Abbey, Edward

Henry Lightcap, a man facing a terminal illness, sets out on a trip across America accompanied only by his dog, Solstice, and discovers the beauty and majesty of the Southwest

An Honest Novel

The Fool's Progress

Andrew John Kinney

This is a hard book to rate. Abbey is at his best when describing nature, or his love of nature, or his love of baseball, or his sentimental memories of growing up in rural America (in the book, West Virginia, in reality, western PA). Many parts of the book are laugh out loud funny, and Abbey's writing is entertaining most of the way through. But his dislike of cities devolves into something approaching racism, and his description of women must be viewed through the lens of how he actually lived. Abbey was a serial philanderer, and was not good to his wives, by the accounts of both the ex-wives and his friends. His constant cultural references (to philosophers, musicians, authors) seem almost the nervous tic of a man suffering from a lack of confidence in his education, though I'll admit he sent me to Wikipedia a few times to look up this or that obscure artwork or author; in the end, those parts of the book are not the strongest. And his protagonist's constant drinking (again the semi-biographical nature of the book) makes the more temperate among us shake our heads, even if we can relate. And yet....his love of wilderness strikes a chord, deeply, with those who share his love of the outdoors. I have not read Desert Solitaire, considered by many his master work, but I will when I have time, because I do share his love of the woods, nature, wild things, and wilderness. And Abbey's writing flows easily for the reader, so there's that.

3.4 stars

The Fool's Progress An Honest Novel

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