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| Fire on the Mountain | 
| Author: Edward Abbey
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy Used: $3.94
You Save: $9.01 (70%)
New (19) from $6.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 265364
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6
ISBN: 0380714604
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780380714605
ASIN: 0380714604
Publication Date: April 1, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Cover wear; E-mail sent to you when item is mailed.
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Product Description
Fire on the Mountain Grandfather John Vogelin's land is his life -- a barren stretch of New Mexican wilderness, mercifully bypassed by civilization. Then the government moves in. And suddenly the elderly, mule-stubborn rancher is confronting the combined land-grabbing greed of the County Sheriff, the Department of the Interior, the Atomic Energy Commission and the U.S. Air Force. But a tough old man is like a mountain lion: if you back him into a corner, he'll come out fighting.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 The genesis of the "Monkeywrench Gang" June 2, 2008
In the fictional "Fire on the Mountain," published in 1962, it's pretty clear that Edward Abbey's ideas about individual liberty and wilderness preservation are pretty well developed, but not yet completely evolved. That philosophical evolution comes to it's glorious apex in "The Monkeywrench Gang," a dozen or so years down the road, but nevertheless, "Fire on the Mountain," is vintage Abbey of his "Desert Solitaire" period and well worth reading.
The way I read Abbey, it's clear he inserts himself into his fictional characters. Fire on the Mountain is no exception and you can see Abbey in all three of the heroes of the book. The book itself is about an aging, but very spirited and independent small rancher, John Vogelin, who's ranch property in New Mexico unfortunately butts up against the White Sands Missile Range, which for purposes of "national security," is being expanded in area. Vogelin's ranch will become part of the WSMR and Vogelin won't have a choice in the matter. Vogelin then fights back.
The other heroes are Vogelin's junior-high age grandson, Billy Starr (Billy's from the East and he's on summer vacation -- he visits his grandpa every summer) and his onetime ranch hand-turned-real estate entrepeneur (and idol of young Billy), Lee Mackie.
The story is about Vogelin's bitter struggle with the US government and the bureaucrats working for the "G" in charge of getting Vogelin to accept the government's terms (generous for those days) and get Vogelin "resettled." Vogelin won't leave his ranch and indicates he'll shoot and kill "the first man that touches my ranch house" and that he'll have to be killed by the US Marshals in order to leave. Billy loves the land as much as his grandpa and would stay to the death with him if he could. Mackie is torn between sticking with the old man and persuading him to accept the reality -- and inevitability -- of the situation and leave peacefully with his life and a fattened bank account. Vogelin won't take the government's money and he refuses to leave.
Abbey's utter contempt for a governmental institution that would take away our personal liberty while destroying wilderness is expressed in the resolute John Vogelin as he struggles against all odds to keep his ranch and his land. The impersonal, yet slick bureaucrats in charge of trying to get him off his land and their less-than-bright operatives providing the muscle are both treated with equal disdain by Abbey in the book.
Vogelin's ranch land is part of a wild, rugged, spectacular high desert landscape and with Abbey describing Vogelin's, Billy's and Lee's various sojourns into the surrounding land and mountains, it's clear he's traveled those roads and trails on horseback as did his heroes. In my opinion, Abbey is almost peerless in his ability to describe the often overlooked subtleties in a wilderness landscape -- especially of a desert wilderness. Sometimes, it's those little points of observation by Abbey that helps us to see even more in what is already stunning beyond imagination. I digress, but the fun part is to walk those same trails, ride those same rivers and trails and put one's own powers of observation to work....
There are a number of twists and turns in the plot, but in general, it's a pretty straightforward and credible story. I'm not going to give away the ending, but it's a good one and one I think an Abbey reader would like. I think Ed saw himself in all three of his main characters at that point (and throughout the book -- even in the conflicted Lee Mackie) and in some way, it was a bit prophetic too, as he faced his own mortality in the late 80s.
I'll give it 5 stars, with the caveat that while it's probably not his best work -- it's still really good.
 The desert between covers March 31, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This was the very first book of Edward Abbey's I ever read, back when I was a seventeen year old college freshman.
And it wasn't the last.
It was my last year of college though, and I have to blame, at least in part, this book's author. Edward Abbey loved the desert. He loved the West, with a jealous, protective, sincere love, a love that spills from every page of his books, and that seeps into his readers. Read one Abbey novel, and the odds are, you'll read more. Read more, and the odds are, you'll start to listen to what he has to say about the desert, and about the outdoors. Somehow I went from going to classes, to reading books like this, to living out of a canoe in southern Utah. It's that kind of a read. Abbey's writing is just good enough to motivate a person to get out into he desert himself--but it can't replace the experience of the desrt itself (like Cormac McCarthy sometimes almost does)--and maybe he was never going for that anyway.
In this book, Abbey's terse, playful, anarchistic style and philosophy is still emerging, not yet crystalized into the clearer sentiments of "Desert Solitaire," but--on the positive side--not yet twisted into the cranky diatribes and caricatures of "Hayduke Lives."
The book is the story of a boy visiting his grandfather in New Mexico, at the same time that his grandfather is about to be evicted from his property so that the government can turn the family ranch into additional acreage for White Sands Missile Range. The characters are convincing, the natural descriptions are minimal yet evocative, and the gentle desert tone--with the exception of a few rough spots where Abbey's strident rants overwhelm the voice of the story's supposedly innocent, supposedly naive, child narrator--is spot on.
This is a book I would be proud to have written. It's a chance to see Edward Abbey's voice and style in its earliest stages, and a lovely portrayal of west Texas and southern New Mexico. At times, it's also very funny.
Read this. Take it with you camping. If you like the desert and distrust the government, you'll probably like this book. If you only read one Abbey novel in your life, read...something else. But if you love Abbey's writing, or would like to, then really, pick up this one. Give it a shot.
New Mexico, Edward Abbey style March 13, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Being one of the 1.5 million people who live in New Mexico, (yes it is a state in the United States) I really enjoyed this book. My brother actually went through something like what had happened in this story, and the reference to certain NM landmarks made me feel at home as soon as read the first few pages. I have actually camped in several of the places mentioned in this book! VERY COOL! Typical Ed Abbey style, he describes breathtaking sunsets, desert stillness, and other New Mexico feelings with ease and passion. It is a quick reader and is hard to put down. GREAT BOOK!
The Truth as we're told November 10, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The book and the movie are as close to the true story as Mr. Abbey and the public could ever get. I am the main character's great grandson, in real life. If a reader wants to get a feel for eminent domain and how your life's work can be taken away, this novel will put things into perspective. A truly fine piece for Mr. Abbey!
A story of strength and simplicity September 17, 2003
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Fire on the Mountain is an inspiring story about a rancher in New Mexico who is trying to prevent the US gov't from laying claim to his land. Thru the voice of a 12yo grandson who is visiting for the summer, the novel comes vividly alive with desert descriptions of cottonwoods, riverbeds, and sunsets. The beautiful and emerging give-and-take relationship betw grandfather and grandson lends force to an already strong tale.
Abbey is known as the father of the environmental movement, a label he didn't much like. He preferred to call himself 'an agrarian anarchist.' If you like his other books and his exquisite writing style, don't miss this one.
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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