In the Land of the Quetzal Feather

This book concerns country life in Guatemala. It was written by a German finquero and published (1950, Salzburg) as Xelahuh: Abenteuer im Urwald von Guatemala. (“Xelahuh” equals Quezaltenango.) The weary historian and city man, choosing this account for an evening’s diversion and relaxation, will quickly put it down when he discovers its obsession with death and torment in the jungle. If he picks it up again, he will look for a connected narrative and find none. He may wonder whether life in this part of Guatemala is really so precarious, and doubtless decide that it may well have been at one time, especially in an émigré’s recollections.