Charles Freger was just passing through Salzburg where he got a warm soup and a bed and I got a beautiful new book. This is Charles' latest book, though the work is several years old; its been a long road getting this book out but here it is. ITZA`, Mayan Memories, or as its original title reads: ITZA´Memrias Mayas, is a collaboration between Charles and the anthropologist/writer Scott Atran. Mr. Atran is a very well known specialist when it comes to histories and issues of societies and cultures. The guy has rubbed elbows with Noam Chomsky and the Taliban, and everyone in-between.
The book is broken into 3 sections, the first consists of portraits of the ITZA´, the last surviving descendants of the Mayan kingdom. The middle section is a collection of poems and stories in the ITZA´ language, a language which is based mostly on an oral tradition and therefore in danger of disappearing as the storytellers themselves become lost. The third section is a broader overview of the culture in general; places, still-lives, landscapes.
I am lucky to have one of the hard-bound copies, I hear there are only about 70 or so, otherwise the softbound version is the same, but without the handmade paper end boards.
ca 220 pages
Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico, 2010.
This thing is not easy to find, but this is what I could dig up:
You might just want to contact Charles for this one.
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