Entangled edens : visions of the Amazon /

Slater (humanities, Berkeley; Dance of the Dolphin: Transformation and Disenchantment in the Amazonian Imagination) asserts that the Amazon should be considered important not just for its wealth of plant and animal life but also for its human diversity. Concerned that to most "the Amazon" connotes only tall trees and parrots, she presents an intricate analysis of the region's people, their lives, and their culture. Fifteen years of fieldwork and personal experience are woven with voices of long-ago explorers (e.g., Claude Levi-Strauss, Theodore Roosevelt, and Henry Walter Bates) and with current oral histories. By examining themes such as the Encante (the enchanted underwater world), Warrior Women, and environmental issues, she argues persuasively that the people always play a vital role in this region through their beliefs and their actions and reactions. Including a chronology of important dates, a glossary, an extensive notes section, and an extensive reference list, this is strongly recommended for public and academic environmental, literature, and Latin American collections. Nancy Moeckel, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.