by Edward Abbey
Harper Perennial Modern Classics
8/5/2025, paperback
SKU: 9780063445369
A special 50th anniversary edition of Edward Abbey's classic tale of rebellion, camaraderie, and environmental justice--a prescient, comic masterpiece of destructive mayhem and outrageous civil disobedience that speaks to us today--with a new introduction by the real-life inspiration for George Hayduke's character, Doug Peacock.
When Ex-Green Beret George Hayduke returns from war to find his beloved Southwestern desert threatened by industrial development, it's up to him to take the noxious bull by the horns. Joining forces with Bronx exile and feminist saboteur Bonnie Abzug, wilderness guide and outcast Mormon Seldom Seen Smith, and libertarian billboard torcher Doc Sarvis, Hayduke is primed to fight the power. Strip miners, clear-cutters, and highway, dam, and bridge builders beware!
Now, fifty years after the original publication, the Monkey Wrench Gang is on the move again. This collectible anniversary edition is both a tribute to Abbey's legacy and a timeless call to arms for preserving the natural world. The introduction by Doug Peacock provides a window into his decades-long friendship with Abbey, and offers fresh insights into the novel's lasting relevance and impact.
Reviews:
"Mixes comedy and chaos with enough chase sequences to leave you hungering for more." -- San Francisco Chronicle
"Ribald, outrageous and, in fact, scandalous." -- Smithsonian
"Crunch! Kapow! Crash! Bang! The Monkey Wrench Gang is the wish-fulfilment dream of eco-Luddites everywhere." -- The Guardian
About the Author:
Edward Abbey spent most of his life in the American Southwest. He was the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including the celebrated Desert Solitaire, which decried the waste of America's wilderness, and the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, the title of which is still in use today to describe groups that purposefully sabotage projects and entities that degrade the environment. Abbey was also one of the country's foremost defenders of the natural environment. He died in 1989.