one on science and technology. Abbey, like the "desert philosopher" that he was, couldn't, unfortunately, like so many others, see that the only hope for nature and the environment is the continued use of science and the continued development of future technology, so that the need for the exploitation of nature will at some point disappear. People will always be consumers, which is why the "back to nature" idiocy could never work, not to mention that very few sane people would really want to live like animals, in "harmony" with nature, when the going starts getting tough. So the thing to do is to find a way for people to continue being consumers without harming the environment. And this can, and will, be accomplished only through science and future technology.
Back to the book. A Voice Crying is an absolute treasure trove for people looking for Edward Abbey quotes. There are many memorable one-liners, and some longer quotations as well (to about half a page in length). Abbey's atheist and libertarian anarchist opinions make his thoughts all the more enjoyable for those few people in this world who are still sane and rational. Recommended.
The book is illustrated by Andrew Rush.

Vox et Abbey! Fantastic little book!
After Ed's passing, there were many holes, despite the prolific nature of the self proclaimed bastard. This small book offers a wonderful insight into the man behind the Monkey Wrench. Through his journals, poems and other unpublished work, another ray of desert sunlight falls upon Ed's hulking form. We miss you Abbey, but this eases the emptiness a little!