the monkey wrench gang (edward abbey)

I have just finished reading Christophe Bonneuiland and Jean-Baptiste Fressoz’s The Shock of the Anthropocene, which examines the idea of the Anthropocene and the relationship between human action and the planet. In the final chapter the authors mention a few novels which have reflected upon this idea. They don’t mention the Monkey Wrench Gang, but they should. The novel relates the actions of four characters who set about to sabotage the mining and forestry industries, as well as blowing up some bridges, in Abbey’s beloved Deep South of the US. This is the land the author dedicated a valedictory account to in Desert Solitaire, tracing the course of the Colorado river in canyons which would soon be flooded by the arrival of a dam.

In contrast to Desert Solitaire, this is a novel and a more rambunctious read, as the four eco-warriors plot and carry out their missions and then seek to evade capture from the forces of law and order. At times the narrative runs the risk of feeling predictable, and lacks some of the more poetic elements of Desert Solitaire. Nevertheless, it’s a forceful stricture against human exploitation of the wild spaces and a significant addition to the canon of works which have sought to place in evidence the idea of another way of interacting with the planet.