“A thing of beauty. . . . A wildly funny, infinitely wise, near to tragic tale of man against the bog god machine.” —Houston Chronicle

Edward Abbey's classic tale of rebellion, camaraderie, and environmental justice—a prescient, comic masterpiece of destructive mayhem and outrageous civil disobedience that speaks to us today—now available in a commemorative fiftieth anniversary edition.

When Ex-Green Beret George Hayduke returns from war to find his beloved Southwestern desert threatened by industrial development, it’s up to him to take the noxious bull by the horns. Joining forces with Bronx exile and feminist saboteur Bonnie Abzug, wilderness guide and outcast Mormon Seldom Seen Smith, and libertarian billboard torcher Doc Sarvis, Hayduke is primed to fight the power. Strip miners, clear-cutters, and highway, dam, and bridge builders beware!

Now, fifty years after the original publication, the Monkey Wrench Gang is on the move again. Featuring a new introduction by one of today’s most exciting contemporary writers, this beautiful and collectible anniversary edition of the environmental cult classic is a tribute to Abbey’s enduring legacy and a timeless call to arms for preserving the natural world.

Jonathan Troy is a brilliant, beautiful, intensely romantic, selfish and irresponsible (but never impossible) hero. Despite his youth, he is a born leader who, like a colossus, dominates the people who come into his life, whether they have sought him out or have been sought after by him. There is his lonely, one-eyed father whose radical activity for the Industrial Workers of the World leads to a shattering climax in which Jonathan knows his own fidelity has somehow been vitally involved. There is Etheline, whose body is irresistibly attractive-and whom Jonathan successfully seduces. There is Leafy who inspires his love and alone can discipline him. There is Feathersmith, the effeminate teacher, who encourages Jonathan''s sensitivity to the poetic, and Fatgut, the pathological liar, who is foil both for Jonathan''s friendship and his rage. In a way, Jonathan betrays them all, but his greatest, final betrayal is perhaps of himself.

Edward Abbey writes with perception that measures the mood and experiences of his characters in every dimension. Beneath the facade of callous brutality lies the real Jonathan, finely sensitive and introspective. The author never loses touch with this spirit on Jonathan''s quest, and the cumulative effect becomes overwhelming. This harsh, powerful, disturbing story is an extraordinary achievement for any novel, much less a first one.

About the author

Edward Abbey was born in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, in 1927. Eight months before his 18th birthday, when he would be faced with being drafted into the U.S. Military, Abbey decided to explore the American southwest. He traveled by foot, bus, hitchhiking, and freight train hopping.

His best-known works include Desert Solitaire, a non-fiction autobiographical account of his time as a park ranger at Arches National Park considered to be an iconic work of nature writing and a staple of early environmentalist writing; the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by environmentalists and groups defending nature by various means, also called eco-warriors.

JONATHAN TROY was begun as a creative writing project and is Edward Abbey''s first novel.

“A thing of beauty. . . . A wildly funny, infinitely wise, near to tragic tale of man against the bog god machine.” —Houston Chronicle

Edward Abbey's classic tale of rebellion, camaraderie, and environmental justice—a prescient, comic masterpiece of destructive mayhem and outrageous civil disobedience that speaks to us today—now available in a commemorative fiftieth anniversary edition.

When Ex-Green Beret George Hayduke returns from war to find his beloved Southwestern desert threatened by industrial development, it’s up to him to take the noxious bull by the horns. Joining forces with Bronx exile and feminist saboteur Bonnie Abzug, wilderness guide and outcast Mormon Seldom Seen Smith, and libertarian billboard torcher Doc Sarvis, Hayduke is primed to fight the power. Strip miners, clear-cutters, and highway, dam, and bridge builders beware!

Now, fifty years after the original publication, the Monkey Wrench Gang is on the move again. Featuring a new introduction by one of today’s most exciting contemporary writers, this beautiful and collectible anniversary edition of the environmental cult classic is a tribute to Abbey’s enduring legacy and a timeless call to arms for preserving the natural world.

Jonathan Troy is a brilliant, beautiful, intensely romantic, selfish and irresponsible (but never impossible) hero. Despite his youth, he is a born leader who, like a colossus, dominates the people who come into his life, whether they have sought him out or have been sought after by him. There is his lonely, one-eyed father whose radical activity for the Industrial Workers of the World leads to a shattering climax in which Jonathan knows his own fidelity has somehow been vitally involved. There is Etheline, whose body is irresistibly attractive-and whom Jonathan successfully seduces. There is Leafy who inspires his love and alone can discipline him. There is Feathersmith, the effeminate teacher, who encourages Jonathan''s sensitivity to the poetic, and Fatgut, the pathological liar, who is foil both for Jonathan''s friendship and his rage. In a way, Jonathan betrays them all, but his greatest, final betrayal is perhaps of himself.

Edward Abbey writes with perception that measures the mood and experiences of his characters in every dimension. Beneath the facade of callous brutality lies the real Jonathan, finely sensitive and introspective. The author never loses touch with this spirit on Jonathan''s quest, and the cumulative effect becomes overwhelming. This harsh, powerful, disturbing story is an extraordinary achievement for any novel, much less a first one.

About the author

Edward Abbey was born in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, in 1927. Eight months before his 18th birthday, when he would be faced with being drafted into the U.S. Military, Abbey decided to explore the American southwest. He traveled by foot, bus, hitchhiking, and freight train hopping.

His best-known works include Desert Solitaire, a non-fiction autobiographical account of his time as a park ranger at Arches National Park considered to be an iconic work of nature writing and a staple of early environmentalist writing; the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by environmentalists and groups defending nature by various means, also called eco-warriors.

JONATHAN TROY was begun as a creative writing project and is Edward Abbey''s first novel.