At Play in the Fields of the Lord

Product Description In a malarial outpost in the South American rain forest, two misplaced gringos converge and clash. Martin Quarrier has come to convert the fearful and elusive Niaruna Indians to his brand of Christianity. Lewis Moon, a stateless mercenary who is himself part Indian, has come to kill them on behalf of the local comandante. Out of their struggle, Peter Matthiessen has created an electrifying moral thriller, a novel of Conradian richness that explores both the varieties of spiritual experience and the politics of cultural genocide. Review Inventive and extremely well-written...incredibly moving and disturbing...a remarkable performance. --San Francisco ChronicleCoarse, brutal, and elementally powerful...It revives one s faith in the future of fiction. --Chicago TribuneMatthiessen has produced, in expertly crafted and sometimes deeply affecting prose, an entertainment full of glittering color, nose-to-nose conflict and heroic gestures. --Washington Post Book World About the Author PETER MATTHIESSEN has written eight novels and a book of short stories. His parallel career as a naturalist and environmental activist has produced numerous acclaimed works of nonfiction, most of them serialized in the New Yorker. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1974. He is a founder of the Paris Review and has won two National Book Awards.