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''The Monkey Wrench Gang'' is a novel written by American author
Edward Abbey Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an American author, essayist, and environmental activist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues and criticism of public land policies. His best-known works include ''Desert Solit ...
(1927–1989), published in 1975. Abbey's most famous work of fiction, the novel concerns the use of sabotage to protest environmentally damaging activities in the
Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...
, and was so influential that the term "monkeywrench" has come to mean, besides
sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
and damage to machines, any sabotage, activism, law-making, or law-breaking to preserve wilderness, wild spaces and ecosystems. In 1985, Dream Garden Press released a special 10th Anniversary edition of the book featuring illustrations by R. Crumb, plus a chapter titled "Seldom Seen at Home" that had been deleted from the original edition. Crumb's illustrations were used for a limited-edition calendar based on the book. The most recent edition was released in 2006 by Harper Perennial Modern Classics.


Plot summary

The book's four main characters are ecologically minded misfits—"Seldom Seen" Smith, a
Jack Mormon The term Jack Mormon is a slang term originating in nineteenth-century America. It was originally used to describe a person who was not a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints but who was friendly to church members an ...
river guide; Doc Sarvis, an odd but wealthy and wise surgeon; Bonnie Abbzug, his young
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
assistant; and a rather eccentric
Green Beret The green beret was the official headdress of the British Commandos of the Second World War. It is still worn by members of the Royal Marines after passing the Commando Course, and personnel from other units of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF wh ...
Vietnam veteran A Vietnam veteran is a person who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. The term has been used to describe veterans who served in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces, and oth ...
, George Hayduke. Together, although not always working as a tightly knit team, they form the titular group dedicated to the destruction of what they see as the system that pollutes and destroys their environment, the
American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
. As the gang's attacks on deserted bulldozers and trains continue, the law closes in. For the gang, the enemy is those who would develop the American Southwest—despoiling the land, befouling the air, and destroying nature and the sacred purity of Abbey's desert world. Their greatest hatred is focused on the
Glen Canyon Dam Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, United States, near the town of Page, Arizona, Page. The high dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powe ...
, a monolithic edifice of concrete that the monkey-wrenchers seek to destroy because it dams a beautiful wild river.


Reception

* From the '' National Observer'', "A sad, hilarious, exuberant, vulgar fairy tale... It'll make you want to go out and blow up a dam." * From ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', "Since the publication of his novel ''The Monkey Wrench Gang'' last September, Mr. Abbey, a 48-year-old native of a rural town in Pennsylvania, has become an underground cult hero throughout the West among students, environmentalists and would‐be 'eco‐raiders.'" * From ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', "One of the best writers to deal with the American West." * From the ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
'', "What a thing of beauty is Edward Abbey's ''The Monkey Wrench Gang''."


Legacy

In his book ''Screw Unto Others'', George Hayduke states that Edward Abbey was his mentor, and mentions ''The Monkey Wrench Gang'' as the origin of the term ''monkey-wrenching''. Hayduke says ''The Monkey Wrench Gang'' inspired environmentalist
David Foreman William David Foreman (October 18, 1946 – September 19, 2022) was an American environmentalist and author, he was a co-founder of Earth First! and a prominent member of the radical environmentalism movement. Early life and education William ...
to help create ''
Earth First! Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that originated in the Southwestern United States. It was founded in 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, and Ron Kezar. Today there are Earth First! groups around ...
'' a
direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...
environmental organization that often advocates much of the minor vandalism depicted in the book. Many scenes of vandalism and ecologically motivated mayhem, including a billboard burning at the beginning of the book and the use of
caltrop A caltrop (also known as caltrap, galtrop, cheval trap, galthrap, galtrap, calthrop, jackrock or crow's foot'' Battle of Alesia'' (Caesar's conquest of Gaul in 52 BC), Battlefield Detectives program, (2006), rebroadcast: 2008-09-08 on History Ch ...
s to elude a group of vigilantes, are presented in sufficient detail as to form a skeletal how-to for would-be saboteurs. The actions are presented in a larger-than-life format, because much of what Hayduke, and the rest of the characters in the story face are larger-than-life obstacles that require larger-than-life approaches. The symbol of Earth First! is a monkey wrench and stone hammer. In his book '' Sewer, Gas & Electric: The Public Works Trilogy'', author
Matt Ruff Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...
notes: :"One of my other literary inspirations for the ..subplot was Edward Abbey’s ''The Monkey Wrench Gang''. That book’s protagonist, George Hayduke, is a Vietnam vet and former POW who launches a campaign of sabotage against the polluters who are ruining his beloved southwestern desert. Hayduke is a pretty angry guy, but he also loves life, and in his own fatalistic way he remains an optimist (my favorite line in the novel, uttered at a moment when Hayduke’s luck appears to have run out, is 'When the situation is hopeless, there’s nothing to worry about'."


Sequel

* ''
Hayduke Lives! ''Hayduke Lives!'', written in 1989 by Edward Abbey, is the sequel to the popular book ''The Monkey Wrench Gang''. It was published posthumously in 1990 in a mildly unfinished state, as Abbey did not complete revision prior to his death. Thus, ...
'' continues the story from where ''The Monkey Wrench Gang'' left off.


Adaptations

A film adaptation of the book, written and directed by
Henry Joost Henry Joost (born October 30, 1982) is a German-born American filmmaker, whose work includes directing, with Ariel Schulman, the films ''Catfish'', ''Paranormal Activity 3'', ''Paranormal Activity 4'', ''Nerve'' and ''Project Power''. Henry is ...
and
Ariel Schulman Marek Ariel Schulman (born October 2, 1981) is an American filmmaker and actor. He starred in, produced, and directed the 2010 documentary ''Catfish'', and directed ''Paranormal Activity 3'', ''Paranormal Activity 4'', ''Nerve'' and ''Project Powe ...
, has long been in pre-production.
Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
is set to score the film, and
Open Road Films Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...
is its distributor in the United States. The film rights holders for the book filed suit against the producers of '' Night Moves'', charging that the film's plot is significantly similar to that of the book.


See also

*
Adbusters The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself as "a global network of artists, activis ...
*
Culture jamming Culture jamming (sometimes also guerrilla communication) is a form of protest used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert media culture and its mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. It atte ...
*
Environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...


References


Further reading

* Cassuto, David N. "Waging Water: Hydrology vs. Mythology in ''The Monkey Wrench Gang''." ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment 2.1 (1994): 13–36. * Slovic, Scott. "Aestheticism and Awareness: The Psychology of Edward Abbey's ''The Monkey Wrench Gang''." ''CEA Critic'' 55.3 (1993): 54–68. * Box, C.J., ''Savage Run'', G.P. Putnam's Sons, publishers, 2002;


External links

*
The environmentalist as macho, working class, cowboy: Edward Abbey's ''The Monkey Wrench Gang''
*
Rereading: Robert Macfarlane on ''The Monkey Wrench Gang''
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monkey Wrench Gang, The Novels by Edward Abbey 1975 American novels Anarchist fiction Eco-terrorism in fiction Environmental fiction books Mormonism in fiction Green anarchism 1975 in the environment