Wrenched

American literature has a history of being in the vanguard when it comes to activism about controversial issues. The books of Edward Abbey carry on that tradition, with memoirs like Desert Solitaire and the classic comic novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang, taking on the degradation of the American Southwest.

Wrenched reveals how Edward Abbey's anarchistic spirit and riotous novels influenced the nascent environmental movement of the 1970s and '80s. It also captures the outrage of Abbey's friends who were the original eco-warriors. Crossing legal and ethical lines in defense of the wilderness, these early activists pioneered "Monkeywrenching" - a radical blueprint for "wrenching the system."

Exemplified by EarthFirst! in the early '80s, direct action and civil disobedience grew in popularity in the defense of Mother Earth.

Abbey's message has lived on. Young activists are carrying on the monkeywrenching torch, using his books as a source of inspiration. Wrenched captures this new generation, personified in Tim DeChristopher, who single-handedly stopped the sale of 100,000+ of acres of public trust lands in southeastern Utah, and sentenced to federal prison for his actions.