Customer Reviews

Edward Abbey: A Voice in the Wilderness [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very nice little documentary about the man behind the myth. While it does aim to present Edward Abbey as an exceptional individual, I wouldn't go so far as to suggest (as another reviewer does) that it is merely a puff piece, polishing the halo of "St. Abbey." It's very frank about his contradictions and weaknesses and infidelities, and presents a picture of Ed (I call him Ed because I feel like I know him after reading so many of his books and especially after this documentary) from a number of perspectives. Certainly there is no one here who simply hates him or hates what he stands for, but I'm not sure what that would add to a posthumous documentary biography. Of course his views are controversial and the documentary doesn't try to water them down! Among the more interesting things that come out of this doc is the fact that Ed was baffled by the success of Desert Solitaire, and really wanted to be known as a novelist. It's also just worth getting to hear Ed's voice -- it's not at all the voice I would have expected from reading his books but now it seems quite appropriate: a soft spoken, amused and ironic tone.

One thing worth noting is that this film is available on DVD but not through Amazon. You have to get it direct from the distributor (and pay with PayPal), at Canyon Productions (just type it into google for the website, since I can't put websites here). I've had my VHS copy for years and worn it out showing it to students as we read Desert Solitaire -- and I just ordered the dvd. Highly recommended for environmentalists and lovers of Abbey's work; also recommended for those who know nothing about him and just might get intrigued enough by the documentary to pick up one of his books.

This video is an excellent comprehensive overview of Edward Abbey's life. A definite must-see if you are interested in Abbey.

If you've ever wanted to know what Abbey is really like, check out this video. His sense of humor comes through loud and clear through the interviews and stories.

A classic in American literature, Edward Abbey led a life similar to his books. Perhaps the most famous being Desert Solitare and The Monkey Wrench Gang, Edward Abbey brought the term "eco-terrorism" such an incredible visual aspect when reading his books. This was not a light topic in his novels...he dealt strongly in anarchism, destruction of so-called progress, and fighting the system that takes us away from where we come from...this was Edward Abbey. When he passed, we lost a great visionary, fortunately he has been documented in this powerful documentary.

This is as much a halo-burnisher portrait of St. Ed Abbey as is Jack Loeffler's memoir book.

That said, the video does have Ed in his own words. I could see and hear for myself the "shyness," or diffidence, or whatever, that Loeffler and others had talked about that was a characteristic of Abbey the conversationalist.

That said, it reinforces my belief that Abbey did have a drinking problem and that's what caused his fatal esophageal varices. Alcohol, after all, has been known through the ages as a lubricant that some use to attempt to lower social inhibitions of all sorts.

But, as with Loeffler's book, and somewhat Cahalan's biography, we don't get what made Ed tick. Yes, we can sort of see how Anarchist Ed could use Western wilderness as the canvas for his particular loner-anarchist mix, but, what made Ed a loner, and an anarchist, in the first place?

We're still missing that.

And, otherwise, production values are decent but not fantastic. And, we're missing all sorts of stuff. Didn't anybody have a video camera at either one of Abbey's wakes? That's why I wouldn't quite rate it great for a St. Ed fan, either.