Panama Hat Trail: A Journey from South America by Tom Miller

Product Details

Synopsis

This 15th anniversary reissue of Miller's travel classic follows the making and marketing of a single Panama hat. It's a captivating story of cultures in collision, raw capitalism, and an exotic, humorous journey.

Annotation

Traces the route of the Panama Hat from the wilds of Ecuador through South America to the US in an unusual and witty way.

Library Journal

Though offering perhaps more about Panama hats than the reader might ever want to know, this is a satisfying travel book that tells much else about Ecuador and its peoples. The growing, harvesting, and processing of straw, the weaving of it, the finishing of the hats, exportation, and all the bartering along the way is the glue that holds this book together. Visiting the countryside and towns such as Quito, Guayaquil, Lago Agrio, and Jipijapa (``among the ugliest towns south of the equator''), Miller tells us, among other things, about the Indians and their sad centuries-long plight, expatriates, illegal Ecuadorian emigration to the United States, precarious third-class Andean bus trips, the small Jewish community, and a wild and tragic Corpus Christi fiesta. Maps, index, and glossary not seen. Recommended for most travel collections. Roger W. Fromm, Bloomsburg Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib.