Books on Tap met on Thursday, April 4 at 7 pm to discuss The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. Edward Abbey was an author known for passionate advocacy of environmental issues and support of anarchist political views. The summary of his colorful life took longer than for most authors that the group discusses, but the consensus was that the shared information about his striking exploits explained a lot about the book. In fact, one of the members shared that the characters in the book are loosely based on Abbey, himself, and his friends. In other words, he lived what he wrote and wrote what he lived.

The Monkey Wrench Gang is a tale of four mismatched eco-activists, Doc Sarvis, a wealthy surgeon; Bonnie Abbzug, Doc’s young assistant; “Seldom Seen” Smith, a river guide; and George Hayduke, a Green Beret veteran of Vietnam. Each has different reasons for wanting to strike back at corporate and government interests that are polluting and destroying the environment of the Southwest that they love. While deeply committed to preserving and protecting the wilderness, some readers found their actions a bit contradictory. They cheerfully toss beer cans out vehicle windows while driving and sabotage construction equipment by draining diesel and hydraulic fluid onto the bare ground, overlooking the harm of these smaller actions in pursuit of halting larger scale damage. As their acts of sabotage escalate and become more violent, the relationships are tested. The final straw is an unintended fatality as they attempt to blow up the Glen Canyon Dam. 

The goals of the four individual members of the gang only matched on occasion, generating conflict and adding depth to the narrative. The group agreed that having four people with different motivations and approaches added interest. They felt that a book about one character, who was more focused in their approach, would have lacked. The need for consensus between the four characters led to them having honest discussions about tactics and violence. Members felt that these heart to heart conversations allowed more chances for the reader to find a character they could relate to. 

Some attendees were bothered by the way Bonnie Abbzug was presented. She does not actually seem to be invested in the primary goals of the gang. One reader described her role as being a vehicle for the men. Others expressed that it felt very “1970s” that so much of her character was about her body, consistent with the way the character of a woman was often written by a man 50 years ago. Other aspects of the book that didn’t age well were the overall treatment of women and expressions of racism toward People of Color and Native Americans.

Suggestions for those interested in reading other books by Abbey were Desert Solitaire: A Season In The Wilderness, a nonfiction book with his recommendations for improving national parks, ideas that were not implemented until 40 years later, and The Brave Cowboy, which was described as quite different from The Monkey Wrench Gang, more of a traditional Western. A favorite quote by Abbey was, “Would you ever press the plunger on dynamite to blow up the bridge? No, but I might hold the flashlight.”

(With special thanks to guest blogger/Books on Tap member Angela Critics for putting this together for us!)

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