Books, Arts & Manners: Appalachian Man

The Fool’s Progress: An Honest Novel, by Edward Abbey (Holt, 485 pp., $19.95)

There are similarities between the European adventurer Napoleon Bonaparte and the Western writer Edward Abbey: Napoleon attempted to conquer Europe, Russia, and part of the New World; Abbey has set his sights on a land area of roughly the same size—the American West. The differences between the two are also striking: Napoleon went where the people were; Abbey cares only about land empty of people. Had Edward Abbey been in charge of Napoleon’s Russian campaign, he would have ignored Moscow and headed for Siberia. But Abbey and Napoleon share a thirst for power, only their weapons being different. Napoleon fought with armaments; Abbey fights with myths.

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Ed Marston

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The Fool’s Progress: An Honest Novel, by Edward Abbey (Holt, 485 pp., $19.95)

There are similarities between the European adventurer Napoleon Bonaparte and the Western writer Edward Abbey: Napoleon attempted to conquer Europe, Russia, and part of the New World; Abbey has set his sights on a land area of roughly the same size—the American West. The differences between the two are also striking: Napoleon went where the people were; Abbey cares only about land empty of people. Had Edward Abbey been in charge of Napoleon’s Russian campaign, he would have ignored Moscow and headed for Siberia. But Abbey and Napoleon share a thirst for power, only their weapons being different. Napoleon fought with armaments; Abbey fights with myths.