“Finding Abbey” is partially a book about Edward Abbey, author of Desert Solitaire, and one of the founders of the wilderness preservation movement in the United States and partially a book about where Edward Abbey was buried, and partially a book about the author Sean Prentiss and his search for meaning and direction in his life as he searches for Abbey’s grave.

Abbey was a cantankerous guy who had passion for wilderness, especially the desert wilderness. He railed on against mining, oil and gas production, and what he called “industrial tourism.” He was not very woke, so to speak but he was outspoken. He died young in Tucson, AZ in 1987 and wished that his friends would bury him somewhere in the desert. They did that at a secret location and vowed they would never tell anyone the location of the grave.

Prentiss, a college professor, and a lifelong fan of Abbey decides to go searching for the grave. The book is not a linear telling of the story. Prentiss weaves his own story in with Abbey’s as he visits Abbey’s friends and interviews them about Abbey. He goes back and forth between his search, his own life, and the stories of Abbey’s devoted friends and in the process travels all over the desert southwest. So the story goes forward and backwards and all around. Fortunately Prentiss is a talented writer and pulls it off.

Did he find the grave? Does he reveal the location? Hey read the book and find out. It’s a hard book to find. Tulsa’s library system got my copy on loan from the Central Arkansas Library System. I give the book five stars out of five.

You can also read my post, from years ago, on Desert Solitaire.