Overview

Into the Hearts of the Amazons is part enthralling travel adventure through a little-known world and part popular ethnography, exploring how Zapotec women earned their legendary status in a remote corner of southern Mexico. To satisfy his curiosity about this culture, Tom DeMott journeyed to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where he discovered a thriving modern-day matriarchy among the people of the Isthmus - a cultural crossroads, breeding ground for rebels, and home to a half-million Zapotecs. DeMott integrated himself into the culture by joining in the rites of spring (where women pelt the men with fruit); by interviewing the women who control the marketplace where men are rarely seen; and by honoring the saints with drink and dance at all-night ceremonies. Evoking these singular women and their culture, DeMott tackles a primal question: what would life be like if women, rather than men, had the advantage?

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9780299216405

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Reviews

For centuries the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, like a magnet, has attracted travelers, adventurers, scholars, romantics, and rebels. Something about Oaxaca and the Zapotec culture appeals to the curious and restless. DeMott's fine memoir captures the spirit of this quest. It will be of interest to anthropologists and general readers alike. - Howard Campbell, author of Zapotec Struggles Driven by an unquenchable personal passion for his subject, Tom DeMott has produced an exceptional narrative that deconstructs the cliches of a Mexican region and a people shrouded in romance and myth. Acutely observed, richly experienced, Into the Hearts of the Amazons exposes issues of matriarchy and culture through intimate, often bizarre, and surreal yet indelibly moving close encounters with the people of Juchitan and Tehuantepec. - Tony Cohan, author of On Mexican Time and Mexican Days A perfectly balanced blend of first-person narrative, anecdote, and research on the region. - Brian Bouldrey, editor of Traveling Souls: Contemporary Pilgrimage Stories

For centuries the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, like a magnet, has attracted travelers, adventurers, scholars, romantics, and rebels. Something about Oaxaca and the Zapotec culture appeals to the curious and restless. DeMott's fine memoir captures the spirit of this quest. It will be of interest to anthropologists and general readers alike. - Howard Campbell, author of Zapotec Struggles Driven by an unquenchable personal passion for his subject, Tom DeMott has produced an exceptional narrative that deconstructs the cliches of a Mexican region and a people shrouded in romance and myth. Acutely observed, richly experienced, Into the Hearts of the Amazons exposes issues of matriarchy and culture through intimate, often bizarre, and surreal yet indelibly moving close encounters with the people of Juchitan and Tehuantepec. - Tony Cohan, author of On Mexican Time and Mexican Days A perfectly balanced blend of first-person narrative, anecdote, and research on the region. - Brian Bouldrey, editor of Traveling Souls: Contemporary Pilgrimage Stories

Author Information

Tom DeMott is a travel writer who lives in San Francisco. His work has appeared in many publications, including the San Francisco Observer and Clubmex.

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