Traven's spare but resonant narration, which harks back to the old wisdom tales of Indian-American mythology, has much in common as well with that alienated (Brecht called it "distanced") mode of presentation which we have come to associate with technologically produced works of cinematic art.

"The Kidnapped Saint" will give readers new to the Traven canon ample opportunity to discover this distinctive style at its best. The eight stories in the collection will in fact be new to all but the most intrepid Traven followers (and some will be new even to them). (p. 34)

In addition to these tales, with their remarkable fusion of deep empathy and the self-conscious distance that always prevents us from turning Indian passion to gringo pastoral, the collection contains the first seven (and most successful) chapters of a novel previously unpublished in the United States, "The White Rose," Traven's uneven satire on the...