SOURCE: Bryant, Paul T. “Edward Abbey and Environmental Quixoticism.” Western American Literature 24, no. 1 (spring 1989): 37-43.

In the following essay, Bryant argues against the commonly held view of Abbey as an extremist.

When Edward Abbey visited my campus some years ago, I was curious to know what he was like. His public lecture was in the tone one might expect from his writing—a mixture of Jack Burns and George Washington Hayduke. But I was interested in the person behind the public image. At a reception at a colleague's house, after the lecture, I hoped to meet that person.

Before many people had arrived, Abbey was quiet, affable, relaxed. As the number of people increased to a loud, milling mob, he became visibly less comfortable. Finally, he retreated as unobtrusively as possible to the kitchen. I was already there, having made a similar retreat a few minutes earlier. We...