Telling the story of the Maya peoples from their earliest beginnings to the start of the 20th century, this book divides the 3,000 year time span into seven distinct sections. Each provides a detailed vignette of the events, explorers, and people of a particular Maya era, starting with the tropical lowlands' Olmec civilization. Among the topics covered are the shamanistic rites by which Mesoamerican monarchs based their power to rule; the Preclassic megacity of El Mirador and its near neighbor Nakbe; the Maya creation myth of the Hero Twins and its role in organizing Maya society; and the power struggles between the cities Tikal and Calakmul.

This book provides the first critical discussion of popular culture in one of the United States' most distinctive states, Florida, which began drawing winter visitors before the Civil War and now boasts more than a hundred million visitors annually. Florida's subculture is colorful, tropical, and wickedly interesting, providing something for everyone, from saccharine commercial theme parks for the family vacation set, to the diverse nightlife and queer Floridian culture of South Beach and Key West, to various meteorological phenomena and dangerous wetlands creatures to satisfy storm chasers and thrill seekers. This book carries essays that explore many facets of Florida's culture, examining such topics as the ever-present specters of Mickey, Shamu, and other theme park staples; early tourist sites enjoyed by tin-can campers before the ubiquitous megaparks elbowed out more organically Floridian attractions; Key West as a mecca of queer culture; the infamous relationship between Key West and its favorite son, Ernest Hemingway; and, an overview of several iconic Florida institutions, including Bike Week, the Daytona 500, and Spring Break. It concludes with a look at Florida's role in the highly controversial presidential election of 2000.

This book examines 24 crime novelists who set their work in the Sunshine State. From James W. Hall's Under Cover of Daylight in the Florida Keys, to Barbara Parker's Suspicion of Betrayal in Miami to Tim Dorsey's Florida Roadkill at Cape Canaveral and Tampa, these writers and their works span all of Florida's 67 counties. A biographical sketch of each author precedes an interview by a critic who has immersed him- or herself in the novelist's works, producing interview-essays of noteworthy perception and insight.

A Mesoamerican travel book from two perspectives and two centuries.

In 1839 John Lloyd Stephens, then 31 years old, and his traveling companion, artist Frederick Catherwood, disappeared into the vast rain forest of eastern Guatemala. They had heard rumors that remains of a civilization of incomparable artistic and cultural merit were moldering in the steamy lowland jungles. They braved Indian uprisings, road agents, heat, and biting insects to eventually encounter what is today known as the lost civilization of the Maya.

In 1841 Stephens published "Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan" to instant acclaim with both American and international audiences. His conversational style was fresh and crisp and his subject matter, the search for lost cities on the Central American isthmus, was romantic and adventurous. Stephens's book has been characterized as the "great American nonfiction narrative of the 19th century." Indeed, what Stephens wrote about the Maya makes a major contribution to Maya studies.

Steve Glassman retraces Stephens's route, visiting the same archaeological sites, towns, markets, and churches and meeting along the way the descendants of those people Stephens described, from mestizo en route to the cornfields to town elders welcoming the Norte Americanos. Glassman's work interlaces discussion of the history, natural environment, and architecture of the region with descriptions of the people who live and work there. Glassman compares his 20th-century experience with Stephens's 19th-century exploration, gazing in awe at the same monumental pyramids, eating similar foods, and avoiding the political clashes that disrupt the governments and economies of the area.

Stephens's books are still widely available, but his importance to literary professionals has been overlooked. With this new travelogue, Glassman reaffirms Stephens's reputation and brings his work to wider critical and public attention.

When Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Tony Hillerman's oddly matched tribal police officers, patrol the mesas and canyons of their Navajo reservation, they join a rich traditon of Southwestern detectives. In "Crime Fiction and Film in the Southwest, "a group of literary critics tracks the mystery and crime novel from the Painted Desert to Death Valley and Salt Lake City. In addition, the book includes the first comprehensive bibliography of mysteries set in the Southwest and a chapter on Southwest film noir from Humphrey Bogart's tough hood in "The Petrified Forest "to Russell Crowe's hard-nosed cop in "L.A. Confidential."

"By linking Hurston's work to her Florida experiences, the authors explicate her love of black culture and her attitude toward the lot of women in a man's world. An important contribution to the Hurston revival."--"Booklist"

Following years of neglect, Zora Neale Hurston's status in American letters is restored: she is now recognized as one of the foremost African-American writers of the twentieth century--an artist of the Harlem Renaissance and a native Florida writer. "Zora in Florida" focuses on the place that nurtured and inspired her work, the frontier wilderness of central Florida and the all-black town of Eatonville.

Two chapters are devoted to her first novel, "Jonah's Gourd Vine," set almost entirely in Florida. Others discuss her work for the WPA in Florida; "Tracks on the Road," her autobiography; and "Mules and Men," her collection of Florida folklore gathered under the direction of anthropologist Franz Boas. The book also treats Hurston's lesser-known works such as the play "Color Struck" and "Tell My Horse," her first-person account of fieldwork in Haiti. The legal troubles, professional eclipse, and personal opprobrium Hurston endured late in life are discussed in the final chapter.