"With his family in tow, [Fulbright scholar Benz] traveled to some of the most remote and unstable parts of the country, watched, listened, and came back with stories a more hard-driven reporter would probably never have taken the time to hear. . . . He grapples with the hot issues of the influx of foreign missionaries, mass killings and a strangling bureaucracy with the refreshing attitude that he is not an expert but an observer."

—Publishers Weekly

"To anyone who has been to Guatemala this extremely readable travel narrative will be pleasantly familiar… The author gives a truthful picture of Guatemalan society whilst trying to get to the root of the country’s political, cultural and national complexities. . . . Political history, the role of the military, environmental concerns, religion, the Guerrilla and U.S. influences are all issues explored as we follow the author on his travels, in addition to the unique charm of the people and the country’s immense natural beauty."

—British Bulletin of Publications on Latin America, the Caribbean, Portugal and Spain

"Benz brings the reader face to face with the landscape, the people, and the institutions of Guatemala. I am convinced that his book will appeal to a general audience, to students entering the field of Latin American studies, and even to people planning a trip to that country. His insights into and observations of Guatemalan society are invariably accurate and engaging."

—Pablo Medina, author of Exiled Memories: A Cuban Childhood

Guatemala draws some half million tourists each year, whose brief visits to the ruins of ancient Maya cities and contemporary highland Maya villages may give them only a partial and folkloric understanding of Guatemalan society. In this vividly written travel narrative, Stephen Connely Benz explores the Guatemala that casual travelers miss, using his encounters with ordinary Guatemalans at the mall, on the streets, at soccer games, and even at the funeral of massacre victims to illuminate the social reality of Guatemala today.

The book opens with an extended section on the capital, Guatemala City, and then moves out to the more remote parts of the country where the Guatemalan Indians predominate. Benz offers us a series of intelligent and sometimes humorous perspectives on Guatemala's political history and the role of the military, the country's environmental degradation, the influence of foreign missionaries, and especially the impact of the United States on Guatemala, from governmental programs to fast food franchises.