From Publishers Weekly As a child， he dreamed of Tarzan and jungles; as an adult， journalist Alexander discovered that rain forests fell short of his dreams. In fact， he says， they are miserable places to live because of poverty and disease. He gives a breezy account of his travels to seven rain forests and a sensitive portrait of the people who live there. In the Tamen Negara in Malaysia， reputedly the world's oldest tropical rain forest， he found a hotbed of politics， development， ethnic and religious strife. In Guatemala's Peten forest， some 32 separate organizations were working on a project to save the forest. Alexander was enchanted with tiny Dominica， in the Caribbean， but dubious about its schemes to attract tourists. In New Zealand's Whirmaki forest， a Maori woman wearing an Elvis T-shirt asked him to take her to Memphis. There were other adventures in Alaska， Panama and Brazil. Alexander gives us a fresh and disquieting look at these exotic places. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information， Inc. From Library Journal Journalist Alexander writes of his experiences in rain forests in Malaysia， Alaska， Guatemala， Dominica， Panama， and the Amazon. Although there are brief descriptions of some plant and animal life， he focuses on the humans he encountered and their living conditions. In depicting researchers living deep in a soggy， mosquito-infested forest and the impoverished， rugged lives of the locals， the author removes some of the First World romantic notions of a rain forest. They aren't the neat and tidy worlds of the movies. He replaces the romance with a more realistic view of a world that includes cholera， dysentery， parasites， and tangled politics. A useful addition to rain forest collections because of its honest perspective. (Eight-page color insert not seen.)?Nancy Moeckel， Miami Univ. Libs.， Oxford， OhioCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews