I’m sad that Edward Abbey is gone. I’d love to have this guy roaming the Earth and lending his perspective on things. Abbey was such a strange blend. He seemed to walk both sides of many situations, one of the rare few who can somehow pull this off. The Fool’s Progress is what Abbey called his “fat masterpiece,” and I happen to agree. I can’t put this book above Desert Solitaire, but this book includes part of that book. The Fool’s Progress reveals so many things about Abbey and his life’s trajectory. There were parts that made me cringe and other parts that made me want to get in my car and drive to wild spaces.
PS: Look how great this photo is. That is iPhone 5 technology people. Yep, after my nearly $1000, 128gig, unlocked iPhone 6 Plus developed the “touch disease,” I finally came to the conclusion I can’t give Apple any more money. If you research what happened with “touch disease” it’s just so lame I can’t even stand it. So, it looks like I have a Google Phone in my future and a Microsoft Surface something as well. Not like I have to do ANY of this now because my trusty old iPhone 5 with it’s dim, yellow screen with enormous red, fading circle of death and it’s 12 minute battery life are all I need.
Comments 2
Daniel, I enjoyed looking through all of the great books on your reading list. Many of the titles are in the boxes I started filling this week. Abbey is one of my favorites. It made me a little sad when I saw no comments here. So today, I started baking some bread on this final day of a difficult year, and decided to leave a note. I’m a demoralized professor about to start my last semester in a system no longer about books and learning. In November, my dean told me that my classroom is judged by “return on investment.” He told me that I am profitable for the university. He implied students are a commodity to be mined. That was the last straw, and I’m resigning from my tenured position at mid-career not knowing what the future holds. I read The Fool’s Progress just weeks before starting graduate school. Decades later, I still bake bread when contemplating the uncertain future. God bless Edward Abbey. Happy New Year, Sincerely, JR
Author
JR,
I think the safe path is the well-worn path but spiritually, whatever that means to you as an individual, the well-worn path often leaves us lacking. We need more, we know we need more but we hold back, afraid to paddle for the wave of our life.