SOURCE: Twining, Edward S. “The Roots of Abbey's Social Critique.” In Coyote in the Maze: Tracking Edward Abbey in a World of Words, edited by Peter Quigley, pp. 19-32. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1998.

In the following essay, Twining explores the deeper, often critically neglected, philosophical complexity of Abbey's works.

As time goes on, it's becoming clearer that Edward Abbey's novels and essays have greater heft than criticism of them has so far shown itself able to acknowledge. Popular since the publication of The Brave Cowboy in 1956, Abbey became a dynamic personal presence in the public drama over ecological conflicts after Desert Solitaire, published in 1968. In short, Abbey became a prominent voice in a centrally important American political struggle, still ongoing. That is more than enough for many people. As time goes on, though, and we look deeper into what has seemed Abbey's open and easy...