Edward Abbey: A Life by James M. Cahalan (review)

B O O K R E V IE W S 3 8 9 T h o u gh bipolar disorder h as on ly recen tly b ecom e recogn ized as a m en tal illn ess th at can b e talked abou t, th e fam ily p ain it cau ses is an cien t an d u n iver­ sal. T h e se W estern ers are tou gh in g it ou t togeth er yet still seek profession al h elp for th eir carom in g dau gh ter an d sister. Sce n e s o f h eartbreak sn ow ball, an d in th eir em otion al truth , From m is utterly con vin cin g. A paren t for alm ost tw o decades, I’m particularly m oved by From m ’s portrait o f th e paren ts in h is stron g first n ovel. Edward Abbey: A Life. By Jam es M . C ah alan . T u c so n : U n i v e r si t y o f A r i z o n a P r e ss, 2 0 0 2 . 3 6 0 p a g e s, $ 2 7 .9 5 . R e v i e w e d b y O w e n G r u m b l i n g U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w E n g la n d , B id d e fo r d , M a i n e Edw ard A b b e y ’s n ovel B rav e C o w b o y w as discu ssed in th e in augural issue of W estern A m e ric an Literatu re, an d in 1978 th e A ssociation presen ted A b be y w ith its lifetim e ach ievem en t aw ard. H e is on e o f ou r m ost sign ifican t w estern w rit­ ers, yet th at label, as Jam es C ah alan d em on strates in h is n ew biograph y, is in ad ­ equ ate to describe a com p lex can on an d ev en m ore com p lex life. T h e person ae A b be y created, in h is fiction , person al essays, an d even h is correspon den ce, often con fou n d attem pts to u n derstan d h is w ork. For th e m an y w h o sh are A b b e y ’ s love o f w estern w ildern ess (an d w ildern ess per se), A b b e y’s art provides a special k in d o f in spiration , a sen se o f au th en tic cam araderie based u pon deeply sh ared valu es. T h is cam araderie persists for m an y despite serious ch arges o f racism , m isogyny, con tem pt for diversity, m ach ism o. A stu den t o f A b b ey ’s on ce w rote, “Som etim es o n e ’s person a can em brace con tr a­ diction s th at in oth ers w ould be scream in gly h ypocritical” (198). C ah alan ’s n ew biograph y h elps A b b e y’s readers u n d erstan d som e o f th ose con trad iction s by avoid in g adu lation (th ou gh a tad overdefen sive) an d by attem ptin g to distin gu ish fact from legen d, especially th e legen ds em bedded in A b b e y’s ow n “creative n on fiction .” Early on , C ah alan sets th e ton e by d ebu n k ­ in g A b b e y ’s h om e addresses at both “H om e, P A ,’’an d “O racle, A...