Abbey Books

Things come and go in cycles and everything that was old is new again. Such is the case with the popular Goosebumps series of books. Before there was Harry Potter, there was Goosebumps. The series began with WELCOME TO DEAD HOUSE, which was first published in 1992 and within a couple of years the books were seen everywhere in elementary and middle schools. All total over 60 books were written in the series, not counting the several spin-off series and a television show. By the mid-1990s R.L. Stine had more books being published than any other author and was ranked as the most read author by students in elementary and middle schools. In general, the Goosebumps books are scary stories with children protagonists. Most of the chapters in each book end with a "cliffhanger". The next chapter reveals the cliffhanger to be something mundane and ordinary. That is until the later chapters when the supernatural and spooky stuff starts to happen and the cliffhangers aren't explained away as easily.

WELCOME TO DEAD HOUSE is the first in the Goosebumps series. It is a bit darker and more horrifying than most of the other books in the series and reads more like a water-downed version of R.L. Stine's Fear Street books. The book tells the story of Amanda and Josh, a brother and sister. The family inherits a house in Dark Falls and decide to make a new beginning in the new town. However, no one knows much about Dark Falls except that it's a very dark place and in the middle of nowhere. Amanda and Josh's parents are excited about the move, but the children aren't. When they visit the new home, Josh is sure he sees someone inside in an upstairs window. Then once the move is completed, strange things start to happen. Voices are heard and things in the house move around. No one walks the streets and no cars drive by. Dark Falls is a quiet place, but it's also a dead town, in more ways than one.

I enjoyed reading WELCOME TO DEAD HOUSE. I read several of the Goosebumps books years ago when my youngest brother was in grade school. WELCOME TO THE DEAD HOUSE does a good job of using setting to affect the mood and tone of the story. I did find the book missing some of the humor found in most of the other Goosebumps books I have read. The twist at the end is also more frightening. In fact, the story would make for a decent PG or PG-13 scary movie.

Recommended for children in the 4th grade or older.

I first started reading Goosebumps back when I was in 2nd grade, about 1993-1994. I am now 20 years old and have not read any of them in about 7 years. I, therefore, am not really able to comment on the style of the writing or the quality of scares for someone above the recommended reading level of these books - which I would place as ages 6-15.
What I can comment on is the effect these books had on my friends and me back in elementary school. Many of my friends would never bother to pick up a book, but if there was a new Goosebumps book, they would read it happily. It was a similar trend to that of Harry Potter in more recent years. So, while I can't really say much about content, I do respect the ability of a book and of a series to inspire children to read. I think it is an important contribution to society, because children who enjoy reading often become adults who enjoy reading. Most often, they will branch out from the series that started them reading and eventually get into the works that carry deeper meanings and inspire new thoughts - such as Dickens, Hemingway, Chopin, and Ellison. Goosebumps is just an intermediary step along the road to a full appreciation of literature.

Okay, it's better to have your kids read this than not to read at all. That being said, this books are the equivilent of greasy junk food. I enjoyed RL Stine's Fear Street series when I was in junior high, and I even like reading through my old ones even now. But these, are just dummed down versions. Also, who in the world thought these would be apprpropriate for 4-6 year olds is beyond me. There are much better books, even horror/scary books on the market for your kids. Find some of those and don't let them waste their precious time on these.

Have you ever wanted to live in a creepy place where everyone's dead? Well the book I've just finished reading was "Welcome to the Dead House." It's about two kids and their parents who move to Dark Falls. There, they start to see that creepy things are happening.They find out that all of their freinds are really dead, but ghosts. And their freinds need fresh blood to live. So, they capture the kids parents. What happens next? Well you'll have to read the book to find out. I really liked this book because it was filled with moiments of suspense. Another reason why I liked this book was because whenever I stopped reading it, I always wondered what would happen next. This book would be great for you if you love thrills and chills.

A child in my grandson's class at school suggested Goosebump books to him. At his request I checked out book #1 from the library for our weekly reading time. The title of the book sent up somewhat of a "red flag" but I thought it was probably just a silly title. Thru the first few chapters I kept thinking that everything was going to end up being a child's imagination creating scary things. The last few chapters revealed the REAL story and it was the most ghoulish story!!! I can't imagine anyone writing a story like that for children!!! There will be NO MORE reading Goosebump books by this Grandmother!!!!! My grandson loves mysteries and action --- I ordered a starter set of the classic Hardy Boys!!! My grandson is in an accelerated reading class but still enjoys being read to. Reading to him by phone has been a special way we have stayed connected across the miles since he has been very young. I have always encouraged him to read, read, read. There are so many WONDERFUL books out there. In my opinion these ARE NOT in that catagory!

Loamhedge was a pretty good book, with more action and more evil than Triss. Bragoon and Saro's team of partly-retired mischief makers were intresting, as was Martha the haremaid's probem with her legs. Raga Bol was definitly a good villan, with his good-sized horde of rats. Overall, Loamhedge waa a good book.

-Emma D.

Enter the world of Redwall and the surrounding country. Get to meet the kind, humble people who reside in Redwall abbey and the villanous foes from other countries. Filled with adventure and excitement, this book will have you from the very start to the end. The book is well written, and you actually can feel the characters come to life. I almost forgot it wasn't real for a moment!
Highly recommended(and dont forget to check out the other books in the Redwall series)

-B.Z.

Enter the world of Redwall and the surrounding country. Get to meet the kind, humble people who reside in Redwall abbey and the villanous foes from other countries. Filled with adventure and excitement, this book will have you from the very start to the end. The book is well written, and you actually can feel the characters come to life. I almost forgot it wasn't real for a moment!
Highly recommended(and dont forget to check out the other books in the Redwall series)

I believe that many of the reviews are misleading. Many complain about the book not being about loamhedge itself (I didn't expect it to be anyway), but that's not a reason for giving a book a bad review. Let's look at the book itself. I have read all but the most recent Redwall book and I have to say this was very good. Here's why:

I'm not going to give the story and spoil everything, but you can read some of the other reviews if you want to. Compared to a number of other Redwall books, this book had a very interesting plot. Many Redwall books (Triss is a perfect stereotype of this) are centered around a hero who eventually inherits Martin's sword and slays the evil warlord of the horde that is attacking Redwall with not much else standing out. Loamhedge follows this somewhat, but it has a very interesting main plot which has almost nothing to do with the evil attacking hordes. It was a very refreshing Redwall book to me.

I agree that Martha's brother and his friends were pretty annoying, but I enjoyed seeing them learn their lessons from two awsome characters. At the end of the story, the trio of troublemakers turn into descent and likable creatures and the reader feels like it was a realistic and substantial change. This had some of the better character developement that Jaques has produced.

This book also has some characters that I really enjoyed. There were two old codgers that are actually battle-hardened warriors with much wisdom in their experience. These were very likable creatures who gave the story and very likable flavor. By the way, a codger is not an animal it is a saying for anyone who didn't know :D

There were a few things that weren't very strong in this book. I don't like the treatment of the group of villians very much; however, the pirate captian was done well. I like how he actually defeated a badger in combat (with his crew helping of course). However, he was not the greatest of the badguys. I would like to see a story that brings back the Wearat. Perhaps he becomes a real tyrant and not just a visitor like the wolverine in Rakkety Tam. But don't expect to see much of the wearat in this book. I say this so that anyone reading the book won't be dissapointed, just be patient and you'll see. It would have been much better if the wearat were more involved with the rest of the story. The main weakness in the book has to be that many potentially intersting things (like the river captian guy early in the story) are not really given much significance and the reader is not able to really make an emotional connection with many of these characters unlike many other Redwall books that bring you very close to many of the characters.

Anyway, aside from a few complaints, this was a great book. I definately don't consider it as highly as my favorites Taggerung, Martin the Warrior, Outcast of Redwall, The Bellmaker, Legends of Luke, the Long Patrol, and of course the original Redwall that started it all. I still think this is the best of the average Redwall books. This is coming from a college student too, so don't think that this book is too childish for you. I have a friend who started reading Redwall in college and he likes them a lot. The series of Redwall including this book of course is definately not just for kids.

Super!!! Brian Jacques is the BEST!!!!!! Action-packed animated series!!!!!!!! Interesting Setting & Lovable characters!!!!

St. Teresa's famous works Interior Castle becomes even better on this CD set read by Susan Denaker. It is almost like listening to Teresa of Avila actually talking to you about the Interior Castle. Denaker does an outstanding job reading this work and I find I learn something new each time I listen to the CDs. It's great to listen to it over and over without having to work at reading it; you can spend you full concentration on what is being said.

An excellent book that deals with the process of knowing and surrendering ones life to Jesus Christ. One is struck by the deep passion to have an intimate relationship with Jesus and what a person is willing to forsake for that relationship. One will not agree with all that is said but will be challenged to describe what you do believe and how does it apply to your own life. It is a book that needs to be read several times to mine the riches of the truth.

I bought this book at a local bookstore actually as a fluke (sort of). I had some in-store credit and a coupon, and I had heard this was a solid work by St. Teresa of Jesus (Avila), so I bought it.

This is one of the best books I have ever read! I now say to persons, "I'm in a 7-Step spiritual program" (i.e., St. Teresa's seven mansions). St. Teresa is this very winesome writer who is furiously working on this treatise late at night after being neck-deep in this massive and highly controversial reforming movement in 16th century CE Spain.

So she comes to this work all tired and exhausted physically, but her zealous spirit for the things of God just shines right through the pages! It is literally a window to the soul of this great woman who walked her talk. She also is very attractive in that she is, in one sense, this very ordinary woman who has believed a story that God can do great things through those who will live for Him totally. As such, you don't get the sense she's this super-intellectual giant like Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Calvin, and so on who is also struggling with their intellect, but rather she's the "plain Jane" sold out for God.

After reading this book, I've made St. Teresa of Jesus (Avila) my honorary mother as I couldn't be more honored than to be her son in some small way. I have gone on to get her collected works in three volumes, but I must say this is one of the most profound, yet elegantly simple, books I have ever read. In one sense, how can I write a review of this book? What can I say about such a treasure? All I can say is this, if I had to lose all my books and can only have my Bible and maybe ten others - this work would be among the ten.

This is mystical theology. If are a researcher like I am, this is an awesome book

it is very spiritual and rewarding...you can search your soul for your place in your spiritual beliefs...

What a wonderful book to give, receive and to read and read again. One of my all time favorites. Highly recommended.

The Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of the Complete Novels of Jane Austen is a high quality paperback reprint of the hardbound Gramercy Classics edition held by many libraries - same good, clear typeface, same charming 1880's era illustrations. This is a large, well-made paperback that will stand up to many readings. It's pleasant to hold, with the lovely detail of rough-cut pages. They're all here: Elinor, that blighter Willoughby, Mr. Darcy, Emma, and the estimable Captain Wentworth, along with every other character Jane Austen dreamed up. Truly, it's a delightful edition.

I love Jane Austen's books, of course, and it was unbelievably exciting for me to finally read them all. The only issue I have is that the majority of my reading occurs when I'm laying down for bed, and this book is way too big too hold up. It's huge. I think I'm going to gift it to someone and buy individual hardcover copies of each book.

I was looking for an edition of Austen's collected works that fit well in my hands, and this fits the bill. The pages are crisp, clean and the typeset is quite handsome (rather easy on the eyes). It isn't too heavy or bulky and the pages don't unknowingly flail out of place--causing you to lose your spot. For the layperson, the introduction is an added benefit, but if you're smart you'll just skip right to desert and dive into Austen.

On a side note: My copy has been through quite the beating. Several cherry danishes were inadvertently smashed into the pages, a glass of water was spilled and to top it all off: I dragged it all around the Americas while traveling this summer. So, believe it or not--it still looks brand new.

I appreciated rereading Austen's work over the summer, and it was a natural choice for me to get it on my new Kindle. The pages look great and the type is adjustable. The one drawback was the size of the illustrations. Condensed onto the Kindle's screen they were difficult to appreciate. The fact that the book in e-version is so light to carry made up for this. It also made a difference in that the Kindle helped me look up the word "eclaircissement" as I was reading it.

It is about a girl named Margeret. Her dad never has time for fun. Then she and her friend, go into the basement, her dad is on the steps. He screamed a warning: STAY OUT OF THE BASEMENT!! Then they go in the next. Day. Their dad is captured by his evil twin that is a plant, will Margeret find which is the real dad? she chooses. Then the next day, a flower below her skueaked:I AM YOUR real DAD!

This is another one of r.l. stines best goosebumps books. This book is about a brother and a sister (I can't remember their names) Who live in a house with their mom and dad. In the book the kids mother goes away and now there with their father. While the kids mother is gone they notice that there father isn't acting like he normally does. When the kids go into the basement to see whats going on they see a big surprise. To see what else happens you have to read this awesome book. This book also has a twisted ending to it. This book didn't really make me feel scared as I was reading it, but for the kids in the book it would be scary for them. Read this book, it is great!!!!

Stay Out of the Basement is the second in the Goosebumps Series and we are becoming quite familiar with R.L. Stein's writing at this point, and without hesitation, I think he's about the equivalent to Stephen King and/or Twilight Zone/or The Outer Limits for kids...his stories are always slightly creepy, seem to have slightly campy leanings, almost too outlandish to be believable and always with a twist at the end that leaves you wondering.

Stay Out of the Basement is no exception...in this volume we meet Margaret and Casey Brewer (and their parents, naturally), as we join them we discover that Dr. Brewer has lost his job at the University and is continuing his work in the basement. At this point the mother conveniently has to go out of town to care for a sick relative, leaving the two kids alone with the good Dr. and his strange behavior as he becomes increasingly distant and obsessed with his work. It's only after Casey and Margaret and their neighbor disobey Dr. Brewer's strict orders not to go in the basement that they discover just how strange his work is and just how obsessed with it he is.

For me, Stay Out of the Basement isn't as creepy as the first book in the series, or even as creepy as some of his other work that I have read, but as part of a series designed to give the reader goosebumps, I think it's a fine addition. The ending as always takes a slight twist from what you think it should, and I rather like this about Stein's writing style. I give it a B-, it's entertaining, but fairly predictable. We're looking forward to reading more in the series!

I loved this book especially because the main character has the same name as me... Brewer. It was really scary and I couldn't guess what happens next. You must read this book.

Stay Out of the Basement is the second book in the Goosebump's series. It is also one of my favorites. Stay Out of the Basement is about the Brewer family. Dr. Brewer is a botanist who gets fired from his job because some of his expeirements went wrong. When Dr. Brewer starts working in the basement at home the family never see him. Casey and Margaret are Dr. Brewer's kids. When their mom has to go take care of her sister in Tucson, strange things start happening with their father. Then they start hearing strange sounds from the basement. Casey and Margaret go down to investigate. They could never have imagined what they found down there...

I have decided that since so many people are obviously blind to how dumb this play is, I should write a review to enlighten anyone that might read it. The humor is dated and because of that, very boring. The situations are completely inconceivable and it makes no sense! The characters are flat and serve no real purpose. I suggest that no one else ever ever read this play.

This fellow gives new meaning to irreverence and "farce".
His views on the virtues of having a satirically empty head
as written by one appears to be the well written best example?
His characterization of the English upper class as both idle
and clueless came too close to the truth.
Yet he mostly has happy endings and a good laugh for all.

All you Wildeans take note: this is the only edition of the plays wherein the lines are properly numbered for specific citation and easy reference: very, very important!!

An extraordinary play; witty, profound and beautiful. And even better if you read all of it. Which you won't if you buy the Penguin copy with Edith Evans on the front, since this version is heavily abridged. Which is fine except the publishers make no mention of this at all in the volume. And cultural vandalism of this kind should, I feel at least be acknowledged.

I had no knowledge of Oscar Wilde and had only seen ten minutes of the movie, The Importance of Being Earnest, as I flipped through the cable channels on my television. However, due to a class that I am enrolled in, not only do I now know who he is but I am blessed to have been introduced to his work.

The Importance of Being Earnest, makes a very humorous yet profound commentary on money, marriage, status and image as it pertains to the aristocracy of that time. It seems that Oscar Wilde utilized this medium of artistic expression to cleverly expose the twisted way that those with wealth perceived themselves and the lengths they would go to the preserve that perception. It has been referred to as a "comedy of manners" because so much of what defined or distinguished the aristocracy from the common man was not necessarily the wealth that they actually had but what men and women did to appear like they had it.

Ernest, who is the main character in the play, has done all of what is necessary to appear as though he comes from wealth. He wears the clothing, keeps the company and talks the talk of the aristocrat. However what he soon finds out is that all of those whom he is trying to impress and fit in with, have more unresolved issues in their closet than he does. I believe Wilde addresses this social paradox with impeccable wit and an amazing sense of human psychology. He not only challenged those who belonged to the aristocracy to examine what they placed value in, but continues to challenge each reader today, that these superficial values might not stand as valuable at all.

I tore through "Black Sun" in a couple days. I find Abbey's dialogue, both here and in his more famous "Monkey Wrench Gang," to be a bit clunky, but his nature descriptions are spot on.

The main character, Gatlin, is a ranger who works alone on a fire lookout tower in some unnamed western locale (though by the clues given it seems to be somewhere near the Grand Canyon). Gatlin's crisis: Can he leave nature for the love of a woman? For anyone enthralled by wild places, adventure, travel, or any other pursuit that supersedes relationships, this dilemma is remarkably prescient.

Readers looking for the curmudgeonly environmental polemicist Abbey in "Black Sun" will be disappointed. Readers can expect an easy read, beautiful nature descriptions, and a simple, tragic, poetically elegaic love story. Abbey never was very good at portraying the human condition. He regarded our species as a scourge on the landscape. But "Black Sun" is the most human book he ever wrote.

This is probably Edward Abbey's least political work, and the cranky old desert conservationist came up with a surprisingly emotional and bittersweet love story. The main character has escaped his painful past by taking up a very lonely job at a fire tower near the Grand Canyon, getting closer to nature and further from other people, as a way to battle his demons. He then unexpectedly falls in love with a younger woman who is working at the park, but can't figure out how to make her part of his lonely existence, which may or may not be bringing him true happiness. But in the end, he has loneliness forced upon him again anyway, as the girl disappears back into nature herself. One problem with this novel is the stilted interpersonal dialogue, which was never Abbey's strength, while he was even less adept at building a believable romance. But on the good side, this novel, based to an unclear degree on Abbey's true experiences, is a remarkably emotional exploration of the true loneliness that can be found when one communes with nature for the long haul, and how this loneliness can both lift and crush one's spirits. [~doomsdayer520~]

Beautiful, lyrical, magical - the best book Abbey ever wrote, in my opinion. I suppose many would argue the point, as Abbey doesn't address environmental issues at all, and the story is strictly a love story. But it is a wonderful story written in remarkable metaphorical prose - fantastic.

I could not put this book down. All Edward Abbey lovers will be enchanted with this book. Those of you that skip it are missing out on an all time treasure. This book is an excellent way to distract yourself from the World Trade Center disaster.

An early Abbey work, Black Sun is a very good novel written in a style similar to John D. MacDonald only more alive, more real. Will Gatlin is much like Travis McGee, an imperfect fellow who has learned to live life on his own terms and makes no apologies for it. An entertaining read, this is one you won't want to put down until you've finished it.

Short bursts of wisdom, just the right amount of material for a grieving person to absorb at one time. Worth twice the price and then some.

I found this little book while on a retreat ... and grieving ... several years ago. It contains thoughts and ways of remembering a loved one that will be meaninful to anyone who is dealing a loss, including images that will bring a smile to one's face when smiles are needed. I keep several copies on hand to share with friends who are trying to deal with their own grief.

I have purchased more books than I can count on Amazon but this is the first time that I have been moved to write a review. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has lost someone dear to them. Very simple but powerful advice. If you don't know what to say to someone who has had a loss, give them this book.

I send this little book a couple weeks following the death of a friend or relative in lieu of sending a sympathy card. I have received several feedbacks from friends and relatives who have told me how much this book helped them.

This book is part of a series of Elf Self Help books. What I liked about this one is it is helpful while being simple -- just what is needed by someone in the early stages of grief. There are many wonderful books about grief, but few are suitable to give someone only weeks after a loss. Their powers of concentration are impaired, they are deluged with emotions, and the impact of their loss is just setting in. Grief Therapy is easy to grasp, can be taken in small doses or all at once, and is aimed directly at the person grieving. It provides a basic understanding of what is happening to them and what to expect.

I work as a hospice chaplain, and as a member of our church's pastoral care team. We use these booklets whenever we walk with someone on that difficult journey. I highly recommend it. They will thank you.

This was one of the books I purchased to read to my almost 4 year old grandson. His "grandpa" died 3 months ago. He loves being read to and we were able to talk about some of the memories he had of his grandpa.
There were some parts of the book I did not read to him as I felt he was not ready for them. However, validation of his feelings really came through as a positive thing. I am sure we will explore more of this book as he really liked hearing about how it wasn't bad to feel sad.

This is a great book for younger children who have had a great loss. I have read this to my 5 and 7 yr old after my dad died. This book let them know that their feeling are okay. I would recommend this book to any parent looking for a way to help a child through the grief process

Reviewer's book: Overcoming Loss: Activities and Stories for Children Who Have Experienced Grief and Loss

This fictional story helps young children to come to terms with the feelings they may be experiencing due to a loss. This book covers the grief process through its story line and is appropriate for any child.

I had intended this book to be for my 4 yo grandson, it is more suited to my 12 yo niece. Still a nice book, very informational, and gave her lots to think about and even took some of the chapters to heart. She had lost her mother at 3 yrs of age and is lately showing signs of guilt and behavior problems.

My 8 yr old grandson was very interested in this. It lets them know it is normal to feel sad and blue and crying is okay when they lose a loved one.Helps them understand the whole grieving process.

It's true that Cahalan never uses the term, and Abbey himself certainly never fesses up to it, but it's clear that's the case, as a careful reading of this great biography shows, especially if you've read the bulk of Abbey's own work as well, as I have.

Clues? The womanizing and multiple marriages, whether or not Abbey was a misogynist. The immature and obstinate behavior (Example A: Abbey rolling a tire off the South Rim of the Grand Canyon). These alone, if seen in the context of someone's drinking, almost stamp them on the forehead as a stereotypical Type A male alcoholic. If they don't, the whopper storytelling part of his personality does.

But, of course, that's not all.

Although it turned out to be an incorrect diagnosis, normally, there's only one reason you get a diagnosis of pancreatitis without some other medical condition being indicated along with it. And, of course, Abbey's ultimately fatal esophogal varisces are traceable directly to alcohol.

Now, that said, in addition to never owning up to being an alcoholic, Abbey never quit, contrary to myth that even Cahalan doesn't appear to catch.

That's clear from Abbey's final years journals, from which Douglas Peacock, Abbey's model for Hayduke, quotes in "Walking it Off."

In early 1988, Abbey describes the effects of withrdrawal from the codeine he had been using to try to suppress chronic coughing that aggravated the varisces. He explicitly says beer does not ease his codeine withdrawal symptoms.

To the degree that Cahalan, without labeling or analyzing, does catch Abbey's alcoholic behavior, he described it well. Unfortunately, whether because of lack of experience in dealing with the breed or whatever, he unfortunately doesn't analyze Abbey.

The alcoholism is of a piece with other parts of Abbey behind his legendary self-spinning, a glimpse behind that sometimes Abbey gives us himself.

Abbey adamantly insisted he was NOT an environmentalist. Well, the Grand Canyon incident, among MANY others, prove that point all too well. Again, Cahalan sees the pieces, but doesn't do the dot-connecting as much as one might like.

What Abbey really was, as shown by things such as his fondness for 20h century classical music mentioned in "Desert Solitaire," was an existentialist philosopher with a heavy dollop of libertarianism on top. If he had fallen in love with another way of expressing and getting in touch with both existential and libertarian selves, he wouldn't have been out in Arches National Monument.

And yes, we would have been poorer for that, but not as much poorer as Abbey idolators would have us believe.

Abbey deprived the environmental world, the world at large, and many people around, of what could have been much more that he had to offer. But, that's because he was ultimately depriving his own self of -- himself.

But, again, Cahalan, while laying out all the pieces, doesn't quite put the jigsaw together.

That's the prime reason this otherwise excellent bio falls a star short of the top.

Having never heard of Edward Abbey or any book he ever wrote (I picked up the book because it was the first on a shelf at the library) I was absorbed by this guy's life and tribulations. I even made it a point to start to read A Fool's Progress. I'm glad I took the time to read the book because it makes you realize that the guy was human, introverted and not the eco-rebel everyone thought he was. He was a writer. I love his mantra:
1) Write Right!
2) Write Good!
3) Write On!

Though he had his troubles with family life I thought his struggles with life, writing and being successful made for a good story.

Reading about Abbey provided me with the realization that some people in this world really do have a "life" - without many constraints, guilt, or heavy-duty obligations that are often tagged on to an individual by nature of his/her duty to satisfy others. Cahalan presents Abbey as a human being in search of his soul while dispelling the myths of his misogyny. Made more interesting by the fact that Cahalan was my professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2003, I easily became immersed into the journeys of Abbey, who like myself, see no boundaries for where I travel or where I go in the future. A great piece of interesting literature!! From the sands of Abbey's Southwest to the sands of Kuwait, I have fallen victim! This inspires me to write my own account of the life of an American woman who finds her passion in the deserts of Kuwait.

Edward Abbey's life was so interesting that most any decently-written biography of him should be entertaining. Cahalan's biography is certainly that, but he also delves into Abbey's psyche through the presentation of details that are ignored in other biographies of Abbey. Thus, the reader is provided an image of Abbey that has a lot of "texture," and, I believe, is closer to a faithful picture of the real man, faults and virtues combined. Cahalan does a good job of remaining impartial, and tries to present the events just as they are, so that the reader is pretty much left free to make his/her own judgements about Abbey The Man. This doesn't mean that Cahalan's personal opinions about Abbey don't come out in the book (he is sympathetic to Abbey), but he lets the reader know when he is expressing an opinion, and when he is stating what is taken as fact.

Biographies of famous authors, especially revolutionary ones like Abbey, is a genre that I have started to really enjoy. It seems that, for me at least, reading about the events, and the author's reactions to them, that helped to form such an extraordinary individual is often more entertaining than the author's own writings! That's not to say that I haven't enjoyed most of Abbey's books (not all, though). The same goes for Jack Kerouac. Cahalan's biography and Ann Charter's biography of Kerouac are two fine examples of biographies that read like novels, but are in some ways better, because they report actual events!

I had never even heard of Edward Abbey until Dr. James Cahalan's book was published. I live approximately 35 miles from Indiana and Home, Pennsylvania, and happened to catch an interview of Dr. Cahalan on my NBC affiliate in Johnstown.

This sparked an interest in Abbey and I immediately bought "The Fool's Progress." I struggled to get through 250 of the 513 pages of his "Fat Masterpiece."

I received Dr. Cahalan's "Edward Abbey: a life" as a gift and found it extremely interesting. The author provides very good insights into Abbey's life, his viewpoints and his writing style.

Reading this book has breathed new life into my interest in Abbey. Having read Dr. Cahalan's book has given me what I needed to now finish "The Fool's Progress" with a better understanding of the context in which the book was written. Also, as soon as I finished "Edward Abbey: a life" I bought "Desert Solitaire."

"Edward Abbey: a life" has given this casual (or maybe wannabe) Abbey fan the inspiration and understanding to become a true Abbey fan. In my opinion, this book is the perfect starting point for those fans wanting to explore the many facets of Edward Abbey's life, relationships and writing.