B. Traven was a popular novelist in the early part of the 20th century.
He wrote The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, General from the Jungle, The Death Ship
and many other novels exploring the life of Mexicans in the 20's.
One thing (apart from his writings) that made Traven an item of curiousity was that
he refused to reveal his true identity. He said that a writer should be known only by his
writings and that nothing else was important. Admittedly this backfired because it created
such an interest in his life. Many books have been published and studies undertaken and
it's now pretty clear that Traven lived in Germany for some time under the name Ret Marut.
Marut was known as an inflamatory anarchist, published a newspaper during WW1.
He later disappeared from Germany and the organized anarchist movement.
Some time later when Travens novels were beginning to get popular some German
comrades (including Rudolph Rocker) recognized the writing style of Marut.
Traven was thought to have lived in Mexico for a good amount of time until the 50's
when the next figure connected to him resurfaced in the American midwest.
For all his mystery of identity it should not be overlooked thatTraven is a wonderful
writer. His narrative is very organic (and very radical!). Check out his books you won't
be disappointed.
