1 comments about Visions of Santa Fe: Photographers See the City Different.

1. Beautiful colourful photographs. Not your average conventional sort of photographs either, which makes for an interesting view of a unique city. Lovely coffee table book - good big full pictures. Wish it was a hard covered book, as it deserves that!

5 comments about Travel Advisory: Stories of Mexico.

1. This is one of the best books I've read in years. David Lida writes in a prose style that avoids cheap fuzzy adjectives to present in keenly-observed prose the innermost thoughts and feelings of a cross-section of people in contemporary Mexico: predatory taxi drivers, boozy Texans down for the weekend, Mexico City professionals, their families and servants, an alcoholic photographer, the Jewish singles scene in Mexico City, a homeless boy. Most of the stories present a side of Mexico that we in the US rarely see.

   These are very very dark stories...people are raped, robbed, exploited. But the stories are also funny by turn. It's a tone that is not that common, and certainly not to some people's tastes, but I found it quite satisfying.

   Lida understands Mexican sensibilities and those of her northern neighbors better than most. He deftly shows the clashes that sometimes take place. In one of the book's lighter moments, an American woman travel writer has come to a sleepy Mexican town to do a piece. Lida describes the gulf between US and Mexican standards of feminine beauty thusly:

   "In Philadelphia, where Rhoda lived, men tended to eye her 42-year old body with what they considered cold objectivity. They regarded her as over the hill, accustomed from TV commercials and magazine spreads to surgically enhanced prototypes half her age....She was on the road much of the year, so couldn't keep up a perpetual (exercise) schedule...On the other hand Eusebio (the Mexican hotel keeper) found her adorable, if lamentably lean for a woman her age (which he figured at about thirty-five.)"

   If you don't mind reading dark disturbing fiction, I think you will find this collection richly rewarding.




2. Lida does a masterful job of providing a window into those aspects of Mexican society not seen in tourist propaganda and sanitized resort zones. Dark and revealing and, quite often, disturbing and unsettling, these stories nevertheless effectively capture the widespread desperation that blooms from extraordinary poverty, the clash of the animist vs. the Christian aspects of society at large, and the seemingly inescapable clash of humility vs. the congenital aggressiveness born of the national inferiority complex's that seem to be fostered in third world societies.

   One can only hope that at some point Lida will aim his attention and efforts at capturing the whimsy, familial devotion and racial and cultural pride that also color Mexican society. One can imagine that would be equally insightful an effort as well as a much more pleasant reading experience.




3. David Lida has crawled deep inside the collective conscious of modern Mexico and America, turned on a glaring flood light and revealed to all the ugly side of both cultures. Having lived in Mexico City for 7 years, I found myself predicting the disturbing curves of some of Mr. Lida's stories.

   His stories are an affront to the tequila doused illusions of so many middle aged American expats living in Gringo enclaves within Mexico. I applaud him for this brave reversal of the "happy go lucky" stereotypes of Mexico, so often conjured up in the writings of foreigners.

   Mexico is a dark, mysterious and deeply complex culture incapable of stereotyping. Mr. Lida understands this by neither mocking Mexico nor glorifying it. Mexicans have lived under an oppressive but flexible rule for 700 years, first at the hands of Aztec royalty, later the Spaniards and now the Meztizo elite. 700 years has bred a level of cynicism that both handicaps Mexicans and serves as a source of comic relief. David Lida's book understands the cynic behind every Mexican smile.

   If you really want a taste of Modern Mexico, read this book.




4. I bought this book on a deep sale at the bookstore. I like stories about travel in Mexico, "The People's Guide to Mexico" is one of my favorites. I chose to read "Travel Advisory" on my summer vacation in a cabin in the cool mountains of Colorado. The writing is well done but I sure wanted at least one story to have a happy ending! I found it to be a bit of a downer. Reading this book compelled me to write my first review on Amazon. I have traveled to Mexico many times. My family backpacks and stays at family-run camping parks and bungalos. I was facinated by this book, read it all, but disturbed enough to send out a warning...this is not the Mexico I know.



5. First of all, be aware that this is a collection of short fiction stories, not true accounts. If you're in the mood for some tales from the darkside with a Mexican focus, you'll find this a very interesting collection since Lida is a great writer.

No comments about Farmington/Durango/Cortez, New Mexico (Rand McNally Streets Of...).

No comments about Houses of Mexico: Origins and Traditions.

2 comments about Immortal Summer: A Victorian Woman's Travels in the Southwest : The 1897 Letters & Photographs of Amelia Hollenback.

1. Compiled, edited and Annotated by Mary J. Straw Cook, Immortal Summer: A Victorian Woman's Travels In The Southwest is a collection of letters and black-and-white photographs by Amelia Hollenback, a Victorian woman who had the opportunity to see 1897 America with her own eyes. With extensive contextual annotation, Immortal Summer is a vivid, superbly organized and presented primary source which takes in what American life, land and people were really like more than a century ago. One curious note: Author and historian Mary Cook lives in Santa Fe in the very house that Amelia Hollenback commissioned John Gaw Meem to build in 1932!



2. I have not yet read this book, I have only just ordered it, but I am so excited to read it because currently I am the coordinator of the Hollenback Community Garden in Brooklyn New York. Our garden is on the former site of the Hollenback Mansion where Amelia grew up, which burned down in 1979.

2 comments about Indian War Sites: A Guidebook to Battlefields, Monuments, and Memorials, State by State With Canada and Mexico.

1. This work suffers from sloppy research and poor editing. Steve Rajtar book promises much, but fails to deliver. By way of example, he has placed the Battle of Hembrillo Canyon in Arizona rather New Mexico, he refers to the arms carried by Capt. James Powell's 18th Infantrymen as breechloading, Springfield repeaters. Breechloading yes, but not repeaters. They were .50 Allyn conversions, single-shot trapdoor rifles. According to Rajtar, Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie's 4th Cavalry lost hundreds of soldiers in the Red River War, a patently absurb assertion. According to his bibliography, Rajtar neglected using some well-regarded classics like Dan Thrapp's Conquest of Apacheria and James Haley's Buffalo War: The History of the Red River Indian Uprising of 1874. I'm returning my copy. Don't spend your hard-earned dollars on this slipshod work.



2. I found this book to be quite helpful and informative, as well as historically accurate (contrary to what the previous reviewer found). I think he may need to do a little more research.

5 comments about More Tales of Retirement in Puerto Vallarta and Around the World.

1. Polly Vicars new book is a definite must read for anyone who read her first book and for anyone wondering "what will I do when I retire?". The question I and my spouse (retired four years plus now) are most frequently asked is "what do you do all day?" Well this book gives you a multitude of possible choices for life after work.

   Polly and Husband spent close to four months travelling during the winter of 1999 - 2000. Her descriptions of the places they saw, people they met and things they did are fascinating and entertaining. You can easily become an arm chair traveller through her tales of travel. If you have visited any of these places the book is even more special as you relive your own adventures while reading about the Vicars'.

   While enjoying an excellent read you can help economically disadvantaged youngsters as all proceeds from the book go the America-Mexico Foundation, Inc. a US tax deductible foundation which provides scholarships to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico students.




2. Whether you are an armchair traveler or one who has already begun exploring the world, you will appreciate Polly's description and background of the exotic places she and "Husband" visited on their global journey. But more importantly, reading this book is a lesson in the ways to enjoy everything about any country and its people you visit. For her, making friends with fellow travelers, ship personnel, shopkeepers and the locals of each country turns "travel" into a loving adventure. Polly continues from her first book to describe the joy of retirement in Puerto Vallarta. For those who are retired or planning to retire, read this book as an inspiration to find that life begins wherever you are.



3. We greatly enjoyed the refreshing curiosity, enthusiasm, honesty and humor of Polly Vicars' "More Tales of Retirement in Puerto Vallarta and Around the World." Even though we've visited most of the countries in her book, we learned surprising new information about all of them. This new kind of travel book would be a delight for the much-traveled or the never-traveled. Muriel Fox & Dr. Shepard Aronson, New York City



4. I JUST, YESTERDAY, FINISHED READING YOUR WONDERFUL BOOK. I CAN FIND NOTHING {BAD} ABOUT IT AND EVERYTHING GOOD! I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU GET SO MANY OF THE DETAILS...THINGS THAT I NOW REMEMBER SEEING OR DOING, BUT NEVER CAME BACK IN MY MEMORY UNTIL YOU ELUCIDATED THEM!!!



5. I read this wonderful book about Puerto Vallarta (I share love for this Mexican city with the Author) and encourage everybody
   ro read it because of:
   - very positive and openness of the Author to different people, cultures, traditions
   - love for adventure and engagement in helping people in need
   - love for parties, celebrations
   - the way of writing - interesting, positive, attractive
   You won't be bored!

No comments about Mexico City: A Cultural and Literary Companion (Cities of the Imagination).

1 comments about Mexico Insight Guide (Insight Guides).

1. The Insight Guide has awesome pictures and helps you decide which places you want to see. Also nice to keep after the trip to recall the spirit of all the places you've been to.
   If you want a useful book - get Lonely Planet. Their guide for Mexico is really good.
   The best way is to get both I guess...

5 comments about The Best of San Miguel de Allende, Bilingual Edition.

1. Alan Cogan, MexConnect.com, March 2005.
   
   Here's a guidebook with a significant difference - it's fun to read. Harmes gives us several hundred Bests from what is now his home town. Thus we get the items we'd expect, such as Best T-shirt shop, Best seafood, Best colonial buildings, Best day trips, Best bars, Best views, etc.. They're all there - 126 pages of them. And 26 of those are devoted to restaurants and dining. But he also gives us - tongue firmly in cheek - items like Best place to dump a body, Best bathrooms for a quickie, Best grafitti, Best haunted house, Best bargain booze and lots more.
   Harmes, a former Time, Newsweek and People Magazine writer, has managed to include some informative sections on history and culture and all the many events that take place in any Mexican community throughout the year.
   He claims to have personally visited all the listings in his book and that it's up-to-date to November 2004. And a couple more features enhance its value. One is that it's quite handsomely illustrated. The other is it's completely bilingual - English and Spanish.
   If you have any thought of going to San Miguel - one of Mexico's most visited communities - make sure that a copy of "The Best of San Miguel" is prominent in your travel kit.



2. We've been to SMA many times, and have just bought a house there. This is a great, and very accurate, book about all sorts of very useful info for the vacationer, seasonal visitor, or resident. Kudos to the author and many thanks!



3. This book exceeded my expectations. I have visited San Miguel in the past and loved it. Now I am even more excited to return - am going for a week on Tuesday. This guide gave me such interesting tips and chuckles to boot.



4. Besides not liking the format of this book, I found things I definitly disagree with. I have traveled many times to Mexico and have always been told "don't drink the water" and "don't eat from street venders" if you want to keep your tummy in order. This book recomends you eat from street venders. I chose this as an example as it does not effect a place of business or restaurant but there were several I did not agree with...but that is personal opinion, the other is good health.



5. Good book!
   
   Everyone, please, eat food in the street and
   drink water straight from the tap. Then you
   might get sick and puke in the Jardin and
   run all the GWB loving Republican Texas
   idiots back to where they came from and
   they can quit playing the adventurers and
   take their 50k SUV's and their traffic back
   from whence they came.