Desert solitaire
First published in 1968,Desert Solitaireis one of Edward Abbey’s most critically acclaimed works and marks his first foray into the world of nonfiction writing. Written while Abbey was working as a ranger at Arches National Park outside of Moab, Utah, Desert Solitaire is a rare view of one man’s quest to experience nature in its purest form.Through prose that is by turns passionate and poetic, Abbey reflects on the condition of our remaining wilderness and the future of a civilization that cannot reconcile itself to living in the natural world as well as his own internal struggle with morality. As the world continues its rapid development, Abbey’s cry to maintain the natural beauty of the West remains just as relevant today as when this book was written.
Stats for nerds
24recommend
39mentions
34people
2012–2026years
72% recommend28% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I knew someone would come out and say that. To answer your question, I have driven through, multiple times. I suggest starting with Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire to raise your awareness.
- As a life long resident of the American West, I can imagine few ecological crimes more horrifying. This is one of the most unique geographies on this planet. The life here is thoroughly adapted to a fragile balance of long want and occasional abundance. Everywhere you "terraform" would obliterate that balance. The application of the word itself is obtuse. How can you make more Earth like what the Earth itself made? I suggest that you take your infrastructure projects and apply them where people already live. The damage has already been done there. And those places have an elasticity of life due to the high amounts of water that let them bounce back at some point. Instead I suggest for the West we take a page out of Edward Abbey and simply marvel at its incredible uniqueness and beauty.
Desert Solitaire https://a.co/d/16MZLfL
- Desert Solitaire - Edward Abbey
A Brief History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
Entangled Life - Merlin Sheldrake
The Hidden Life of Trees - Peter Wohlleben
- I urge you to pick up and read Desert Solitaire[0] and reconsider your 'wasteland' statement.
Benefit/cost might be there, but for a project costing 22B it would be sensible to study and quantify.
- For people who find this interesting I would highly recommend the book Emerald Mile [0]. Amazingly well written book about glen canyon, grand canyon, lake powell, glen canyon dam, dorys people, racing boats down the canyon and a near catastrophe in the dam building.
Also lets not forget the classic Desert Solitaire [1]. It too is well written and very interesting, in the book they take small inflatable boats and just float down Glen Canyon not long before it gets flooded.
[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15803144-the-emerald-mil...
- I was going to recommend The Monkey Wrench Gang.
But Desert Solitaire is wonderful. One of my favorites...
