Review The Brave Cowboy: An Old Tale In A New Time Author Edward Abbey Accessible As EPub

frontier myth persists, even in our modern world, because it touches on the values that define the American Dream, namely personal freedom, independence, and a love and respect for the natural world.
Though few are able to live out these ideals with such conviction without being classified as “preppers” or “off the grid,” with selfsufficiency apparently having the implication of eccentricity not conducive to suburban conformity, it's a nice sentiment to fall back on when we want to glowingly reminisce on America's history.


With great aplomb, Abbey upends the classic Western novel by creating a modern cowboy figure who doesn't answer to society's demands because he exists on the fringes of that civilization roaming through the mountains of New Mexico on a horse, he carries no ID, no credit card, is not registered for the Selective Service this is set in thes.
The story revolves around

a college friend who is sentenced to several years in prison as a conscientious objector the cowboy hatches a plan to break him out, living as a fugitive.
Abbey paints a picture of the Western landscape that is both bleak and hauntingly beautiful, I happen to have an affinity for the West myself, so I throughly enjoyed the multipage descriptiveness of arroyos, canyons, sunsets, and people that populate the greater Albequerque area, but some people may lose patience with his tendency to get mired in the chaparral, distracting from the plot.
Fear not, for the plot itself is action packed, at least in the latter half of the novel, and will leave you guessing as to the eventual outcome,

If Abbey was this critical of modern society's progress in the 's, I can only imagine his abject horror if he was alive into see the ravages of climate change firsthand.
Ultimately, I think Abbey's intent was not to romanticize the West in this novel, but, rather, to warn us to the dangers of untempered expansion and infringement on our fragile environment.
He was ahead of his time, Too bad no one listened, I loved this one. Kept it to read again, Abbey has a cool style, truly classic shit, a lament for the death of wild west america and the rise of the superhighway
reading abbey is the next best thing to going outside I'm stunned.

I have seen the movie at least a dozen times since I wasbut I lived through this book,

There is a majestic poetry throughout this book,
The descriptions of the New Mexico landscape give the desert, the mountains, the rocks and sand a sanctity not afforded human beings,
Abbey has a reverence for the parts of America remote and untainted by the touch of man,


"The Cowboy" John W, Burns or "Jack" to his friends is too noble for this world, An anachronism, living life as a cowboy during a time when there are few ranches still owned by individuals as opposed to corporations,
The law and the square johns view "The Cowboy" as an anarchist, A commie. A "Red". A danger to the American society of thes, when this book was written and first published,

When he comes down from the mountains where he's been working as a sheepherder, because where else can a man find a ranch to cowboy in modern America it's to check on the welfare of the wife "Jerry" and child "Seth" of a longtime friend who's been imprisoned for refusing to sign up for the draft.

He discovers that his friend is being held in the county jail near his home before being transferred to a federal prison when there is available space, "The Cowboy's" friend, "Paul", is a professor and selfprofessed anarchist in political thought only, He's a dreamyeyed philosopher with lofty notions, physically incapable of committing one act of actual anarchy,

"The Cowboy" decides that he has to break into the jail in order to free his friend "Paul", So he goes to a bar, gets drunk, and gets into a brawl with a onearmed man,
To reveal much more would spoil the joys to be found in this fast paced, actionfilled novel,

This was a haunting read for me,
Long a fan of the superb film based on this novel, much was lost in the adaptation,

This is one of the greatest novels I'll ever read,

Highest possible recommendation, Edward Abbey writes a fine story about the cowboy Edward Burns and his loathing of government and the restrictions that law places on man's free will, Taking place in the New Mexican desert, the tale follows Burns' purposeful arrest, his attempt to spring his companion from the clink, his own subsequent escape and the chase that the law gives him into the mountains, where he eventually evades his pursuers and.
. . well, you're just going to have to read to find out,because, even though I love all things Abbey, the ending really pissed me off cue Cartman, Planes, trains and automobiles Gas stations, supermarkets and parking meters, Whats a cowboy to do Stay true to who he is and what he does, for starters, The year is. The setting is Duke City, New Mexico,yearold Jack Burns rides his ornery chestnut mare named Whisky into town and eventually across all four lanes of Routeyes, on horseback, into reach the home of his friend Paul Bondi.
Jack has read that Paul was sentenced to two years in prison for refusing to register for the draft under the Selective Service Act of, so he leaves his sheep herding job in the mountains some fifty miles away and comes to help his friend.


The byline of this book is perfect: “An Old Tale In A New Time, ” Jet planes fly overhead.tonwheelers whiz down the highways, TVs blare and telephones ring, But Jack remains unchanged: black slouch hat, jingling spurs, a bedroll, saddle, rifle and guitar, Try as he might though, Jack cant stop time, And despite his simple and good intentions, things get complicated in Duke City:

“For a moment he was troubled, not by fear, but by a sensation of utter desolation and rejection, as if he were alien not only to the cities of men but also to the rocks and trees and spirits of the wilderness.
”

Twothirds of this book werestar reading for me, the parts where Abbeys vast knowledge and deep affection for the American Southwest and its people really shine.
But Part II “The Prisoner” was tedious with dialogue, overly philosophical, and claustrophobic, I was itching to get back to the arroyos and canyons and rivers, That is where the magic happened for me,and the addition of Desert Solitaire to my ToRead list, This Southern “citygirl” needs more of Abbeys spectacular western landscape writing, And who knows Maybe Ill meet another cowboy like Jack, Abbey wrote his MA thesis on the topic of justifications of violence in the anarchist movement, The philosophy department at University of New Mexico awarded him the MA in, Abbey spent the rest of his life working on the theme of his thesis, The theme of independent men trying to live in a world being undermined by corporate greed and dimwitted governance appears in this novel no less than in "Fire on the Mountain" and "The Monkey Wrench Gang.
" As in all his writing, the vivid descriptions of New Mexican terrain make this novel as beautifully poetic as it is politically astute, A beautiful homage to the "Cowboy Way" and all it represents, The Brave Cowboy presents a juxtaposition between the romantic past and the modern industrial present with Edward Abbey's intoxicating prose, This novel takes place in thes, when the threat of the Draft hung over the head of every male in the USA who was not in the military.
The protagonist is a cowboy, who served in WWII, went to college briefly and went back to life on a horse which is how he grew up on his grandfather's ranch near Socorro NM.
He discovers that his best friend, who both veterans served in WWII has been arrested and jailed for refusing to register for the draft Selective Service Act ofwhich was and still is required of every male betweenand.


Both of them served their patriotic duty in WWII and won't constrict their freedom and register, His friend is an academic with a wife and child, She struggles financially as her husband sits in the Bernal Bernalillo County jail, Cowboy friend decides he will break into the jail and rescue his best friend, who is resolved to serve his two years in Leavenworth on principle and doesn't want to break out.


Cowboy breaks out on his own, along withNavajos sentenced tomonths in jail for talking to a White woman, Cowboy breaks out, gets on his horse and takes the Sheriff, Air Force and State Troopers on a wild chase through the Sandia mountains,

A peculiar thing I note about his novels is not directly saying the correct name of the location he writes about, In one book he calls Globe AZ "Glob," in this one he calls Albuquerque Duke City and Bernalillo County Bernal County, Not sure why, as his knowledge of the actual subject areas is accurate,

This is not a crusading book, just a good novel, This, like most of Abbey's writings show his deeply libertarian side, Some directly, such as the Monkey Wrench Gang show that "mindyour own business and keep the government of of mine" streak, Other of his books incorporate it into his nature observations of a more biographical nature, Much of his life was spent working on Forest Service lookout towers across the West, giving his writing a real geographic perspective,

I hope Abbey's writings are not forgotten, because they are greatth Century literature and should be read by anyone with a love of nature and an independent spirit.
This book is a keeper, If you like this one, try Desert Solitaire, or Abbey's Road and dig deeper into his interesting personality, Abbey is an American Treasure, .