When she was a high school student Shelley Browning shared one spectacular kiss with Grant Chapman, her young, charismatic, and oh-so-handsome teacher. Years have passed, but that kiss has remained one of Shelley's favorite memories--one that haunted her even through her brief, disastrous marriage to another man. Now a 26-year-old divorcee, Shelley is reunited with Grant when she enrolls in one of his political science classes at Oklahoma University. Will teacher/student ethics once again prevent Shelley and Grant from pursing a romantic relationship, or will they risk it all to finally fulfill the passion hinted at in the long-ago kiss?

Abbey's 1962 novel tells the story of an old rancher and his 12-year-old grandson. John Vogelin's property is threatened by a U.S. Air Force missile range that the government wants to extend to his land. Vogelin remains defiant, refusing to agree to the takeover and, in the end, demonstrating the power that a fully committed individual can wield when faced with the bureaucratic inhumanity of the state.

Abbey's 1962 novel tells the story of an old rancher and his 12-year-old grandson. John Vogelin's property is threatened by a U.S. Air Force missile range that the government wants to extend to his land. Vogelin remains defiant, refusing to agree to the takeover and, in the end, demonstrating the power that a fully committed individual can wield when faced with the bureaucratic inhumanity of the state.

The vividly presented hero of this novel, Henry Holyoak Lightcap, is a misanthrope, a drunk, and a hell-raiser. When his third wife leaves him, he takes off for his home town in West Virginia, accompanied by a sick dog, to meet his demons. Edward Abbey always claimed that his 1988 novel is not autobiographical, but conceded that it had certain similarities to events in his own life.

This 1984 selection, from Abbey's fiction as well as from his essays, was originally titled SLUMGULLION STEW. It provides a valuable introduction to his work.

A portrait of the American West and a plea for its conservation--Abbey's first non-fiction book since his influential and acclaimed DESERT SOLITAIRE.

Abbey's nostalgic early (1956) novel is about a rebellious throwback to the cowboy heroes of another age. The anarchistic Jack Burns, who gets himself arrested so he can help his draft-dodging pal break out of jail, is a symbol of the simpler, unregulated life of personal freedom that the Old West represents for Abbey. The novel was made into a highly successful movie, LONELY ARE THE BRAVE, starring Kirk Douglas.

This collection of short stories is mainly about rivers: the joys of floating down them and the dangers to their existence posed by the modern world.

This 1971 novel, one of Abbey's own favorites, is about a 30-something professor named Will Gatlin who gives us his job, leaves his wife, and heads for the Rocky Mountains to become a fire ranger. Widely considered to be autobiographical, the novel is one of Abbey's most romantic and lyrical.

The maverick travel writer and environmentalist Edward Abbey, known principally for his distinctively American writing, provides more of the same in this evocative book of essays, but he also ventures outside the States and travels to Scotland, Australia, and the bleak Isla de la Sombra in Mexico.