Killing Che: A Novel

Book Description

Chuck Pfarrer’s acclaimed Warrior Soul has been called one of the finest memoirs of modern Special Operations Forces. Now the decorated Navy SEAL makes his dazzling fiction debut with this gutsy, riveting thriller about the action-packed hunt for history’s most infamous rebel insurgent: Che Guevara.

The year is 1967. Paul Hoyle, a CIA paramilitary officer, has resigned from the agency an incident in Laos that left one man dead and Hoyle’s face scarred by gunshot. But Hoyle is soon drawn back into the agency’s fold, finding himself a “fallen angel,” an independent contractor the U.S. secretly sends to global hot spots.

Bolivia, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is a nation ripe for Communist infiltration and revolution. So the stage is set for a duel between world ideologies, with players from Washington to Moscow to Havana. After a Bolivian army unit is disastrously ambushed, Hoyle is dispatched to South America by a CIA concerned that another Vietnam may be in the works. With Cuban-sponsored guerrillas afoot and a corrupt Bolivian military opposing them, Hoyle finds the jungle a treacherous place where honor and morality are surrendered to the basic business of survival.

Though Che Guevara, the charismatic revolutionary who helped Castro take hold in Cuba, is believed to have been killed in the Congo–or executed by Fidel himself–a rucksack recovered after a deadly gunfight suggests that the Marxist rebel may be heading up this new, highly effective insurgency.

World-weary Hoyle draws ever nearer to the passionate revolutionary, as a struggle between worldviews is fought with automatic weapons in steamy jungles, veiled threats in government offices, and even exchanged secrets in hotel bedrooms–for at the center of this intense cat-and-mouse game are two captivating women who may hold the keys to these men’s destinies. Tania Vünke is Guevara’s crucial undercover operative and occasional lover, a conflicted woman with secrets entrusted to her by Guevara himself. And beautiful Maria Agular is the elegant mistress of the Bolivian minister of information, a tormented soul whom Hoyle dares to trust with both information and his heart.

Terrorism expert Chuck Pfarrer packs this electrifying plot with insider knowledge of intelligence tradecraft. Populated with powerfully drawn characters, Killing Che is a stunning re-creation of a conflict that sealed the fate of one of the twentieth century’s most controversial and complex political figures–a man whose renown continues to grow decades after his violent end.

Customer Reviews:

Best Novel of the Year!.......2007-08-09

In this masterful first novel, Pfarrer has lifted the doomed revolutionary to heroic proportions, a man who will die for his beliefs. Che's integrity is paralleled by the fictitious character of American spy Hoyle, his alter ego, whose musings tie the story together, and whose final conclusion - war is useless hell! - is shared by most readers.

Che (1928-67) understood this too but his iron-will brooked no retreat. Abandoned by all his allies, including Russia and Cuba, Che still hoped to convince the Bolivian pauper peasants of the necessity of fight. Their stupor is indicative of the axiom: it's better to live in a known hell than the unknown future.

The book is a feast of ideas and history. Subplots include wonderful love stories. Torture scenes are handled extremely well. No gratuitous violence.

This novel will take the reader back to the '60s, an exciting time in the history of the world and light years away from today's disgraceful America under the realm of a president/dictator who, like all dictators, maintains his power through fear. If the 35-year-old Che had triumphed in Bolivia would he have been as ruthless as his predecessors?

Can't wait to read Pfarrer's next novel. In the afterward, he lists a dismantled website for the book. Again, this is an exemplary book of historical fiction and I am a forever fan.

Killing Che.......2007-07-03

An excellent and extremely engaging story of a pure communist presented in a real and understanding way that depicts a man who had true values and used his revolutionary skills to, he thought, overthrow governments that were opressive.

Warfare and Love in the Bolivian Jungle.......2007-06-05

Chuck Pfarrer has written a unique novel, weaving together the facts and fiction of Che Guevara's last mission. The guerilla warfare scenes are breath-taking and real; surely only someone with Pfarrer's military experience could write with such authenticity. Che Guevara was a real person, and the reader often holds her breath wanting a better outcome for him than the one history has already given us. Pfarrer gives the reader a sense of Guevara's nobility and helps us to understand that the motives of those engaged in combat are not always clear cut.
As in real life, there is romance in unlikely places. Doomed love is more like it, making the surrepticious affairs even more poignant. But those moments are still lovely.
This is a compelling story, and the reader won't get much sleep until it's finished. I often woke up in the middle of the night, not unhappy because I could read a few more chapters of Killing Che before turning off the light again. Men will read this book for a lesson in war and learn about love. Women will enjoy the romantic chapters and learn why some men engage in combat. Something for everyone!

Vive Killing Che.......2007-05-23

Chuck Pfarrer has produced a beautifully written and exhaustively researched historical novel that follows a barely fictional CIA contract agent, Paul Hoyle, on his mission to engineer the liquidation of Che Guevara during his ill-fated 1967 insurgency in Bolivia. In Paul Hoyle, Pfarrer has written a noir character worthy of Hammett or Chandler, a good soldier with scant ethical compunctions who, as his time in Bolivia unfolds, learns that the United States is backing a horribly corrupt government and that he has been sent to kill perhaps the most decent man in Bolivia.
The education of Paul Hoyle begins when he falls in love with Maria Agular, the mistress of a Bolivian government official. "[Hoyle] knew he had compromised Maria by becoming her lover; in the trade, this was his handle, the means by which he could control her. ...But he did not control her--yet. Rather, what he had done was to allow her in."
Pfarrer paints a canvas similar to the movie "Syriana" in which unspeakable atrocities are committed and millions of people are robbed of fundamental freedoms because no one has the big picture. The world of espionage is powered by the belief that policy makers understand the long term global effects of their policies. This is what allows functionaries like Paul Hoyle to sacrifice their morals, the lives and reputations of others, and even their own lives in the service of their country. Falling in love with a source is a potentially lethal complication. Hoyle's "affection for [Maria] was a liability; intelligence officers are meant to use people, compromise them, coerce them, exploit them, and discard them... . Maria's life and Hoyle's were nothing. They were...mere flyspecks on a vast, intricate machine... ."
Similarly, Pfarrer portrays Che Guevara as a selfless instrument of worldwide communist revolution. Che's problem is that he is the real thing, a true believer. The Soviets are threatened by his Maoist tendencies, Castro by Che's drive to enact a worldwide revolution that might displace him, while the Bolivian Communist Party is threatened because it is as corrupt as the Bolivian government. Because he is so idealistic, Che can't fathom that the Soviets, Cubans, and the Bolivian Communist Party wouldn't be wholeheartedly behind him. In fact, these forces, together with the Americans, were out to kill him.
Writing an historical novel is a most difficult pursuit. The ending is already known. So why read it?
A first answer involves the force of Pfarrer's prose. He sets up each chapter with some of most stunning prose that can be found in contemporary literature. When introducing a chapter in which Hoyle and his main CIA handler, Neil Smith, try to convince the Bolivian authorities that Che Guevara is operating in Bolivia, we are treated to the following:
"Light slanted through the windows in Colonel Arquero's grand office. The clock ticked slowly, and Lieutenant Castaneda stood by the door, as immobile and unthinking as a piece of furniture. Hoyle and Smith watched the colonel hover over the folder placed before him. He examined each of the three photographic prints, holding them close to his shiny pince-nez spectacles, then checking each photograph against a typed transcript of the microdot. This he did with deliberate and self-conscious care, and the clock ticked through diligence to insolence and finally to absurdity. It was a blessing when Arquero's small hands pushed the photos and papers back into the folder and he squinted up from his blotter."
Still another reason to read Killing Che is because of the extensive historical and technical research that has gone into this book. Pfarrer's experiences as a former Navy SEAL (his memoir of that time is entitled, Warrior Soul, Random House, 2004) and as a former military advisor in South America are evident on almost every tension packed page.

Very knowledgable author delivers very impressive debut novel.......2007-04-08

Former Navy SEAL Chuck Pfarrer's memoir, "Warrior Soul", is one of the most well-written, fascinating, modern military reads out there, and his debut novel is just as enjoyable.

An historical fiction account of the hunting down of revolutionary and guerilla warfare legend Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, "Killing Che" is the type of novel that would make a great movie as well. Pfarrer brings his extensive tradecraft knowledge to bear, and his experience as a longtime SEAL operator helps give the whole book a heightened sense of realism.

Pfarrer's descriptions imerse you right into the heart of the Bolivian jungle-forests, giving you a genuine sense of what it was like for both the guerillas and the agents trying to find them, and his characters - both real and fictional - are very human and rounded out.

It's an intelligent, interesting read that isn't too technical, a well-paced read that has action without being action-packed.
This is the kind of novel you want to read again over time, and I look forward to Pfarrer's next work.

Average customer rating:

A look at Bolivian street kids
Compelling narrative
Inspiring
Offers insights into how more can be given aid, one child at a time.
Opened My Eyes and My Heart

When Invisible Children Sing
Chi Cheng Huang , and Irwin Tang
Manufacturer: SaltRiver
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1414306164

Book Description

Expecting to treat some mildly ill children from the streets of Bolivia on a quick "service trip," an idealistic young medical student gets more than he bargained for when he takes a year off from Harvard Medical School to work at an orphanage in La Paz. As he comes to know the children, and sees how they live, Chi Huang is drawn deeper and deeper into their complex and desperate lives. The doctor soon realizes that to truly help these children, he will have to follow the example of Jesus: live among them, love them in spite of their brokenness, and cling to his faith in God's goodness, even when it appears it is nowhere to be found. A true story that will inspire and challenge readers to greater faith and action. The book includes a Foreword by Harvard professor and world-renowned expert on the moral and spiritual development of children, Dr. Robert Coles.

Customer Reviews:

A look at Bolivian street kids.......2007-08-03

This book, When Invisible Children Sing, is a true story about a Taiwanese doctor who was living in America. He decided to help the street kids in Bolivia with his medical abilities. This book is about how Dr. Chi helps some children. You will hear of Mercedes, Gabriel, Vicki, little Rosa, and many more. One of the stories is of Danalia. She has two kids. Their names are Natalia and Maria. Maria is a 5 month-old baby. She gets very sick and needs to be taken to the hospital. Meanwhile, Dr. Chi is on vacation. Danalia reluctantly takes Maria to the hospital. Even though Maria goes to the hospital, she dies. I like this book because I like medical books and mission books. This book combines the two subjects. I would definitely recommend it because it is an excellent book; but not for anyone younger than junior high, because the book talks about sexual abuse. The content is more for older children. You don't want to miss it!

Compelling narrative.......2007-01-14

Dr. Chi writes an exceptionally transparent account of his own spiritual journey and personal passion for helping "the least of these". He wrestles with doubt and anger, painfully discovers the limits of compassion, and ultimately develops a successful strategy to rescue a handful of the hundreds of abandoned children from the otherwise hopeless streets of La Paz, Bolivia.

This book is a quick read, but opens one's eyes to the humanity of children and adults living on the streets--whether at home or at thirteen thousand feet in the high desert of the Andes. Neither liberal nor conservative, neither utopian nor cynical; the author offers a balanced view of reality on the streets of Bolivia's capital city without the burden of a philosophical agenda. His insights have value in understanding the plight of abandoned children around the world, and hints at potential solutions which offer hope for children like those described so eloquently in Dr. Chi's text.

Inspiring.......2007-01-11

Chi Huang writes with an open heart. He shows his love for his family and the street children of Bolivia. It is apparent to the reader that his sister's death has left an impact on his life. This book makes you hang your mouth open in awe, wipe the tears from your eyes and smile with joy. Excellent!

Offers insights into how more can be given aid, one child at a time........2007-01-06

When Invisible Children Sing is the true story of five street of La Paz, Bolivia, by Dr. Chi Huang, a doctor who traveled to work with orphans and children in need for a year. A heart-rending portrait of children abandoned and betrayed by the very institutions meant to protect them, When Invisible Children Sing describes the slow process of rehabilitation, and the shining power of hope. There are 70 million "invisible" street children in the world; When Invisible Children Sing is the story of how help was extended a few, and offers insights into how more can be given aid, one child at a time.

Opened My Eyes and My Heart.......2007-01-05

An eye opening and gut wrenching account of how street children in Bolivia live their lives. Dr. Huang places his faith and his deeds where the "rubber hits the road" and lives among them as he ministers to them in their destitution.

Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America's Strangest Jail

Average customer rating:

Very good read
Good read but certainly not outstanding
Very entertaining and facinating read
Too good a story to be true?
boring

Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America's Strangest Jail
Thomas McFadden , and Rusty Young
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312330340

Book Description

Rusty Young was backpacking in South America when he heard about Thomas McFadden, a convicted English drug trafficker who ran tours inside Bolivia's notorious San Pedro prison. Intrigued, the young Australian journalisted went to La Paz and joined one of Thomas's illegal tours. They formed an instant friendship and then became partners in an attempt to record Thomas's experiences in the jail. Rusty bribed the guards to allow him to stay and for the next three months he lived inside the prison, sharing a cell with Thomas and recording one of the strangest and most compelling prison stories of all time. The result is Marching Powder.

This book establishes that San Pedro is not your average prison. Inmates are expected to buy their cells from real estate agents. Others run shops and restaurants. Women and children live with imprisoned family members. It is a place where corrupt politicians and drug lords live in luxury apartments, while the poorest prisoners are subjected to squalor and deprivation. Violence is a constant threat, and sections of San Pedro that echo with the sound of children by day house some of Bolivia's busiest cocaine laboratories by night. In San Pedro, cocaine--"Bolivian marching powder"--makes life bearable. Even the prison cat is addicted.

Yet Marching Powder is also the tale of friendship, a place where horror is countered by humor and cruelty and compassion can inhabit the same cell. This is cutting-edge travel-writing and a fascinating account of infiltration into the South American drug culture.

Customer Reviews:

Very good read.......2007-10-02

I read this book about 3 years ago. I never read a book with so much interest as this. It was very interesting, entertaining, frightening and attention grabbing. I am not sure if the story is 100% true but it certainly made a good read. I am planning to read the book again sometime soon.

Good read but certainly not outstanding.......2007-08-01

this book is a pretty good read. i enjoyed it but it wasn't a page turner. i'm not certain i believed all the incidents described and i think the writer embellished and downright lied at certain points for the sake of entertainment. still it is interesting and if half of what was written is true then it is a fascinating glimpse into prison life in bolivia.
worth a read but don't expect to be riveted.

Very entertaining and facinating read.......2007-05-28

What a great story - Once you begin reading it, you won't put it down until it's finished! Well written and very interesting all the way through, the book shares stories that you will find most surprising and almost unbelievable. I can't compare the substance of the story to anything else I have read - it is a mix of eye-opening surprise, awe, adventure, humour and sadness. When we travel, it's always facinating to see how other people live, and this book provides the reader with an amazing glimpse of life in a unique situation. Highly recommended.

Too good a story to be true?.......2007-05-26

If you believe everything that McFadden writes, then this is a fascinating tale of a bizarre, corrupt and frightening world.

But I don't believe everything McFadden says. I think he's a professional con artist and his last great con may have been this book. Rusty doesn't arrive on the scene until the very end, by which time McFadden's tours have largely stopped and "Yasheeda" has left the scene. In fact, very little happens after Rusty arrives. Strange, isn't it?

Even if one believes that the essential narrative of the story is true, the recreated conversations and scenes seem highly embellished.

I would love for an objective journalist to track down all the characters in this book and write a more objective account McFadden's life before and during his prison sentence.

If this book is ever made into a movie, the underlying "true" story will attract a great deal of scrutiny. As James Frey can tell you, that's not always a good thing.

boring.......2007-01-29

While you would think a book about such a bizarre South American prison couldn't help but be compelling Young and McFadden manage to turn out an absolute yawn. On top of that, my impression is that McFadden is a b.s. artist. Too bad.

Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival

Average customer rating:

Jaguars Don't Live in Packs
Outstanding
Survival and Selfishness
A riveting account of being lost in a world few will ever experience
Impossible to put down.

Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival
Yossi Ghinsberg
Manufacturer: Boomerang New Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Laws of the Jungle: Jaguars Don't Need Self-help Books
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ASIN: 0977171906
Release Date: 2005-09-01

Product Description

What begins as a dream adventure for four amicable, if hastily met, muchileros (backpackers) quickly becomes a struggle for survival as they unravel under the duress of the jungle. They are an odd mix to be sure: Marcus, the Swiss mystic; Karl, the shady Austrian geologist; Kevin, the well-intentioned American photographer; and Yossi, the Israeli adventurer.

Jungle is the incredible true story of Yossi Ghinsberg's triumph over the most adverse and frightening of circumstances. It is a tale of survival and human fortitude against the wildest backdrop on the planet.

Customer Reviews:

Jaguars Don't Live in Packs.......2007-07-25

If you believe, as the author of this book does, that jaguars live in packs, you are not informed enough to go on a jungle excursion.
Yossi Ghinsberg considered himself a "backpacker" (not a tourist) and a "Man of Action." He went in search of the "Jungle Experience" and found it. Every decision he made was bad; every choice he made was wrong. The first bad decision he made was to go into the jungle ill equiped with few survivor skills, relying on his "guide" to provide what he would need. The second mistake he made was by far the worst- he talked two friends into accompaning him on his fateful jouney.
I just finished reading a book about true heroism in the face of death entitled "Miracle in the Andes" about a group of young men who find themselves lost in one of the most inhospitable places on earth. They made intelligent decisions and correct choices and managed to survive. For them, Yossi's harrowing time in the Jungle would be like a walk in the park.

Outstanding.......2007-06-19

Great book get ready to read it in few days.I couldn't put it down.I loved it.

Survival and Selfishness.......2007-02-19

Jungle has Yossi, an Israeli, hooking up with two companions and a guide to experience the jungles of South America. The tale of their survival, particularly Yossi's survival when he becomes lost, is captivating and difficult to put down. The backdrop of human nature adds an emotional element to the story.

It was survival of the fittest, and in this situation, the weakest link became despised. The disappointing factor is that at the time when Kevin and Yossi began to despise Marcus, the journey's difficulty seemed minor.

After the emotional abuse, I found it difficult to care for the author's plight. One can only imagine the suffering and confusion that Marcus felt at the betrayal of his friends during a painful and difficult journey. It must have been painful for Yossi to tell his story honestly.

The book would have benefited from photos, even if they were not photos of the actual journey but of the return trip or group shots before the journey.

A riveting account of being lost in a world few will ever experience.......2007-02-18

A truly amazing adventure where the author puts you into a whirling out-of-control experience. A great read for the wild at heart! Buy and enjoy.

Impossible to put down........2007-01-07

Author Yossi Ghinsberg along with Marcus and Kevin agree to accompany Karl to Indian villages in the South American rainforest thinking it will be the backpacking adventure of a lifetime: what they don't realize is Yossi will find himself alone in a struggle to survive in the heart of the Amazon. JUNGLE is his autobiography of a survival challenge few others will face: it provides first-person high drama from its first page telling of his meeting with Marcus and others to his struggle to traverse the Amazon alone, without knowledge of wilderness survival methods. His first-person journey creates a 'you are there' atmosphere throughout and makes JUNGLE: A HARROWING TRUE STORY OF SURVIVAL impossible to put down.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Whispering in the Giant's Ear: A Frontline Chronicle from Bolivia's War on Globalization

Average customer rating:

Important true-life on environmental front lines
Informative book on an important topic.
Great book on environmental efforts, relationships in Bolivia
An Era of a Revolution Encompassing the Whole Planet
Simply a must-read

Whispering in the Giant's Ear: A Frontline Chronicle from Bolivia's War on Globalization
William Powers
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1596911034
Release Date: 2006-05-16

Book Description

An intimate and powerful account of living in Bolivia during a time of crisis and change.

Long the obscure “Tibet of South America,” Bolivia emerged as a world flashpoint during the four years William Powers lived there as an aid worker. CNN and the New York Times have shown images of Aymara women in bowler hats standing down tanks; citizen protests have ousted multinationals and two pro-globalization presidents. In A Natural Nation, Powers breathes life into the recent struggles of the Bolivian people. When he arrives in the rainforest, he meets an extraordinary Chiquitano Indian named Salvador who is fighting the extinction of his people. At the same time, the clock ticks for three multinational energy companies forced to curb global warming. Both goals depend upon the survival of a stretch of pristine jungle. But as Indians and oil giants join to launch the world’s largest Kyoto Protocol project—using forests to absorb dangerous planetary greenhouse gasses—Salvador’s life is threatened by loggers collaborating with a racist Bolivian oligarchy. The quest for a single rainforest is subsumed in a movement of national liberation. A Natural Nation goes beneath the headlines, gracefully weaving memoir, travel, history and reportage into an unforgettable chronicle of a “poor little rich country” attempting to engage the world without losing its soul.

Customer Reviews:

Important true-life on environmental front lines.......2007-08-05

So much good writing is being done about the need to develop sustainable life styles that it's difficult to sort out the best. This is a very important and readable book in that context. William Powers was there in Bolivia struggling with the tension between an indigenous Amazon tribe and the attempt of apparently well-meaning nonprofits and industrialists to change the natives. For those who think we can go back to living in the pre-industrial world, and for those who are looking for a better answer, this is an engaging story of great importance.

Informative book on an important topic........2007-03-09

I learned of the concept of carbon credits when I read Big Coal. It seemed like an interesting idea, but I was curious about investigating it from the perspective of those countries participating on the other side of things. Whispering in the Giant's Ear was an excellent choice to reveal the conseqenses of our exploitation of non-renewable resources on "less developed" nations. Powers does an outstanding job of providing an interesting narrative with which to educate the reader about the role carbon credits are playing in the struggle of indigenous people to gain political power in a nation that is caught up in the process of globalization. The number of characters is not so many as to cause confusion, but enough to provide insight into several segments of Bolivian society. A sympathetic portrait of the indigenous peoples of the poorest of South American nations.

Great book on environmental efforts, relationships in Bolivia.......2006-09-12

I have to say, I'm envious of Bill Powers' writing abilities and his experience in Bolivia. Thanks to his detailed descriptions of character conversations, speeches, emotions, reactions, etc., I feel like I could easily recognize any of his Conservation International colleagues - Salvador, Smithers, Len - if I saw any one of them on the street...or deep in the Bolivian jungle. I did wonder whatever happened to the author's relationships with Daniel and Anaí - two of the author's close friends - but at the same time both side-stories were pleasantly left open to the possibilities. This book provides a highly readable, history of Bolivia and it's current political and environmental challenges. In addition, it provides a detailed look into the relationships between a "gringo" do-gooder and his Bolivian counterparts.

An Era of a Revolution Encompassing the Whole Planet.......2006-06-16

Now I have a better appreciation of Bolivia-its geography and culture. WHISPERING IN THE ELEPHANT'S EAR extends my understanding of globilization beyond our Western concerns of the East. It makes me equate the impact of globilization similar to that of the Industrial Revolution. In retrospect, the progress of that revolution ultimately involved all nations without particular attention to geography and culture. Now we hope to integrate the two without paying the price environmentally.

Powers' descriptive writing is powerful. I could have used a glossary of Spanish words. Although his personal anecdotes are entertaining they seem secondary in a book of such importance. Perhaps more anecdotes on indiginous people would have been more significant.

WHISPERING IN THE ELEPHANT'S EAR is a must read for those interested in our complex planet.

Simply a must-read.......2006-06-02

I thought I'd just grab a primer on Bolivia, but got a whole lot more when I picked this book up. This guy is so multi-faceted, you never know what he's going to write next. Nearly every passage in his work make you angry, make you take sides, make you pause with a sense of befuddlement. Sometimes I folded it in front of me just to let a particularly beautiful revelation or moment sink in.

For anyone who is eager (or compelled) to learn about the actualities of Bolivia's incredible past five years, its "war on globalization", this is the book to read. Powers, who was one of the few "there", talking and sharing with those involved and wholly understands what occurred. This is apparent in his telling of the Indian road-blocks, impending rain-forest catastrophe, and the stories of real people that you can relate to.

After reading William Powers, the world becomes a far stranger, grander, mythical, more intriguing--and puzzling-- place than ever before.

Average customer rating:

The most current and best guide available.
Food and festivals

Lonely Planet Bolivia
Kate Armstrong , and Maric Vesna
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Whispering in the Giant's Ear: A Frontline Chronicle from Bolivia's War on Globalization
Lonely Planet Colombia

ASIN: 1741045576

Book Description

Camp overnight on isolated Isla Pariti to watch the sun rise over Lake Titicaca, p. 123.

Creep through the nighttime jungle to spot jaguars, snakes and colorful tree frogs, p. 338.

Bite, slurp and scoop our the inside of a savory saltena, p. 89.

Walk in the footsteps of the ancients on cliff-hugging pre-Inca roads, p. 138.

Shield your eyes from the blinding white expanse of the world's largest salt flat, p. 191.

Three authors, 147 days of in-country research, 35 species of wild animals sighted

Dedicated Outdoors chapter and frank advice on traveling sustainably

Insightful coverage of Bolivia's vibrant indigenous cultures

Content updated daily - visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews and traveler suggestions.

Customer Reviews:

The most current and best guide available........2007-09-17

I come to Bolivia twice a year and over the past three years I have reviewed more than a dozen guides on Bolivia and this is the best guide available.

Lonely Planet guides are known for their no-nonsense, off-the-beaten-path advise. The descriptions of the towns and cities are top rate. Each area has its history and climate explained. This is one of the few guides that will give you the population and altitude of major cities and towns. Kudos!

The "must see" places are listed and explained. Trekking routes are explained and mapped! There are excellent descriptions of the seven geographical areas of Bolivia (Southern Altiplano, Central Highlands, Eastern Lowlands, Amazon Basin, etc.). The section on health is "top drawer" and needs to be read before traveling here. Sidebars, or text boxes, are found throughout the book and provide you with wonderful sources of miscellaneous information, i.e., "Bolivar - El Liberatador," "Traditional Andean Musical Instruments," etc., .

There are two other books that can enhance your time in Bolivia. The first is, William Powers' excellent and powerful account of living in Bolivia, "Whispering in the Giant's Ear" and Herbert Klien's, "A Concise Short History of Bolivia". In short, this is the most current(as of Sept. 2007) and best guide out. Strongly Recommended.

Food and festivals.......2007-09-06

A great overview of the country and certainly an essential companion to any trip to this underrated country. Food and festival entries are particularly good and help in any trip planning. Always impressed with the quality of LP publications and the recommendations were good.

The Price of Fire: Resource Wars And Social Movements in Bolivia

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Price of Fire
A brilliant account of the Bolivian people's heroic struggle for self-determination!
A Clear View Out of the Media's Muddled Views About Latin America

The Price of Fire: Resource Wars And Social Movements in Bolivia
Benjamin Dangl
Manufacturer: AK Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Dispatches from Latin America: On the Frontlines Against Neoliberalism
Whispering in the Giant's Ear: A Frontline Chronicle from Bolivia's War on Globalization
¡Cochabamba! Water War in Bolivia
Impasse in Bolivia: Neoliberal Hegemony and Popular Resistance
A Concise History of Bolivia (Cambridge Concise Histories)

ASIN: 190485933X

Book Description

Bolivia has been at the forefront of Latin America's leftward shift. The country's recent history provides a case study of both the ravages of neo-liberal economic policies and the powerful social movements rising up to overturn them. Bolivia's social struggles over the ownership of resources such as water and gas have been as heroic as they are instructive. Conflicts related to International Monetary Fund policies and the war on drugs offer important lessons about corporate globalization and US foreign policy. The election of Evo Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president, as well as his delicate relationship with the social movements on which his administration depends, raises important questions for the future.

The Price of Fire gives a blow-by-blow account of these battles, while also contextualizing them regionally and historically. From the first moments of Spanish colonization to today's headlines, it traces the story of a small nation whose natural resources helped fund the rise of capitalism and that has spent the subsequent four centuries suffering the consequences. A primer on the history of resistance to corporate globalization in Latin America, Benjamin Dangl's far-reaching and penetrating analysis uses Bolivia's story to tell a much larger tale that will only become more important to activists, academics, and general readers who want to understand the latest news.

Customer Reviews:

Price of Fire.......2007-07-21

Things across Latin America look like they've heating up in the last five years to the breaking point. After decades of military rule, right-wing forces, banana republics, and domination by foreign companies, governments in Latin America crushing left-wing movements and people fighting the old orders of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, it really looks like those days are through. Social movements are no longer an isolated thing. From the autonomous movements in Argentina, to the Landless People's Movement in Brazil, to even (to some extent) charismatic left-wing rulers like Hugo Chavez, to the Zapatistas and their supporters in southern Mexico, it looks like from this vantage point in the mid-atlantic region of the United States, that Latin America has some really big things going on right now. Bolivia is no different.

"The Price of Fire" explores struggles and movements in Bolivia, focusing on the last five years. The book's title refers to what many of the struggles there are tied around: the simple price of fire, or gas for heating. Dangl talks about many different issues going on there, and especially issues like the coca trade, access to water after the government privatizes the water and begins billing people for it, and the community mobilization across the country in response. These uprisings are called "wars", like the Water War and the Gas War, for very good reasons.

One interesting aspect is that the coca leaf is used as a symbol of resistance. Coca can be processed into cocaine, but it's also a main ingredient in coca-cola and is used locally as medicine. Because of the US insistence as a part of the "War on Drugs", the government and sometimes US Forces, regularly bomb, destroy, and prosecute coca farmers. Indeed, sometimes the soldiers themselves sent to destroy the crops are chewing coca leaves as they burn coca plants. The military also murders farmers who refuse to plead guilty to drug trafficking. In response, at the city of Chipiriri, the cocaleros formed a coca farmers union, and set up a tightly controlled market to sell their goods, while forbidding any drug dealing or usage at the market.

Two major uprisings, the Water War in Cochabamba of 1999 and the Gas War of 2003, are vividly described in the book. After three years of pressure by the World Bank to either privatize its water or face losses of billions of dollars in loans, the Bolivian government relented and pushed for the water of the nation to be places into corporate hands in 1999. This totally enraged the population of Cochabamba, which has around half a million people and is growing rapidly, after costs skyrocketed, distribution failed, and the poorest were completely cut off from water at all. Road blockades, huge street demonstrations, and occupation of the water company offices forced the government to act, and they made the company public.

On September 19th 2003, the Gas War starts in Cochabamba, and quickly escalates as cocaleros join in huge road blockades, made even more popular by events in Argentina as a form of protest. The issue is on whether to export natural gas to foreign countries when there is a shortage for the very poor in Bolivia. Large popular assemblies gather, and unions, community groups, and other organizations unite around this issue, which eventually brought down the President. An anarcha-feminist group, Mujeres Creando, agitates for the end of patriarchy and women's submission in their center "The Virgin". Neighbors in the neighborhood El Alto also emerge at the head of the mobilization. At the end, a left-wing President, former coca-grower and indigenous Evo Morales is elected, with the understanding that if he does not stand up against International Companies and the World Bank, that he can be forced out of office as well.

This book takes a wide view of the situation in Bolivia, as the author worked as an independent journalist throughout Latin America, writing for a variety of left-wing magazines like Z Magazine, The Nation, and the Progressive. I recommend that if you have read Marina Sitrin's Horizontalism, you read this one right afterwards. The two fit together like a hand in a glove, one focusing on Argentina and one focusing on Bolivia, but seemingly talking about the very same thing: poor people, indigenous people, and women rising up againstcorporations and the rulers of their lands. A lot of theory andanalysis makes you want to jump off a cliff with how depressing it is; books like this and Sitrin's fills you with hope and examples of how
people are organizing and fighting back.

A brilliant account of the Bolivian people's heroic struggle for self-determination!.......2007-06-18

For anyone wanting to learn more about the exciting social movements that are rocking Bolivia and transforming the continent, I highly recommend this informative book. Benjamin Dangl has really done an amazing job bringing to life the various struggles of working-class Bolivians to reclaim the basic elements of survival like water, gas, land, and dignified jobs. More than just the triumphant story of the people's movement to elect the indigenous leader Evo Morales, this book is about the popular resistance of Bolivian miners, farm workers, factory workers, and students to the economic and political catastrophes caused by neoliberalism. Internationalist in perspective, this book interlinks the Bolivian revolution with revolutionary movements in Venezuela and Argentina. As someone interested in integrating art and politics, I found the chapter on Bolivian hip hop, street theater, and Mujeres Creando to be especially fascinating and imagine that others involved in, say, building giant street puppets, painting public murals, or writing folk music would enjoy this as well. As the poorest nation in South America, a nation burdened with the tragic history of Operation Condor and the military dictatorship of Hugo Banzer, Bolivia is helping to pave the way for justice, peace, and liberation in Latin America.

A Clear View Out of the Media's Muddled Views About Latin America.......2007-04-18

As a North American, the media, if it reports about Latin America, our southern neighbors, at all, it is usually muddled and simplified. I am always skeptical when all the media is biased in union and regurgitating the same refrains. I always have to make an extensive effort to get even a basic understanding of what is really happening in the "Other Americas".

This book is a clear window. It contextualizes events instead of using a broad stroke for the entire continent. It makes clear and startling connections between what is happening down there and the United States deliberate and active roles in it and in their history and current events.

For anyone curious about the social changes and revolutions happening down there, for anyone desiring an unmuddled view of Latin America and its past events, get this book.

This is from an independent journalist without corporations he needs to please. Definitely recommended. An inspiring, thought provoking read.

(Thank you AK Press for sending me this as my monthly book for being a Friend of AK Press!)

Lines in the Water: Nature and Culture at Lake Titicaca

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Excellent
A gem of a cross-disciplinary book

Lines in the Water: Nature and Culture at Lake Titicaca
Ben Orlove
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520229592

Book Description

This beautifully written book weaves reflections on anthropological fieldwork together with evocative meditations on a spectacular landscape as it takes us to the remote indigenous villages on the shore of Lake Titicaca, high in the Peruvian Andes. Ben Orlove brings alive the fishermen, reed cutters, boat builders, and families of this isolated region, and describes the role that Lake Titicaca has played in their culture. He describes the landscapes and rhythms of life in the Andean highlands as he considers the intrusions of modern technology and economic demands in the region. Lines in the Water tells a local version of events that are taking place around the world, but with an unusual outcome: people here have found ways to maintain their cultural autonomy and to protect their fragile mountain environment.
The Peruvian highlanders have confronted the pressures of modern culture with remarkable vitality. They use improved boats and gear and sell fish to new markets but have fiercely opposed efforts to strip them of their indigenous traditions. They have retained their customary practice of limiting the amount of fishing and have continued to pass cultural knowledge from one generation to the next--practices that have prevented the ecological crises that have followed commercialization of small-scale fisheries around the world. This book--at once a memoir and an ethnography--is a personal and compelling account of a research experience as well as an elegantly written treatise on themes of global importance. Above all, Orlove reminds us that human relations with the environment, though constantly changing, can be sustainable.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2003-04-13

(Planeta.com Journal) -- Lines in the Water (University of California Press, 2002), a beautifully written ethnography of rural fishermen and their families. The book's subtitle "Nature and Culture at Lake Titicaca" specifies the center of action, but the scope is much broader and deeper. It's actually hard to find the words to say how delightful this book is. Author Ben Orlove is an environmental science professor at the University of California, Davis, and his book is based on three decades of trips to Peru and Bolivia. The book is a showcase of fresh writing and a major contribution to the literature about South America. Orlove provides a frank account of the role academics themselves play. He includes himself in this story and shares candid observations -- from his reactions to office politics to daydreaming about museums. This book is highly recommended. Eco travelers visiting Lake Titicaca would do well to read this book in advance.

A gem of a cross-disciplinary book.......2003-02-24

This is a gem, written with great respect for the indigenous people who live aound Lake Titicaca, well-annotated and with wonderful photographs by the author. Orlove has broad interests - anthropology, economics, natural history, environmental issues, to name a few, and a talent for accessing interesting memories. He conveys his astute observations in clear and vivid prose.The book is organized nicely - I especially liked the material in the final chapter, entitled "Paths", which offers an antidote to the sad fact that roads and highways are so often destructive to local people and to biodiversity. Paths, literal or metaphorical, also provide valuable linkages and essential connections among the various components of this remote but very interesting and community with ancient roots. Orlove provides the reader with a sense of having traveled those paths for a short while with him.

Let's Go 2002: Peru, Ecuador & Bolivia (Let's Go. Peru, Bolivia & Ecuador)

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Let's Go 2002: Peru, Ecuador & Bolivia (Let's Go. Peru, Bolivia & Ecuador)
Inc. Let's Go
Manufacturer: Let's Go Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312270526

Book Description

Lets Go presents a budget travelers dream and one of the most popular travel destinations in South America. Colourful festivals, the ruins of Machu Picchu, and exotic jungle cruises are just a few of the adventures that await. The guide also includes the Galapagos Islands.

Book Sudamerica Hoteles de Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay y Bolivia

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Book Sudamerica Hoteles de Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay y Bolivia

Manufacturer: del Nuevo Extremo
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Binding: Paperback

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