Comments on: Happy Birthday, Monkey Wrenchers (And Ed Abbey)

By: While we contemplate the flavor of farmed salmon, we’ll digress briefly : Singlebarbed

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:58:22 +0000

[...] Facing "Unprecedented Collapse"A Quiet Ski In The Woods: We Kick Cabin Fever’s ButtHappy Birthday, Monkey Wrenchers (And Ed Abbey)The Weary Weekend Post at the Underground: Winter Writing SucksThe Trout Underground Goes Twitter: [...]

By: Tom Chandler

Tom Chandler — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:51:06 +0000

That should have happened long ago, what with Nestle being largely in control of the government’s security apparatus.

Or maybe it just seems that way.

By: Salty

Salty — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:42:11 +0000

TC, you are so going on some watch list now

By: Dave N

Dave N — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:33:09 +0000

Both books, The Monkey Wrench Gang and sequel, Hayduke Lives kick ass. They are must reads and contain more substance than just wrenching the man.

By: Happy Birthday, Edward Abbey | sjarvis.com

Happy Birthday, Edward Abbey | sjarvis.com — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:31:24 +0000

[...] Tom Chandler points out, today is the birthday of Edward Abbey, author of The Monkey Wrench Gang which Chandler [...]

By: Steven Jarvis

Steven Jarvis — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:01:52 +0000

Hmm. My previous comment seems to imply a condemnation of the impulse behind monkey-wrenching. While I don’t condone the act, I certainly understand (and feel) the impulse. There are usually more productive and effective ways to channel that impulse, is all.

By: Steven Jarvis

Steven Jarvis — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:59:58 +0000

A sort of junior Monkey Wrench Gang is a wonderful book called “A Heart to the Hawks” by Don Moser (also from 1975 — influenced by MWG?). Sadly, it is out of print, but you can still find used copies occasionally. It’s about a young boy in post-WWII Ohio who spends his free time in a small wood with a pond near his home that becomes threatened by development in the post-war building frenzy. While there are other coming-of-age themes (girls! with boobs!) in the novel, the boy learns a lot about monkey-wrenching and how maybe it’s not the best method of protest.

This book instilled in me a love of the outdoors and a desire to protect it as well as anything else in my life. I didn’t encounter Abbey’s books until I was an adult, but AHTTH served much the same purpose for me.

I wish someone would bring it back into print.