Mexico Reviews

Cinco De Mayo

Published in School & Library Binding by Topeka Bindery (2003-07)

Author: Mary Dodson Wade

List price: $15.20

New price: $9.12
Used price: $30.67

Average review score:

Rookie Read Read About Holidays Cinco de Mayo

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-06

I love this series. Great photos, appropriate vocabulary, rich language. These books are an excellent resource for teachers.

Holidays Explained

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-07

I teach First Grade and I find the Rookie Read-About Holidays series to be a good starter for a lesson. The holiday is explained in a simple way and can lead into a Social Studies or multicultural lesson. I used the Cinco De Mayo book this past Friday. I have about 8 books and I highly recommend them.

I love Rookie Readers!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-02

Another great Rookie Reader! These books are great for ESOL students of all ages who read at a beginning level. This book provides a very clear idea of how Cinco de Mayo is celebrated.

Mexico

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-06-16

This is a great teaching source for young children learning about Mexico.

Cinco de Mayo: What Is Everybody Celebrating?

Published in Paperback by iUniverse, Inc. (2006-11-05)

Author: Donald W Miles

List price: $20.95

New price: $13.21
Used price: $13.16

Average review score:

An entertaining adventure

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-16

Now here's an iUniverse book well worth their otherwise high price for a paperback. I found it hard to put down for long. The battle which the title's event commemorates is dealt with clearly enough to understand why it went the way it did. But who could have guessed the French troops would decide to have a coffee and pastry break beforehand? I never realized just how inept the French commanders really were in Mexico, though Mexican president Juarez and his loyalists would have been tenacious combatants for any such unscrupulous invader. I knew the installed "Emperor" Maximilian was out of his element, but not that he was so truly foolish--or that his more realistic wife had a nervous breakdown. Austin, Texas author Miles has a great eye for colorful detail, and a lot of it is fascinating, such as that a former colonel of a volunteer New York regiment in the American Civil War almost was executed with Maximilian, until the colonel's resourceful wife talked Juarez into sparing him. It beats the dry histories, while being a respectable, well-footnoted history in itself, and with a nice bibliography for further exploration. Except for a few typos, a misleading blurb on the back cover, and some needless repetition, this is a great read.

Cinco de Mayo chronicles the war between Mexico and France in plain terms, accessible to readers of all backgrounds

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-04

Award-winning radio journalist Donald W. Miles presents Cinco de Mayo: What Is Everybody Celebrating?, a historical account of the events that sparked the annual Cinco de Mayo holiday in Mexico. Nearly 150 years ago, when the emperor of France ordered his generals to take over Mexico and use it as a "base" to help the Confederates in the American Civil War against the Union Army, Mexico fought back. On May 5th, 1862, Mexico won a decisive battle against French forces, preserving its independence and preventing foreign interference in the American Civil War, yet it would take Mexico another five years to expel the last of the French soldiers from its borders. Cinco de Mayo chronicles the war between Mexico and France in plain terms, accessible to readers of all backgrounds; notes and an index round out this excellent historical primer especially recommended for public library collections.

Excellent portrayal of events

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-23

Reviewed by Leslie Granier for Reader Views (4/07)

I must admit I had no clue what the celebrations for Cinco de Mayo (May 5) were all about before I read this book. Miles provided an insightful and intuitive book that concentrated mainly on the French and Mexican forces. He also effectively included the ways in which the Civil War that was simultaneously occurring in the United States affected the events of the war in Mexico. It truly made me wonder how history might have turned out differently if the United States had been able to intervene more on Mexico's behalf.

Interestingly, the accounts of this war from France's point of view are similar to what many believe is occurring today in Iraq. As stated on page 81, "the government was concealing the real purposes for going to war, the invading army was led to believe they would be welcomed as liberators" and "there was no plan to deal with the responsibilities after a military victory." He also effectively showed how the U. S. Civil War influenced the war in Mexico."

I appreciated the inclusion of an epilogue that told what happened to many of the major players after the war ended. I enjoy finding out about people's fate after their roles in historical events are lessened with time. For me it provides an end to what would otherwise seem to be an unfinished story.

I think it would be interesting to see this same chain of events written from the French army's point of view for comparison. For me it provided an understanding that there were health issues and food issues involved but I would think the army of a world power would have been more prepared and more successful, especially since other nations did not offer help to the Mexican armed forces.

"Cinco de Mayo" is a comprehensive account of the war between Mexico and France and the role played by the United States. Through the use of vivid descriptions at times I felt I could picture the scenes and see the carnage. This book is an excellent portrayal of the events of May 5, offering immense insight into what happened both before and during the fighting. While not the turning point of the war, the Battle of Puebla inspired the Mexican forces to persevere and accomplish their mission."

Very readable

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-08

... very readable ... story on the French intervention in Mexico ... great usefulness to readers who want to want to know how ... Cinco de Mayo fits into the ... struggle to keep Mexico from becoming a European colony. [Don Miles] brings out many human and colorful aspects ... often lost in traditionally technical histories. His intimate knowledge of the Mexican culture is reflected in all that he writes.
--Dr. Robert Pierce, Professor Emeritus, Journalism & Communications, University of Florida

Colonial Mexico 2 Ed: A Guide to Historic Districts and Towns

Published in Paperback by Avalon Travel Publishing (2001-12-10)

Authors: Chicki Mallan and Oz Mallan

List price: $21.95

New price: $13.41
Used price: $5.49

Average review score:

COLONIAL MEXICO

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-12

GREAT PHOTOS AND LOTS OF HISTORICAL TIDBITS. WELL ORGANIZED WITH A WEALTH OF INFO. IT SEEMS LIKE SOME OF THE INFO ON POPULATIONS WAS OFF BUT A GREAT READ FOR THOSE OF YOU INTO COLONIAL MEXICO.

A great read.

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-21

This is a great book on the "silver cities' of mexico. Reads like a novel, not a tour guide. very informative and entertaining. I've been to a few of the cities mentioned and now I feel I have to go back to see some of the things I missed!! A wonderful guide to parts of Mexico well worth exploring.

Colonial Mexico 2nd edition

Helpful Votes: 19 out of 19 total.
Review Date: 2003-03-19

I think this is an excellent book. I was delighted to find a guidebook that focuses on such an under appreciated topic. It is well researched and well writen. It describes many of the major colonial towns in central and southern Mexico. It provides a brief history for each town, describes the significant buildings, as well as near bye attractions. The maps are accurate and easy to read. It will be one of the few guide books that I bring on my next trip to Mexico.

A great and informative book

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-12

Ok, go and buy this book. I am saying this because it is indeed a good read on Mexico and its historic towns and not just because this author devotes 16 pages to my adopted town of Guanajuato!

Doug Bower
Author: THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO

The commerce of the prairies

Published in Unknown Binding by Citadel Press (1968)

Author: Josiah Gregg

List price:

Used price: $5.60

Average review score:

Yes , It IS a Classic

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-02

I was told this is a "classic" and I agree...This dude wrote down every term, item, description, observation, etc along his trips to Mexico, Santa Fe and St. Louis....Great primary source book to add to your Southwest History collection

Primary Source, in depth, discussion of the southern plains

Helpful Votes: 13 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 1998-11-01

Shortly after Mexican Independence interest in establishing trade with Sante Fe, Mexico's most northerly province, became ever more popular. Josiah Gregg was preceded by Mountain Men who explored the area, but he was the first with sufficient education to describe the people, land features and Indians with whom traders would have to deal. His work constitues a PREFACE to other books dealing with the Santa Fe Trail and its growing interest to the United States. Independence, MO, and Fort Smith and Van Buren, AR. - were the northern and southern starting points for Santa Fe respectively. The book is as much a tale of encounters as it is a repository of valuable information. A 'FIRST READ' for persons interested in Santa Fe and the Westward Movement. Another of a variety of fascinating histories of the Southwest.

Fascinating Primary Source to Santa Fe Trail - Great History

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-09

The full title of this book suggests that it is much more than a dry account of business practices: The Commerce of the Prairies, or the Journal of a Santa Fe Trader, During Eight Expedition Across The Great Western Prairies, and A Residence of Nearly Nine Years in Northern Mexico. Illustrated with maps and engravings. By Josiah Gregg.

The period was 1831 - 1840. On paper Northern Mexico was an immense holding that loosely included what is today Texas and New Mexico and stretched southward more than 500 miles through the Chihuahuan Desert to the Mexican trading centers of Durango and Chihuahua. Fierce, nomadic Indians prevented the Spanish and Mexicans from settling this vast domain. A large, loosely defined central section of the continent was known simply as Indian territory. American trading caravans departing from Franklin, Missouri did not encounter any settlements, not even ranches, until within 100 miles of Santa Fe. The long route southward from Santa Fe to Durango and Chihuahua was nearly as hazardous.

Josiah Gregg's narratives make marvelous reading. His style is engaging and his descriptions are accurate. We readers share his love and fascination of this marvelously wild and dangerous territory. I have read very few modern travel narratives as intriguing and well-written as Gregg's writings.

Despite their constant threat, Gregg is sympathetic to the plains Indians and documents how the behavior of unscrupulous and foolish traders have exacerbated relations with the Indians. He cites unnecessary killings of buffalo by travelers who are overwhelmed by the shear size of the herds; he even admits to doing so himself on occasion.

He is a man of commerce and tells us much about trade with Mexico. Rampant corruption among the tax collectors, custom officials, and governmental officials is an unavoidable business cost. For remote Santa Fe, Durango, and Chihuahua, American trade is much desired, but Mexicans view the American traders with suspicion. The first American traders (the Pike expedition) were immediately imprisoned for nine years.

I highly recommend this remarkable, fascinating account of travel along the Santa Fe Trail in the 1830s. I cannot imagine a more intriguing, more engaging narrative than that created by Josiah Gregg.

This edition of The Commerce of the Prairies was first published in 1926. The editing by Milo Milton Quaife is excellent. The footnotes are interesting and add considerable value. Josiah Gregg's original publication was in two volumes and included extensive, detailed, and accurate observations on flora, fauna, and the native Indians and is often cited by historians. This shortened version by Lakeside Press (now published by University of Nebraska Press) is an ideal introduction to the Santa Fe Trail.

Historical Masterpiece of the Southwest

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2002-11-12

In 1831, on a suggestion from his doctor to travel west to improve his health, Josiah Gregg joined a wagon train of Sante Fe traders. The result is a highly acclaimed first hand narrative of the Sante Fe trade and life on the prairies during the 1830's. Gregg's vivid writing style illustrates the many hardships and adventures of life along the Sante Fe Trail and into Mexico. We read about traveling through barren deserts, inconsistencies of the weather, the always present danger of marauding Indians and Mexicans, the questionable Mexican governmental policies, etc. Being an amateur naturalist (he had several species of plants named after him), Gregg describes geographical landforms, geology, and plant and animal life extremely well. He also gives clear, precise and realistic descriptions of the cultures and customs of both the Indians and native Mexicans from how they dressed, to how they constructed their homes; religious, spiritual and matrimonial beliefs; how food was secured and prepared; theories on future agricultural practices and uses, etc. Gregg was a keen and acute observer of his immediate surroundings which is evident in both his writing style and presentation of the subject. Professor Moorhead's editing is second to none.

Confidential Sources

Published in Paperback by Delta (2006-10-31)

Author: Barbara Fischkin

List price: $12.00

New price: $0.45
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $12.00

Average review score:

an honest, funny, and original voice

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-18

In telling the "Mulvaney-true" story of her marriage and life as a reporter, Barbara Fischkin gets to the heart of "true-true." She's funny and warm as she embellishes on reality, taking the reader from the slums of Mexico City to the high-rise expatriate enclaves of Hong Kong to the mountain haunt of Filipino rebels to ringside at a Long Island hockey rink. Barbara hits right on the nose the trade-off that journalists wrestle between the adrenaline rush of reporting a story and the power of personal relationships. Read this book and her first novel, Exclusive: Reporters in Love and War. You won't be sorry!

And They Called it Yuppie Love...

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-20

Barbara and Jim Mulvaney (called Mulvaney) are globe trotting reporters, each trying to outdo the other. This "sequel" to "Exclusive" follows these reporters to Nicaragua on assignment from "Long Island Newsday." At one point Mulvaney buys a baby girl from a poor family and presents her to Barbara, who is understandably nonplussed. After a short period of raising the girl named Caridad ("Charity" in Spanish, named by Mulvaney because the girl had previously gone unnamed), Barbara's mother comes to visit from Brooklyn. On page 129 it is said that the baby leaves, but where Caridad went or who ended up raising her is never said.

Mulvaney somehow manages to get them expelled from the country, so it's on to Mexico. Their son Danny was born there in 1987. After some humorous descriptions of the local protocol, the trio travels to Hong Kong. Danny becomes trilingual, speaking Spanish, English and some Cantonese. While both are searching the globe for that breakthrough story, meanwhile their sons are providing them with news from the home front.

Danny's brother Jack was born shortly after Danny's third birthday; Danny suffers from a severe ear infection and fever. The once verbal child becomes nonverbal and exhibiting autistic behavior. Within a short space of time, he is displaying behavior suggestive of Kanner's autism.

The family returns to the U.S. and settles in California and later, Long Island. The boys grow and thrive; Jack's input makes a good story even better. One especially funny anecdote is found at the beginning of the book. Mulvaney acted a fool at Jack's hockey game and was understandably asked to leave. A copy of the Code of Conduct at the games is included and one can only smile at Jack's take on this as well.

My favorite parts were where Jack describes Danny's behavior and how he accepts him unconditionally. I love the way Jack makes it plain that Danny is a valuable and vital human being with a lot of gifts to share and offer. Hats off to Jack!

A good book. The only thing that could be considered confusing is where the fiction leaves off and real life reporting of their lives begins.

Confidential Sources confirms that Barbara Fischkin has penned another winner!

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-01

Stop the presses! Confidential Sources confirms that Barbara Fischkin has penned another winner! In her delightful sequel to Exclusive: Reporters in Love...and War, she once again brings her readers along for a wild ride following the escapades of two globe-trotting investigative journalists, "Fischkin" and "Mulvaney." An engaging tale, often poignant yet always entertaining, that allows us to vicariously live the exciting lives of husband and wife reporters searching out that next big news story as they build their careers and along the way, their family. Although the protagonists of Confidential Sources have the same names as the author and her husband, they are fictional characters. Or perhaps, better said, the fictional alter-egos of the real-life Barbara Fischkin and Jim Mulvaney!

Fischkin shows us that life is often like following a juicy news lead; the story you finally report is far different, yet far more interesting, than what you first anticipated. In tandem with her journey to scooping the next big news story from her husband, the Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist, Jim Mulvaney, she graces her readers with a honest look into the world of autism. With her wry humor intact, Fischkin portrays the heartache, anger, fear and even moments of sheer joy that every family experiences when raising a child diagnosed with autism.

In a delightful surprise chapter written in the voice of her younger son, Jack, one gains insight on how dramatically life is impacted both good and bad, for children living with an autistic sibling. If the real-life Jack is as good a writer as his fictional alter-ego, then the Mulvaney/Fischkin writing talent is secure for another generation. Even at his young age, "Jack Mulvaney" the character has wisdom beyond his years: He recognizes that his older brother, Danny, even without speech and language since a toddler, has many gifts to share, not only with his family but with humanity as well. What a service this book does by showing us how precious life can be when parents fully love and accept every child regardless of obstacles.

If you only read one book this year, it must be Confidential Sources!

Thank you Barbara!

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-03

Thank you Barbara for finally offering a refreshing narrative on what life is like with an autistic child, as well as how she continues on as "normal" as possible for your other child and career. Barbara treats the reader like a best friend and it helps to abate the loneliness that is often a major part of a parent's life with autism. Now if only I had a large block of time to sit and read the entire book in one sitting!

Cottonwood Saints

Published in Paperback by University of New Mexico Press (2005-11-15)

Author: Gene Guerin

List price: $19.95

New price: $2.75
Used price: $1.05
Collectible price: $39.95

Average review score:

Couldn't put it down! A wonderful read!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-23

"Cottonwood Saints" is a wonderful book, full of vivid characters and descriptions. The narrative transcends geography and time - it is a universal story of mothers and sons, love and loss, and dreams deferred. I read this book in two sittings. I couldn't put it down and didn't want it to end.
This is by far one of the best new fiction books on the market.

New Mexico as it really was and is for settler families

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-18

'Intimacy and familiarity' is the sense I experienced throughout my reading of COTTONWOOD SAINTS. Intimate and familiar because it seemed as though Guerin knew my Spanish-Mexican family experience in describing his in this novel; my family migrated from northern New Mexico to southern Colorado in the mid-1800s. The characters and episodes are so wonderfully described that the reader feels as though s/he is there -- interacting with the characters and experiencing the events.

I heard that Guerin described his novel as "90% fiction and 100% fact." The story reads just like that! The chapters read easily and beautifully into a wonderfully woven story. In 2004, I completed a doctoral dissertation on the phenomenology of "The Lived Experience of Nortenas de Nuevo Mejico: Finding Voice and Claiming Identity." Had Guerin's novel been published when I was doing my literature chapter, this marvelous novel would have been included in my bibliography because Guerin's mother is so descriptive of my research findings regarding the 'nortena de nuevo mejico.'

Cottonwood Saints - A Frank Tribute to Mom

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-14

The author seems to have closed his eyes and remembered in fascinating detail how his mother recalled her childhood. He then projects this experience into describing her adulthood which the mother probably never directly revealed to the author but could not remain hidden since he had the early matrix. The childhood years are likely factual; the adulthood years are conjectural, including her reaction to her author- son's "defection" from the priesthood, the loss of two other sons and finally her fading into the fog of Alzheimer's disease. The story is lovingly told and laid at the mother's feet as a tribute with a note saying, "Mom, I understand and thank you." It is the author's first novel but I predict not his last.

Cottonwood Saints Strong Like Cottonwood Trees

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-30

"Cottonwood Saints" by Gene Guerin came about when the author asked his mother to write her memoirs about growing up in northern New Mexico during the early part of the 20th Century. He found her recollections so compelling, he turned them into a novel.
"Cottonwood Saints" begins with the birth of this mother, whom he calls Margarita Juana, then follows her growing up, marrying, having children of her own, and dying.
Sometimes books based on family history end up a personal narrative with meaning for the authors, but few others. Gene Guerin avoids this trap by focusing his story on universal issues. His mother copes with things everyone faces. She just happens to do it in a unique part of the Southwestern United States.
At the same time, Gene Guerin offers a vivid picture of life on one of the last American frontiers, describing in vivid detail the rutted roads over which Margarita Juana and her father drive to bring loads of lumber into town, trips to an Indian Pueblo to visit friends, and the arduous process of washing clothes and preserving food in a time beforfe electricity and refrigeration.
Labor is back breaking both in the barn and in the house. Tempers flare. Parents slap. Children learn to obey, and help do chores without argument.
When someone gets sick, people cope as best they can. On-the-job safety doesn't exist. The wise woman, or curandara, brings herbs and teas to the rescue. The doctor comes as a last resort, often when it's too late.
.Strong personalities, not all of them likeable, fill "Cottonwood Saints." Margaritia's mother, Tama, is about as nasty as they come. Margarita's husband, Miguel redefines bland and meek. Nash, Margarita's Indian nanny, is a woman anyone could love, as are Margaritia's doting aunts and uncles. The reader sympathizes with Margarita's feelings of abandonment when these kindly people die.
Bit by bit, Margaritia learns to cope with her life, and make what she can of it, just as everyone does. Her varying degress of success and failure make her an everyday hero, and keep the reader turning the pages of "Cottonwood Saints."
Author Guerin tells Margaritia's over-arching story in the first person, the voice of Michael, her son. But he also has the knack of stepping into the third person to relate portions of the novel that happened before Michael was born. The technique gives "Cottonwood Saints" a wonderful flow. The reader can smell the chili roasting, and see an old family hacienda crumbling.
By the end of the book, Guerin has summed up the triumphs, failures, glories, and horrors of a woman's life. It happens to be Margarita Juana's, but it could be anybody's. New Mexico's frontier families were tough. But so is human nature, or their descendants wouldn't be around to write qbout their ancestors.

Cutting for Sign

Published in Paperback by Vintage (1995-05-30)

Author: William Langewiesche

List price: $19.00

New price: $8.98
Used price: $1.11

Average review score:

This man knows of what he speaks

Helpful Votes: 12 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 1999-07-02

I grew up on the Mexican border, and Langewiesche beautifully captures the schizophrenic love/hate relationship entangling the two sides. He writes with the clean, precise lines of the journalist, but gives the end result a spin of philosophy that could only come from really feeling the people and places he visits. Much like his second work, "Sahara Unveiled", this is much more than reportage. It's too bad not more people have read this book...I think it would greatly help Americans' understanding of border relations.

Highly descriptive of my personal experiences in Marfa, TX

Helpful Votes: 23 out of 24 total.
Review Date: 1998-12-28

As a former City Manager of Marfa, Texas, I have observed and experienced first hand many of the incidents described in the book. For instance, the morning gathering of area ranchers at the former Thunderbird Restaurant, totally devoid of Hispanic participants; the persistent overtones of bigotry amoung many of the well established Anglo citizens;and, there are still semblances of the old "Patron" system alive and well.

While I can't prove that my dismissal from my position as City Manager was based on the fact that I am Hispanic, I have no doubt that the racial aspect played a part in the decision to terminate my services. Many local residents have told me that the Mayor could not stand a smart well-educated Mexcican making him look bad.

In any event, the description of Marfa and the region surrounding it are all surprising accurate. The author most certainly has a deep sense of morality, and an uncanny method of lucidly describing people, situations, and injustices.

A very good read

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2001-12-23

A very good read about the tense and diverse relations that exist at the Mexican - U.S. border. Author is a good storyteller, and offers great detail. A must for anyone seeking to understand our neighbor to the South.

This is the best treatment of a troubled area I've read.

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 1998-12-09

In the 21st century, the United States will finally acknowledge that it's a largely spanish-speaking country. Meanwhile, Mexico remains a mystery to many of us. Not after reading this book: Without descending into a morass of facts, we learn about the essence of the place, and its relationship to the US. A well-written treatment with respect for its subject.

The Devil's Book of Culture: History, Mushrooms, and Caves in Southern Mexico

Published in Hardcover by University of Texas Press (2003-12-01)

Author: Benjamin Feinberg

List price: $55.00

New price: $55.00
Used price: $76.59

Average review score:

catch a second class bus from the terminal near the market

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-31

I know for a fact that Ben Feinberg has watched over one hundred hours of "I Dream of Jeanie."

But if that's not enough to convince you to buy his book, you might consider the actual subject matter. How do people in small places not overcome by the hegemony of time and space most people reading this website live with conceive of time and space? Feinberg looks at this, dealing with different categories of time and such from the perspective of the Sierra Mazteca. How do you get to Oaxaca de Juarez from Juatla? Where is the United States, and who are these weird tourists?

Read the book for the answers to these questions and more.

The Devil's Book of Culture

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-12

I've been interested in the Sierra Mazateca for years-- after spending time there, I read the handful of books written about it, yet felt that there was much more to be said. I was thrilled to discover that last year, someone finally wrote a well-researched ethnography about it. Feinberg's book is packed with fascinating observations and reflections on the way people in the Sierra Mazateca understand and talk about their lives, history, and "culture." I would recommend this book to anyone with a background in anthropology or a similar field who is interested in cultural identity negotiation and "indigenous-ness," Oaxaca, sacred mushrooms, and folklore about devils and caves.

Dresses make me feel pretty!

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 15 total.
Review Date: 2004-01-04

His analysis is brilliant. If you are unsatisfied after reading through once, then I suggest you purchase another copy and read it over again.

I really like kittens!

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 20 total.
Review Date: 2003-12-28

I know for a fact that Ben Feinberg has eaten Armour(tm) Potted Meat Food Product.

Dine Bahane': The Navajo Creation Story

Published in Paperback by University of New Mexico Press (1987-12-01)

Author: Paul G. Zolbrod

List price: $21.95

New price: $16.04
Used price: $8.43

Average review score:

Navajo Creation Story

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-20

This is a book that is easy to read. It beautifully explains many of the Navajo stories of their creation. There is humor, pathos and much wisdom.
If you read it, you will see parallels to other stories of creation.
A lovely book to read any time, but especially if you are planning to visit the American southwest. You will appreciate New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado in a heightened way, seeing sacred spots to the Navajo and understanding why they are to be respected.

Are you wondering how we evolved? Emerge into a new book.

Helpful Votes: 14 out of 29 total.
Review Date: 1997-04-15

This book is about the creation of life. How human beings evolved in a world that had kaos. This tale includes many different worlds, in which life was discovered. Many gods have created human life to bring forth to what we arrived to today, but the only thing to destroy us is kaos. Hatred among both sexes causes the seperation which leads to longing for one another. Among the humans, anxiety was brought to the world and the gods who created the world, got angey. So the gods took action and destroyed the world by pushing all forms of life out almost killing everyone, but the humans were the smartest and emerged into the next world which is known today

History - Past and Present

Helpful Votes: 19 out of 19 total.
Review Date: 2001-12-06

There are several versions of the Navajo Creation Story known but Paul Zolbrod has captured the most plausible and accepted rendition in print. Most Navajos that I know accept this text as adequate and feel that the author's treatment of the subject matter is fair and sensitive to a very vital element of Dine' culture. Many Navajos, especially elders will say that the material printed in this book used to be reserved for the sweat hooghan and special times between family members but understand that now things have changed and accept the publication of very special and sensitive aspects of a great peoples' religion, as long as it is done under the auspices of the Navajo Nation. Perhaps in time others will publish material more to the needs of Navajo scholars but to this day this book is the literary standard of the creation stories.

Excellent scholarly work

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2001-07-16

Paul Zolbrod does a fine job of collating his own transcriptions of Navajo oral traditions with the records of other scholars from decades past to create a seamless narration of the Navajo story of creation. This is a valuable contribution to a deeper understanding of a specific native American culture.

Dirty Pool

Published in Hardcover by St Martins Pr (1999-03)

Author: Steve Brewer

List price: $23.95

Used price: $0.60
Collectible price: $24.00

Average review score:

Fast paced entertainment.

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-11

Dirty Pool has it all. It is funny, suspenseful, with great characters and a believable plot. Bubba, a private investigator, must search for the son of a millionaire. The rebel kid has turned into a skinhead and hangs around people so scary you may think about putting down the novel because you want to forget them. During his journey into the dark world of the skinheads, Bubba must come to terms with his father, who abandoned him when he was only nine, and is now driving him crazy with his irrational behavior.

Dirty Pool is a very entertaining novel. Steve Brewer accomplished a lot with a novel that has less than 300 pages. Evidence that you don't need to bore readers with long descriptions and lots of information to create a classic.

A raw, real, murderously enjoyable novel

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2003-09-15

Dirty Pool by Steve Brewer is a gritty, two-fisted mystery in the tradition of Mike Hammer and Mickey Spillane. Hard-boiled and street savvy private eye Bubba Mabry gets a seemingly slick and easy moneymaker case - drop of a ransom for the kidnaping of the pampered, rebellious, skinhead son of a multimillionaire. But when both the money and the kidnaped individual disappear, Bubba is stiffed his tip - unless he can locate the boy, meaning that he's earned the claim to the ransom himself. Imminent family problems in the form of his own pain-in-the-neck father coming to visit won't stop Bubba from pursuing the prize in this raw, real, murderously enjoyable novel.

Humorous mystery starring an anti-hero

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1999-03-12

Albuquerque private investigator Bubba Mabry desperately wants to tell his nemesis private detective William J. Pool to go to hell when his unscrupulous rival asks for help. However, Bubba needs the cash, sees a chance to obtain a needed boost to his own agency, and also has an opportunity to finally trump William. He agrees to join in on the investigation of locating Richie, the teenage son of Texas millionaire Dick Johnson.

The circumstantial evidence points towards an abduction especially since the kidnapper sent Dick a ransom note. However, Dick feels his crazy son set up the entire affair, including authoring the note. Bubba delivers the ransom, which Richie collects. Dick informs his two detectives that the one who brings his son home keeps the ransom money. Amoral William sets bungling Bubba up to fail as they contend for $200,000.

DIRTY POOL is a different type of private detective story because the hero is more human than most investigators found in mystery tales. Bubba has at best average intelligence and makes the cowardly lion seem heroically intrepid. However, this leaves readers with divergent feelings towards him. At times, one wants to help him as he muddles his way through a case. At other times the audience will want to slap him silly and shut the book. Stephen Brewer demonstrates he has the ability to write an entertaining novel starring a less humorous Couseau-like boob.

Harriet Klausner

An excellent mystery wrapped up in a great sense of humor.

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 1999-10-24

Bubba Mabry should have been a member of the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight. He has a penchant for getting into trouble, yet somehow always gets his guy. Steve Brewer has a knack for developing a fine mystery, all the while exposing his protagonist's weaknesses and fumblings. And he does it with a refreshing sense of humor. Brewer can also turn a phrase so that the reader remembers excerpts from his books long after finishing them. Dirty Pool is the fifth in the Bubba Mabry series and makes the reader call for more, more, more. This latest book brings new dimension to Bubba with the addition of the investigator's long-lost father, Dub, and Bubba's continuing relationship with Felicia, the hard-edged newspaperwoman. As I read Dirty Pool, I began to think that Bubba was growing---in sophistication, in compassion, in competence. But, in the end, it was actually the people around him who grew. Bubba is an incorrigible plodder, who somehow gets the job done. And does so in an endearing way. Unlike a lot of writers whose characters and plots become diluted with subsequent editions, Brewer seems to get better as he goes along. And so do his characters. If you like a good mystery and want a good laugh along the way, pick up Dirty Pool---or any other of Brewer's works, for that matter.

Mexico Books