The toe bone and the tooth (Hardcover)

The Toe Bone and the Tooth is structured around a previously unpublished mythic Mayan tale of the same name, gifted to Martín by one of the elders of the village in return for helping his son. This ancient tale from the tribal oral tradition forms the backdrop to Martín's own untold story – how he, his Indian wife and two little sons experienced a chilling escape from Guatemalan death squads in the mid-1980s, and how he has continued to live out the myth in the alien context of modern life in the US.In a unique use of time sequencing, beautiful storytelling, irony, mystery, tragedy, magic and human warmth, Martín shows how this powerful mythic story can be a pattern for everyone's life. Written with characteristic brilliance, warmth and wit, Prechtel demonstrates how his initiation as a Mayan shaman and understanding of their mythology has ensured his survival in the modern world.