From Publishers Weekly
Best known for his nonfiction, the late Abbey (Desert Solitaire) was not a poet, and didn't claim to be one, but did write poetry. This book is his first collection. It may interest Abbey's fans, but not poetry readers, for the most part-too much of the writing is self-consciously rhetorical, doggerel-like, or Victorian in sentiment (though not in the sexually frank poems, more energetic and reminiscent of Bukowski). Occasionally Abbey seems to have relaxed and written in a serenely evocative way about desert landscape ("American Picnic") or with moving simplicity and directness to honor and acknowledge a beloved person ("Love Poem"). More often, though, cornball humor needs decanting here, and overwritten ditties beg for prose translations. A few prose poems are also included. McCurdy's black-and-white prints are, as usual, exquisite.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Agrarian sagebrush writer Abbey (1927-89) is best known for irreverent essays and novels. Editor Petersen here collects Abbey's unpublished verse, written from 1951 to 1989 and contained in 21 volumes of journals. The result is disappointing. When Abbey leaves the Southwest, his verse becomes compassionless and vulgar. Insecurity with selfhood and a fear of cities undermine his creativity. However, in the Arizona desert, his homespun style blossoms into plaintive eloquence, and he responds to the wilderness with a keen eye. In a poem about rural poverty, there's authenticity beneath clumsiness, as cliches and a sense of deprivation mingle with a lovely line: "the first muskrat in my trap-line, frozen with ice." A post-Holocaust James Whitcomb Riley, Abbey has a tiny but legitimate poetic ability. Perhaps a "Cactus Ed" Reader with selections of his best work would more fairly represent him. Not recommended.
--Frank Allen, West Virginia State Coll., InstituteCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
