Bonnie Dilger
Bonnie Dilger - Author
Listen to a Podcast of Bonnie on KQED Public Radio San Francisco
GUATEMALA: BLOOD IN THE CORNFIELDSRead the truth about Guatemala's political conflict, violent and bloody, that lasted sixteen years. Ms. Dilger initially came to Guatemala, in 1973 to enjoy its geographical and mystical beauty. At the time she hoped to learn enough about he Mayan culture to write about it. However, her memoirs culminate in the gross human rights abuses as a result of the civil war, beginning at the end of 1979. She was a personal witness to the governmental atrocities when the Guatemalan Government, a military regime, sent its soldiers to invade and occupy the pueblo of Santiago Atitlan. Shocked beyond belief, she was forced to learn first-hand that there are governments that kill their own citizens. The military's harshest measures were directed at the poor and the most vulnerable, mainly in the country side. At the end of the civil war in 1996, when the Peace Accords were signed between the guerrilla parties and the Guatemalan Government, approximately 200,000 lives had been lost.
The author believes her story is still valid when considering that the military candidate in the last election lost by a very narrow margin!
Find her books here!
Forgive Me If I Don't CryMs. Dilger's second book,
Forgive Me If I Don't Cry in her feature story tells of her experience in a recent visit to Cuba. The Foreword was provided by Vinicio Cerezo, former President to Guatemala, a civilian who took office during the turbulent years of Guatemala's civil war. Mr. Cerezo also put his "stamp of approval" on Bonnie Dilger's first book,
Guatemala: Blood In The Cornfields.
Find her books here!Review for Forgive Me If I Don't Cry
Loved This Book!,
December 19, 2007
Just when I thought I couldn't laugh anymore, I found myself back on
the floor, holding my sides and wiping away tears of mirth. Forgive Me
If I Don't Cry, by Bonnie Dilger, is a collection of poignant,
insightful, and beautiful poetry, short stories, and articles, but it
is also some of the funniest prose I've read in ages. The Kids Who
Crashed Funerals, a slice of life Depression Era story, is a hilarious
tale of the antics of children in the Dust Bowl who pretend to be
friends of the dearly departed in order to partake of the sumptuous
feasts at their funeral wakes. Ms. Dilger's wit is also sharp in "Fat
Farm", a story about how a Maya of Guatemala perceives the concept of
an American "health spa"...suggesting that people "come here and pay us
to run them up the volcano and not give them anything to eat"! It's
obvious from the start, with an introduction by one of Guatemala's
presidents, that Ms. Dilger's political observations are highly
regarded, yet this book is never didactic; rather, it engages and
entertains us, whether with a personal account of her time in Cuba, or
the triumph of overcoming racism through the story of two Guatemalan
boys in love with the same girl. This book challenged me to open my
mind and consider broader perspectives than we receive though the
traditional news media. I recommend it both for its heart and soul, and
because just when she's got you contemplating a controversial idea, she
delivers a knockout that has you holding your sides again.