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LEGENDS OF THE PLUMED SERPENT

By Neil Baldwin

Public Affairs, 205 pages, $37.50

Picture-book biographies sometimes dilute or simplify their subjects, but this attractive, astute volume on the Mexican god Quetzalcoatl is a welcome exception. Neil Baldwin, author of biographies of Edison, Man Ray and William Carlos Williams, handles the leap in subject matter well, skillfully blending history, travel and folklore. He even tosses in a bit of trivia about the Aztec hero, pointing out that he had a powerful alter ego and evil twin, the “trickster” Tezcatlipoca.