The Fool's Progress An Honest Novel

When his third wife abandons him in Tucson, boozing, misanthropic anarchist Henry Holyoak Lightcap shoots his refrigerator and sets off in a battered pick-up truck for his ancestral home in West Virginia. Accompanied only by his dying dog and his memories, the irascible warhorse (a stand-in for the "real" Abbey) begins a bizarre cross-country odyssey--determined to make peace with his past--and to wage one last war against the ravages of "progress." Edward Abbey is the author ofDesert SolitaireandThe Monkey Wrench Gang. When his third wife abandons him in Tucson, boozing, misanthropic anarchist Henry Holyoak Lightcap shoots his refrigerator and sets off in a battered pick-up truck for his ancestral home in West Virginia. Accompanied only by his dying dog and his memories, the irascible warhorse (a stand-in for the "real" Abbey) begins a bizarre cross-country odysseydetermined to make peace with his pastand to wage one last war against the ravages of "progress." "Very funny and sometimes beautiful . . . Abbey can attain a kind of glory in his writing. He takes scenes that have been well-traveled by other writers and recreates them as traditional American myth."The New York Times Book Review "Praise the earth for Edward Abbey."Los Angeles Times Book Review "A profane, wildly funny, brash, overbearing, exquisite tour de force."Chicago Tribune "We are living . . . among punishments and ruins. For those who know this, Edward Abbey's books remain an indispensable solace."Wendell Berry "He is the voice of all that is ornery and honorable."Alice Hoffman

The author of Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang is unchallenged among radicals of all ages. Edward Abbey, an American icon, called "the original fly in the ointment" by Tom McGuane, today has roads and a town named after him.

"Praise the earth for Edward Abbey."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Abbey can attain a kind of glory in his writing. He takes scenes that have been well-traveled by other writers and recreates them as traditional American myth."--The New York Times Book Review

"We are living...among punishments and ruins. For those who know this, Edward Abbey's books remain an indispensable solace."--Wendell Berry

"He is the voice of all that is ornery and honorable."--Alice Hoffman