I understand why Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey is considered a classic work on the importance of wilderness to the collective consciousness of “civilized” society. Abbey’s 1960’s account of spending a season working as a park ranger in Arches National Monument (now Arches National Park) is at turns meditative, poetic, brusque, adventurous, chaotic and always spirited in its defense of open places. I enjoyed it. I will have to check out Abbey’s other works.
