Edward Abbey
Edward Abbey
Edward Paul Abbeywas an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental groups, and the non-fiction work Desert Solitaire...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth29 January 1927
CountryUnited States of America
book facts written
My own best books have not been published. In fact, they've not even been written yet.
events fiction written
It is true that some of my fiction was based on actual events. But the events took place after the fiction was written.
style sake too-much
Style: There is something in too much verbal felicity (as in Joyce or Nabokov or Borges) that can betray the writer into technique for the sake of technique.
beautiful writing silence
Good writing can be defined as having something to say and saying it well. When one has nothing to say, one should remain silent. Silence is always beautiful at such times.
thousand right-words ifs
One word is worth a thousand pictures. If it's the right word.
talking pay accepting
Writers should avoid the academy. When a writer begins to accept pay for talking about words, we know what he will produce soon: nothing but words.
golden widows married
Apuleius married a rich widow, then wrote _The Golden Ass_.
sacrifice laughing nuance
Anywhere, anytime, I'd sacrifice the finest nuance for a laugh, the most elegant trope for a smile.
book two democracy
There are only two kinds of books -- good books and the others. The good are winnowed from the bad through the democracy of time.
art responsibility two
The artist in our time has two chief responsibilities: (1) art; and (2) sedition.
book cadavers bed
Jane Austen: Getting into her books is like getting in bed with a cadaver. Something vital is lacking; namely, life.
book silence clubs
A good book is a kind of paper club, serving to rouse the slumbrous and to silence the obtuse.
beautiful phoenix oasis
Phoenix, Arizona: an oasis of ugliness in the midst of a beautiful wasteland.
children spring college
The sense of justice springs from self-respect; both are coeval with our birth. Children are born with an innate sense of justice; it usually takes twelve years of public schooling and four more years of college to beat it out of them.