From Publishers Weekly Stoll... has written a revisionist biography of a Guatemalan woman canonized and, according to Stoll, ultimately misunderstood by the academic and political left. He tries to replace what he believes to be the prevailing romantic image of Guatemalan rebellion with something that comes much closer to the murky, morally shaded truth. In 1982, I, Rigoberta Menchú, the autobiography of a Mayan peasant woman, catapulted its author onto the international stage. In 1992, on the symbolically loaded 500th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the New World, Rigoberta Menchú won the Nobel Peace Prize. Stoll challenges major and minor aspects of Menchú's book, using interviews, conducted over a nine-year period, with soldiers, guerrillas and survivors of violence from Menchú's hometown and surrounding region. Painstakingly delineating the complex cultural and political landscape of Guatemala, Stoll refutes Menchú's "simplified" account of land-poor Mayans taking up arms against wealthy landowners, painting instead a picture of peasants - both indigenas and ladinos - who wish only to be left alone but are caught between guerrilla and government armies. Arguing that Menchú's book mythologizes the experience of poor Guatemalans, Stoll explores the implications of such a sentimental view for academia, solidarity activists and Guatemalans themselves. His generally supportive attitude toward the peasants' cause and his denunciation of the army's terror makes his book all the more convincing. This is provocative reading that's sure to shake up assumptions - and rile tempers - across the political spectrum. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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