Down the River [Paperback]

Down the Riveris a collection of essays both timeless and timely. It is an exploration of the abiding beauty of some of the last great stretches of American wilderness on voyages down rivers where the body and mind float free, and the grandeur of nature gives rise to meditations on everything from the life of Henry David Thoreau to the militarization of the open range. At the same time, it is an impassioned condemnation of what is being done to our natural heritage in the name of progress, profit, and security. Filled with fiery dawns, wild and shining rivers, and radiant sandstone canyons, it is charged as well with heartfelt, rampageous rage at human greed, blindness, and folly. It is, in short, Edward Abbey at his best, where and when we need him most.Preliminary Notes

PART I: Thoreau and Other Friends
1 Down the River with Henry Thoreau
2 Watching the Birds: The Windhover
3 Meeting the Bear
4 Planting a Tree

PART II: Politicks and Rivers
5 Notes from a Cold River
6 MX
7 Of Protest
8 Thus I Reply to Rene Dubos

PART III: Places and Rivers
9 Running the San Juan
10 In the Canyon
11 Down There in Sonora
12 Aravaipa Canyon
13 Fool's Treasure

PART IV: People, Books, and Rivers
14 River Rats
15 Footrace in the Desert
16 ReviewingZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

17 Paul Horgan'sJosiah Gregg
18 My Friend Debris
19 Floating

Postscript