Customer Reviews

Maiz y Coca-Cola: Adventures, Scrapes, and Shamanism in the Amazon and Andes

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After I heard Howard Stern talk about this book, I ordered it and received it promptly. What a great read! This gal really knows how to write, how to make people laugh and to think about where they are going with their lives, and if they are really living their dreams. She's easy to identify with, yet she's done some incredible stuff. I'm looking forward to her next book.

From the first pages, this book had me back in Ecuador feeling the dampness on my skin and breathing the thick air. Diane has an amazing way of personalizing her adventures by revealing even the most embarrassing and intimate parts of her experience. I relived my own adventures as she walked down the street at the plaza in Baños and even when she had that lack of bowel control. Diane shows how small the country is when she "easily" (which is a relative term when referring to Ecuador) finds Moi just because she'd become intrigued with him from reading Joe Kane's "Savages". It may all seem unreal to those who have never been to Ecuador, but she captures the typical experience while not making her descriptions repetetive, generalized nor "guidebook-ish". The element that I loved most is that it is a great description of the Ecua experience while also being a very well-expressed spiritual journey!

I enjoyed reading about Ms. Terezakis' adventures, especially because her anecdotes made me feel as though I were there with her enjoying the best parts along with her, instead of home, safe and secure, away from the threats of mosquitos, tarantulas, and intense jungle humidity!

What a fun, quick read, especially coming from a layman/laywoman who searches for the big truths we all do at some point in our lives, but how many of us have the guts to go off into the Amazon, solo, to find them? Her inner and outer journey created a three dimmensional figure I could identify with.

Well, I know who this author is, and she is an adventurous woman. She helped me get through a year of high school english, as well tell me stories about the jungle, and I am happy for her and her new release.

It was a quick, entertaining read, and then to hear Stern talk about it, well, I felt as though the book were endorsed by someone who mattered, especially to the author: hell, she dedicated it to him.

A friend of mine turned me onto this book, which he ended up using as a guide book to help him find shamans--and fun--in South America. What a riot that she dedicated the book to Howard Stern. Then again, that's right in keeping with her adventurous, fun spirit.

The review limits me to five stars so I will make up for it with words.
This book is simply wonderful, I enjoyed every moment I spent reading it.
It's much more than a book about adventure in the Amazon.
It's a story about a woman's life which is truely fascinating.
Anya (Diane) has a unique gift for attracting people into her world.
Her writing style makes you feel like you are a part of it.
You will be touched by many things she wrote about herself, her family and
her life. It's an experience which will leave a lasting memory.

Howard Stern mentioned Terezakis' book on the air a while back and that it was dedicated to him: "...who helped me to realize that the only way to tell a story is to tell it all, reguardless of how vulnerable I might feel." She did some pretty cool stuff running around the Amazon Jungle and the Andes Mountains, by herself, looking for medicine men and having all kinds of crazy adventures. I'm glad I finally got around to reading it....Write another one, will ya?

I have visited Ecuador many times and even studied Spanish in Quito. The author's understanding of Spanish, the history of Ecuador and the culture of Ecuador is very poor. Basically this was a book about the personel realtionhsips of the author and very fairly poorly written. Books that do cover Ecuador very well are "The Panama Hat Trail" by Tom Miller, "Living Poor" by Mortiz Thomsen and "Savages" by Joe Kane.