“In 2000 Years of Mayan Literature, Dennis Tedlock’s most recent book, readers are enticed to enter the Maya worldview. Tedlock goes to great lengths to bridge the vast cultural gap between the readers and the Mayas who wrote the diverse texts included in this book. . . . He clearly summarises how to read Maya text and, throughout the book, provides Maya cultural context that is also put into relation to European culture to help the reader to better grasp the supposed intentions of the Maya writers. He draws out the poetic quality of Maya writing and shows the vibrancy, changing and living qualities of Mayan writing.”
"Never before has anyone focused so successfully on the literary genius of these ancient authors. Tedlock is so much more than a translator, placing selected Mayan works in a continuous narrative that skillfully links authors from the third century to the sixteenth century with writers of today. An extremely important, original, and innovative work."—Martha J. Macri, coauthor of The New Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs, Volumes 1 and 2, and Director of the Maya Hieroglyphic Database Project, University of California, Davis
"A stunning recreation of the intellectual world of the ancient Maya, the only fully literate people of pre-Columbian America. Informed by the latest research on Maya hieroglyphic writing, art, and mythology, this beautifully illustrated and wonderfully readable work by an outstanding scholar should be on the bookshelf of all those interested in this fascinating civilization."—Michael Coe, author of Breaking the Maya Code
"This book is, like the ancient Maya texts and images it explores, a work of art."—David Freidel, co-author (with Linda Schele and Joy Parker) of Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman’s Path
"Literally breathtaking. A truly unprecedented gathering and translation of written Mayan texts. Tedlock is making visible, for the first time, a Mayan literature in comprehensible, meaningful form.”"—Jerome Rothenberg, poet, author/editor of Technicians of the Sacred and Poems for the Millennium
