SOURCE: Randall, Margaret. “Eyes on the Prizewinner.” Women's Review of Books 15, no. 12 (September 1998): 22–24.

In the following review of Crossing Borders, which traces Menchú's role as an activist beginning with the publication of I, Rigoberta Menchú in 1983, Randall praises the work's subtle insights and readability.

I … Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala was first published in 1984, edited and introduced by the Venezuelan ethnographer Elisabeth Burgos-Debray. Its author began her story of resistance with the words: “My name is Rigoberta Menchú. I am twenty three years old.”

Menchú is a Quiché Indian woman, member of one of the largest of Guatemala's 22 ethnic groups. From the mountain village of Laj Chimel, she had learned Spanish—the language of her oppressors—in order to be able to tell her story. Hers was a family, like so many, that barely survived off land owned by others. Devoutly Catholic—she taught catechism...