I bought this book on the basis of the one review listed. As a frequent traveler to the Yucatan Peninsula, I wanted to learn more about the Mayan Language. Prospective buyers should know: The book is ONLY Mayan followed by the English translation and not vice versa. The author uses a number of arcane symbols to represent unique sounds in the Mayan language. While a professional linguist may understand "glottal stop" and other phrases, these are not readily decipherable by a layman. The entries are quasi-alphabetical, by their SOUND, not spelling. This makes it extremely difficult to locate a written word (say from a map or other book using familiar letters and characters) in the order of entries (which is by sound and ! # ? characters representing sounds). The description and book jacket mentions the inclusion of many interesting phrases and sentences that colorfully bring new light to the Mayan language. I have leafed through the book repeatedly in attempts to locate some of these (other than the ones mentioned on the cover) and have been unable to do so. The book contains very little narrative and what is written is more suited for a linguist, an anthropologist or doctoral students. This is not a book easily digested by tourists, business travelers or the casually interested armchair archeologist. Because I'm not more qualified than those folks, I'm not able to evaluate the quality of scholarship/research this book represents.

If you have any interest in the modern or ancient Maya, in Maya archaeology or the Maya inscriptions, you should buy his book! This is the only substantial dictionary of the modern Yucatec Maya language. All the other published dictionaries are either very limited in scope or contain mostly "Classical" (16th century) Yucatec. The authors' scholarship is unparalleled. This is an *authoritative* work and will always remain so. The very complete section on grammar is invaluable, since there is almost nothing similar; works like Tozzer's "May Grammar" are outdated, incorrect and incomplete. Andrew Hofling's recent Itza Maya dictionary is an excellent work too, but is organized differently and is, of course, about a different language. I use this reference book and recommend it very highly to others.