Maya Roads: One Woman's Journey Among the People of the Rainforest [Paperback]

Mary Jo McConahay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2011

In Maya Roads, McConahay draws upon her three decades of traveling and living in Central America's remote landscapes to create a fascinating chronicle of the people, politics, archaeology, and species of the Central American rainforest, the cradle of Maya civilization. Captivated by the magnificence and mystery of the jungle, the author brings to life the intense beauty, the fantastic locales, the ancient ruins, and the horrific violence. She witnesses archaeological discoveries, the transformation of the Lacandon people, the Zapatista indigenous uprising in Mexico, increased drug trafficking, and assists in the uncovering of a war crime. Over the decades, McConahay has witnessed great changes in the region, and this is a unique tale of a woman's adventure and the adaptation and resolve of a people.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Every once in a while I stumble upon a book that is so beautifully written and infused with so much intelligence and heart that it leaves an indelible mark on me. Mary Jo McConahay's Maya Roads is such a book. In its hungry passion and wide-eyed wonder, it's an extraordinary literary journey and a moving testament to a region and a life." —Don George, National Geographic Traveler, August 2011 Book of the Month

"A layered examination of a place and a people whose ancient culture is rapidly disappearing." —Kirkus

"From the moment Mary Jo McConahay steps into the deep Mexican jungle, you will follow her anywhere. In this extraordinary travel memoir, McConahay journeys through beauty, history, disappearing cultures, and revolution. . . . Her courage, keen observation, and open heart make her an unparalleled guide to this gorgeous, mysterious, sacred, and sometimes terrifying corner of the planet." 

—Laura Fraser, author, An Italian Affair and All Over the Map

“Powerful, descriptive, spiritual and lush.”  —June Carolyn Erlick, editor in chief, Re:Vista: Harvard Review of Latin America, and author, A Gringa in Bogotá: Living Colombia’s Invisible War

"I can't imagine a better book to help us understand the power of the rainforest and of the Mayan cities, the way violence and majesty permeate both. . . . All that [McConahay has] seen in thirty years of covering death informs the deliciously melancholy view of life that infuses the book.  This is a superb book—thoughtful and reflective."  —Jim Handy, author, Gift of the Devil: A History of Guatemala and Revolution in the Countryside: Rural Conflict and Agrarian Reform in Guatemala

"What you hold in your hands is a gift of rare courage and insight. McConahay rips off the layers of a little-known world, exposing to us its hypnotic beauty--and violence--through her own experience. The author’s familiarity with the region and its people enables her to do what no one else before has done, setting incidents of the current crisis against centuries-old wisdom." —Jean Molesky-Poz, author of Contemporary Maya Spirituality

"Brilliant. Maya Roads takes the reader on an intense journey deep into tropical forest landscapes, described so eloquently one can feel the sweaty climate, see the birds wrapped in the indigenous women’s braids, and experience the stress as witnesses and survivors recount stories of repression and resistance. [It] combines the prose of a skilled journalist with the in-depth knowledge of a long time observer of the Maya peoples."  —Amy Ross, associate professor, Department of Geography, University of Georgia

"Mary Jo McConahay guides the reader of Maya Roads from enchanted jungles at the center of the Americas all the way to military roadblocks and nightmare massacres. Her own progress—from wide-eyed newcomer, wary of spiders and snakes, to world-experienced journalist familiar with the unblinking look of death--makes her the best sort of guide. She is innocence and experience; discoverer and knowing witness. The Maya believe we are nearing an end time; I cannot imagine a better chronicler of this time and place than McConahay.”  —Richard Rodriguez, PBS NewsHour, and author, Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez and Brown: The Last Discovery of America

About the Author

Journalist Mary Jo McConahay began covering Central America as a war correspondent in the 1980s and lived in Guatemala for eleven years. Her work has appeared in Vogue, Rolling Stone, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Time and is included in several anthologies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press (August 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569765480
• ISBN-13: 978-1569765487
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.7 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #297,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > History > Americas > Central America > Guatemala
  • #61 in Books > History > Ancient > Mayan

More About the Author

MAYA ROADS

International Book Awards 2013: Winner, Autobiography/Memoir, Best New Nonfiction, Best Travel Essay Book. Independent Publishers' Award 2013 Gold -- Best Travel Essay Book. National Geographic Traveler Book of the Month. Best Creative Nonfiction Book of the Year, Northern California Book Awards.
"Mary Jo McConahay is to travel what M.F.K. Fisher is to food -- she goes deep."- Sonoma Magazine. Visit Maya Roads at www.mayaroads.com

The rainforest of southern Mexico and northern Guatemala -- I traveled it for years as a journalist but also because I am deeply taken by all culture Maya, ancient and modern. I believe in "deep travel;" Maya Roads does not avoid the violence that has ripped that part of the world with revolution and civil war -- I describe what I have seen. But I travel too in order to find the sacred Maya sites, to meet memorable people I would meet no other way, and to wonder at the ancient cities that speak even in ruins.

"From the moment Mary Jo McConahay steps into the deep Mexican jungle, you will follow her anywhere. In this extraordinary travel memoir, McConahay journeys through beauty, history, disappearing cultures, and revolution. . . . Her courage, keen observation, and open heart make her an unparalleled guide to this gorgeous, mysterious, sacred, and sometimes terrifying corner of the planet." --Laura Fraser, author, An Italian Affair and All Over the Map

"Her own progress--from wide-eyed newcomer, wary of spiders and snakes, to world-experienced journalist familiar with the unblinking look of death--makes her the best sort of guide. She is innocence and experience; discoverer and knowing witness. The Maya believe we are nearing an end time; I cannot imagine a better chronicler of this time and place than McConahay." --Richard Rodriguez, PBS NewsHour, and author, Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez and Brown: The Last Discovery of America

"A superb book, written with a reporter's sharp eye and the heart of witness." Stephen Kinzer, author of All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror and Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

Here is the book's own site: www.mayaroads.com

Read "On the Macal," a Solas Travel Writing Award winner (category: "Love," my story appearing in Best Women's Travel Writing 2012. "It's the Sauce," another Solas prize-winner -- Gold in "Travel and Food" -- appears in the Traveler's Tales anthology, Best Travel Writing 2011. "Sauce" is about about strange food, unconventional travel and -- you decide -- maybe a kind of love.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply wonderful July 24, 2011

By mackenzie jones

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Wow! Beautifully told, objectively covered, by author, journalist and adventurer far ahead of her time. An early fascination with Central America, and all things Maya, had this woman risking her life while I was changing diapers. She skillfully weaves the story of the ancient Maya with the more current atrocities amid the Lacandon people and the rainforest. Placing herself in these dangerous situations allows McConahay to bring the story to life. I lived through these times, knew about the wars, later about the "Disappeared". I was aware of some US involvement. Still, I feel as though I just had a one semester course, given by a favorite teacher, on a subject I had no idea I'd find interesting. I am humbled. This will be my Christmas gift for 2012.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Passionate Story of an Oppressed People July 11, 2011

By Prufrock

Format:Paperback

I loved this book. The author is a journalist who has spent years covering Central America. This is her memoir of her travels in the Maya Rainforests in Guatemala and Mexico. Her writing is beautiful and evocative, but it is primarily the hearbreaking story of the peoples of the forest, descendents of the ancient Maya, and how they have been brutalized by the modern world. McConohay is passionately political and stands in solidarity with these people.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My first review August 21, 2011

By Darrell

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have never written a review here but I have never read a book like Maya Roads. It took me along with the author through the Central American jungle, noticing the smallest flower or the sound of jaguars, but also gave eyewitness descriptions of some of the most important historical scenes in the last 30 years, including war and the aftermath of massacres. I had no idea the place, a continuous rainforest which is half in Chiapas, Mexico, and half in Guatemala, was so rich and so close; you don't have to go all the way to the Amazon to find the jungle. The author describes the ancient rainforest cities, and explains the spiritual life of the Maya, the calendar, and their symbols. She spends time with the Lacandon, who live in deep jungle and were never conquered and still dress in white gowns, men and women, direct descendants (some people believe) of the original Maya. You can see the author is in love with the place, and holds its modern-day Maya people in high respect, but she is not blind to drug running and corruption happening now. Some characters are unforgettable: a quirky archaeologist who is also a kind of visionary; a sad Maya priest whose language is about to disappear; a middle-age former Zapatista guerrilla who is just learning to read. The writing is very beautiful. I feel like I've just come back from a real world, but about as far away as you can get from my ordinary life.