Andes

Praise for Andes"Andes is a travelogue that's scholarly and sociable in equal measure, by an author who's as interested in ferreting out letters from 16th–century emigrants lured by the legend El Dorado as he is in visiting a museum dedicated to Bolívar's mistress or checking out the transvestite bars of Ayacucho." —New York Times Book Review"The writing . . . doesn't have a bump in it. Jacobs is a natural wordsmith with an easy style and an engaging manner. He is the quintessential alien adrift in a quirky land and, like many a 19th–century English traveler before him, relishes telling us just how strange South Americans can be." —Washington Post"Even a reader with no prior interest in the Andes, or South America in general, can't help but be captivated by this Englishman's Andean odyssey . . . Andes is an engrossing read, written with historical depth, dry wit and moments of endearment." —Globe and Mail"[Jacobs] braves high altitude, terrifying bus rides, endless delays, crime–ridden cities, and wackjob mystics . . . He's a great traveler: well connected, tireless, enthusiastic, and interested in everyone he meets . . . He conveys the region's difficulties and challenges as well as its beauty and enduring fascination." —Publishers Weekly"Filled with encounters with diverse, colorful characters as well as the ghosts of near–vanished Native American civilizations . . . absorbing and charming." —Booklist