The Monkey King's Used Primate Emporium and Book Reviews

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Edward Abbey, "Hayduke Lives!"

Started June 20 - Finished June 23, 2002; 308 pages. Posted 24 June 2002

For those who may not know, this was a sequel to the popular book by the same author called The Monkey Wrench Gang. In that book, four people of different backgrounds decide to band together in an uneasy alliance to wreak havoc on the machinery of progress, be it in the form of bulldozers, logging equipment, or roadway advertising. They were eco-warriors before such a term was made, and the book is now supposedly the new luddite bible.

As for me, I thought it was entertaining enough, but I couldn't help notice that this was like an Earth First! version of "The A-Team." Doc Sarvin was the George Peppard character, complete with cigar and the financing behind the operation. Seldom Seen Smith was a Mormon version of Howling Mad Murdock. Bonnie Abzugg was the pretty one, molded after the pretty boy whom I think we've all forgotten about (or at least I have — I can't remember either the actor or the character's name and it even took a little while before I remembered who the fourth guy was). And finally, you had George Washington Hayduke as Mr. T. — the man with the muscle and the monosyllabic sentences who would rush in and pound people when the plan went wrong.

And so now we have a sequel, which really plays like "The A-Team meet Gilligan's Island." The former gang has drifted apart, taking normal jobs and writing letters to congress in place of blowing up dams. All except for Hayduke, that is, whom everybody thinks is dead. If only they had read the title, then we could have got past all the clunky dialogue like, "I thought you were dead! I saw you die!"

So they reunite and meet some new friends, like Erika (taking the role of Ginger the movie star), Oral Hatch (the bumbling Gilligan) Bishop Love (An amalgamation of Thurston Howell the Third and The Skipper), Virginia Dick (Mary Anne), and one character known as The Lone Ranger, who is obviously The Professor.

Along the way they encounter wacky shenanigans, have a few misunderstandings that get taken too far, and Gilligan — I mean Oral — gets whacked on the head a few times. All we need now is a laugh track.


Rating: Worth Library Prices.

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