“The unthinkable had always been thinkable.”
Edward Abbey wasn’t just a writer, he was a prophet.
Anyone in the mood for a bit of apocalyptic fiction in these dark days could do worse than “Good News,” by Cactus Ed Abbey, who died on this day in 1989.
Like Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion, Abbey’s Jack Burns took many forms (and many beatings) over the years, from “The Brave Cowboy” through “Hayduke Lives!” in which the titular character, George Hayduke, says with a grin, “See you in Hell, Jack Burns.”
He might just see the rest of us there, too.
Tags: Edward Abbey, George Hayduke, Good news
Mad Blog Media 
March 14, 2020 at 7:48 pm |
Thanks for the reading suggestion! I’ll go check it out from my local library, when it reopens in three to four weeks. If it reopens.
Rather than reading, I’ve been getting in the mood with a bit of movie watching. Today it was 12 Monkeys, the original Terry Gilliam film. Will this virus wipe out five billion people too? Only time will tell.
I’d also like to rewatch my favorite Gilliam film, Brazil (great ending!), but it’s also at, y’know, the library.
Maybe I should have been stocking up on DVDs and books instead of toilet paper?
March 14, 2020 at 8:23 pm |
Glad to oblige, señor. We were gonna watch “12 Monkeys” again the other night, but our copy has gone missing. “Brazil” we still have. Both are definitely keepers.
Another great kind-of-a-plague movie? “Alien.” The original. Holy hell, is that one scary-ass movie.
March 14, 2020 at 8:54 pm |
Well, if you weren’t a few hundred miles, and even more kilometers, away, I’d loan you my DVD. Only after first bathing it in hand sanitizer and a sterilizing flame, of course.
At the moment, the most scary-ass movie I know of is the one where Trump gets himself elected president. Damn. Can’t wait to walk outta this movie theater. You just can’t make this shit up. Pretty sure I’ll be wanting my money and four years back.
At least I hope it’s only four years.
March 14, 2020 at 9:59 pm |
Years ago I recommend Brazil to a friend I thought I knew fairly well. Told him I rated it a top ten or twenty in the all time best list. Big Mistake. He was horrified. He’s no longer a friend and Brazil remands a favorite.
March 15, 2020 at 6:39 am |
I am firing up the wok this afternoon to cook lunch for our friends. After lunch, we might try to fire up our old brains with some pickin’ and grinnin’. This evening I think “Cocoanuts” will hit our not so big screen. You know, a con man selling real estate is a good premise for a comedy.
March 15, 2020 at 11:43 am |
Wasn’t Abbey the author of the “The Monkey Wrench Gang”? I like his commitment and activism, but I prefer Aldo Leopold and Donald Culross Peatie for the pure love of nature.
March 15, 2020 at 12:17 pm |
He was indeed, and if I recall correctly he was mighty unhappy that it was the book that got all the attention.
He wrote plenty of fine essays, too, collected in “Desert Solitaire,” “Abbey’s Road,” “One Life at a Time, Please,” and “The Journey Home,” among others.