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Edward Abbey (1927-1989) was a desert rat, a chronic contrarian, a serial government employee with a penchant for anarchy. He made his reputation by exploring Arches in the nonfiction "Desert Solitaire" (1968), then doubled his fame in 1975 with "The Monkey Wrench Gang," a novel that follows four misfits as they lament lost wild places, burn billboards, disable heavy equipment and dream of ...