Sweet Waist of America

Guatemala's affairs are complex, unpredictable and often beyond categorization. In addition to being a travel book, this is a work of politics, history, religion and philosophy, set in a bemusing and dangerous land where the author, intent on a short visit, spent eight months.

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The pages of Guatemala's telephone directory are perhaps an indication of the character of this elusive Central American republic. The names and numbers of some of the most infamous military dictators and deposed politicians are listed alongside the thousands of missionary societies, grocery stores and faith healers. The author of this book - the "sceptical doctor", as he styled himself in an earlier book - intended to pay only a short visit to this volatile, violent country, but he ended up spending eight months there and left regarding it as a second home. Guatemala's affairs are complex, unpredictable and often beyond categorization. In addition to being a travel book, this is a work of politics, history, religion and philosophy, set in a bemusing and dangerous land. The author's previous travel books include "Coups and Cocaine" and "Zanzibar to Timbuktu".