The Monkey Wrench Gang – a review

I feel a little sheepish recommending a book glorifying what some would call industrial terrorists.

But I do.

Amazon.com Review:

Ed Abbey called The Monkey Wrench Gang, his 1975 novel, a “comic extravaganza.”

Some readers have remarked that the book is more a comic book than a real novel, and it’s true that reading this incendiary call to protect the American wilderness requires more than a little of the old willing suspension of disbelief. The story centers on Vietnam veteran George Washington Hayduke III, who returns to the desert to find his beloved canyons and rivers threatened by industrial development. On a rafting trip down the Colorado River, Hayduke joins forces with feminist saboteur Bonnie Abbzug, wilderness guide Seldom Seen Smith, and billboard torcher Doc Sarvis, M.D., and together they wander off to wage war on the big yellow machines, on dam builders and road builders and strip miners. …
–Gregory McNam

It’s offensive in many ways. But I enjoyed it thoroughly as many, many have before me.

Author Edward Abbey is a hero and inspiration to hikers.

The dangerous 800+mi Hayduke Trail in the American S.W. was named after the lead character.