Mexico Books

This is an extremely compelling book, especially for an academic monograph. Not only is the story of Juan Soldado and his followers a compelling one, but Vanderwood also paints a vivid picture of society along the US-Mexican border as well. Great for both the general reader and students and professors interested in Mexico, the border, and religiosity.

Vanderwood's book provides a detailed, crackling narrative of a brutal murder-rape in Tijuana in 1938, but also an anatomy of how that famous border-town grew and experienced the agonies of social change during the early twentieth century. The young Mexican soldier executed for the crime is at the center of the story, of course, as are the processes of how he came to be venerated as a sort of folk-saint almost immediately after his death--unsanctified by the official church, but close to the lives and beliefs of Mexicans of many different social backgrounds. Indeed, in many ways the issue of popular religious belief--how it is established, how it flourishes, what it does for people--is at the core of the book. Some of the most moving parts of the story arise with the author's work on the current state of the Juan Soldado cult, his survey research at the site of the shrine in Tijuana, and his fascinating interviews with the present-day Mexicans he met there. The belief in the efficacy of Juan Soldado's intervention with divine forces on behalf of pilgrims to the shrine is quite striking, even if modern secular people themselves find some of the actual belief in miraculous occurrences puzzling. But as Vanderwood has shown, this is a practical, everyday belief-system that helps ordinary people deal with life's problems--love, illness, emigration, economic hardship--in ways that echo the still strong religiosity of Mexicans, no matter whether Juan Soldado was guilty or innocent of the horrendous crime for which his life was taken. This central paradox of the book--that people are not really overly concerned with Juan Soldado's guilt, but with their own consciences, and that they see the basis of the veneration as more a question of repentance and social justice--is what gives the story its power. This is a book well worth reading not only for people interested in the history of Mexico, but also for those who think about the nature of religious belief more generally.

Congratulations for such a fascinating body of work

This volume of CWA features the best work by the Mexico City based firm headed by Arq. Alberto Kalach and Arq. Daniel Alvarez. Work included dates from 1983 to 1998 (the duration of their partnership),includes housing, residential buildings, schools, a subway station and others. All projects carry a tectonic discourse, and they stand out distinctively as "Kalach and Alvarez" within the cityscape. The designs and material treatments are extraordinary and compare to the best in the contemporary international architectural scene.

The foreword by Gonzalez de Leon and introduction by Betsky are both well written and insightful, especially to those not familiar with Mexican contemporary life and architecture. Very good book, belongs in every architects library.

Look also for more recent titles on their work (by separate)after 1998.

This is another well written, intense and interesting novel by Kate Horsley. She pulls readers into her stories and keeps them there. You may not always agree with what she has to say but you must agree that it keeps you thinking. I am buying the other Kate Horley's that I haven't read yet, today!

Horsley's revisisionistic view of the period provides historical insight into a period of rampant exploitation. Beyond that it is one woman's story of redemption. The story centering around a woman searching for her children who have been taken on a "nature trip" in the mountains soon comes to realize that no matter how horrible the acts of man, if the powers that be support the actions the perpetrators either individually or collectively can get away with the most heinous of crimes.

Packed full of useful information in a small handy guide. Is also just an interesting read.

Knopf has produced a series of beautifully illustrated and informative travel guides over the years, and the recent guide they have issued on Mexico lives up to the high standards they have set. This guide combines a wealth of information on history, culture, etc. with useful travel facts, and is simply a pleasure to browse, whether or not you have plans to go to Mexico soon!

"La Experiencia Homosexual" from Marina Castañeda is a superbly written book which introduces the reader to a world and insight obtainable by two ways, either being gay, bisexual or lesbian or through hour after hour of therapy devoted to gay and lesbian persons and their issues.

In no way does it criticize or qualify either lifestyle or philosophy. The book clearly sets an scenario where gay, lesbian and bisexual persons struggle. It cuts the veil over myths and opens up to their way of thinking and conflicts, i. e., the reality.

As a Sexual Therapist, I applaud that it also suggests different approaches and gives a valuable tips. That gives the book and aggregate value. I hope someone is translating this masterpiece to many other languages.

An excellent book for anyone in need to understand the gay and lesbian identity, either if you're a parent, a friend, a stranger or a psychologist.

This book deals with homosexuality from a psychological point of view, and it frequently questions the reader's paradigms: Who can be catalogued as a homosexual? Is there a standard definition of it? What are the arguments that support homosexuality as something biological and as something psychological? What's the difference between a heterosexual couple and homosexual couple? What could be the difference between the gay couple and the lesbian couple? These are some among the dilemmas dealt in "La Experiencia Homosexual", and contrasting viewpoints are always presented in a balanced manner.

This Mexican author, Marina Castañeda, has a PhD in Psychology and has study abroad in countries such as USA, France, Switzerland, and Egypt. Her universal perspective of homosexuality is at all times reflected in the book, and she even, from time to time, compares how this phenomenon is lived differently in places like Mexico, USA and France.

This book, far from been dogmatic, takes you into a personal journey into the homosexual way-of-life, and let's you comprehend their world, see it as they do, analyze the ups and downs of being gay or lesbian, and wonder the still unsolved mysteries of this world.

Definitely my Gay Bible.

I always wondered what the real legend was...Heard the story throughout my childhood...

This book is a great version for younger children who you don't want to scare too much with this story.

"L of BH" is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Great topic, good sense of suspense, interesting characters, insight into an unusual(and, may I add, still contoversial)period of Southwestern history. All of Claire's novels are very very good, this was the best. I just returned from a trip to New Mexico, went thru Bernallilo, stayed at Tamaya, so I could totally get into the atmosphere, evoked quite well. Van Giesen has such a good way of writing intelligent and provocative aspects of Albuquerque/New Mexico tales and keeping the mystery, energy and intrigue up, especially thru the view of a "book-loving" main character. More!!

Archivist Claire Reynier works at the Center for Southwest Research at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. One day Isabel Santos informs Claire that she tripped over a loose brick on the floor but when she investigated it she found a wooden cross with a note hidden in it. Isabel made a copy of the document and shows it to Claire who believes it was the last note written by a Jewish mystic before he was killed in the Mexican Inquisition.

The document should be placed somewhere safe but when Claire tries to convince Isabel to give it to the university, she tells the archivist she has to think about it. The very next day Isabel is murdered in her home and the document is missing but the cross is found On a hunch, Claire asks the police to dig around the area where the cross was buried and they unearth a skeleton over four centuries old. The police think Isabel was murdered in a robbery gone bad, but Claire thinks the modern day homicide, the document, and the skeleton are all linked together and she intends to prove it or die trying.

The protagonist is an independent thinker who does not allow herself to be sidetracked when she thinks she is right. She is a woman of the new millennium one to be admired and emulated. Judith Van Gieson tells a creative and fascinating story intermingling the past with the present and educating the reader in a period not widely studied. The who-done-it is fascinating but it is the mystery of the past that holds the reader's attention.

Harriet Klausner

Published by the vaunted Red Crane Books of Santa Fe, New Mexico, this three volume set on religious art and wooden artifacts of New Mexico is a rare, rich visual and intellectual repast. It would be a treasured gift, one to which collectors and aficionados will return time and again.

Larry Frank is remembered for "The New Kingdom of the Saints" (1997), while Skip Miller is curator and director, Taos Historic Museums.

With 842 stunning color photographs and 848 pages A Land so Remote surely holds the most comprehensive and accessible information on this subject. Many of the photos included are of rare objects gleaned from nine museums and a number of private collections. Carefully selected for the part each plays in this artistic corpus, photos are accompanied by concise essays that enhance knowledge while still piquing an interest to know more.

Volumes I and II beautifully present the growth of religious art during a period of over 125 years. It was a time when in order to undergird their faith Spanish settlers turned to santos, visual representations of saints. Thus was born an art form unique to America which once was of great import in churches, communities and homes.. Santos were, if you will, incarnations of the hopes and dreams of these immigrants.

"Rightly understood," author Frank remarks, "santos are a kind of `liberation theology' written in the language of wood, plaster, and paint, an understanding of Christianity that empowers the poor to free themselves from unjust socioeconomic and cultural structures in the larger world and within themselves.

Volume III centers on wooden objects, such as tools, furniture, toys, and domestic utensils. These objects testify to the influence of the Spanish on the traditions of the indigenous inhabitants of this region.

Photographer Michael O'Shaughnessy described his task as a "...wonderful, often awesome, experience of having such close contact with material that radiates the love and importance that their makers brought to their creation."

Such is the case with readers as they leaf through the pages of these landmark volumes.

- Gail Cooke

A LAND SO REMOTE

Prior to the holidays, I received a great gift, a copy of the beautifully produced three-volume study A Land So Remote, authored by Larry Frank and Skip Miller, and published by Marianne and Michael O'Shaughnessy of Red Crane Books, Publishers, Santa Fe.
Creation of a successful publication of this magnitude can only be accomplished by many who work in concert, in this case scholar, editor, publisher and, of course, those who are willing to share their treasures with anyone wishing to turn the pages in this landmark study. Frank and Miller have devoted a large percentage of their lives carefully studying and painstakingly handling objects-some of religious importance, powerful images that were the subject of daily devotion, while other objects that served a useful function in the lives of hundreds of thousands attempting to make their lives easier. To the Hispanic, Native American, and the Anglo, these objects were an integral part of daily life-whether as an expression of their spirituality, their intense religious devotion-- or to enable them to perform certain physical tasks-- cutting wood or baking bread.
The authors, in concert with photographer Michael O'Shaughnessy, have treated each object sympathetically, whether it be a santo or bulto, or packsaddle or carreta wheels, with the same level of care, even reverence. The real joy is in seeing so many diverse objects fashioned out of wood and other materials in significant numbers. How often have we had the opportunity of examining page after page of images beautifully organized and described. The authors, of course, treat us to a display of work by lesser known santeros, as well as the most celebrated, notably José Rafael Aragon. Volume two devotes pages 288 to 377 to some of the most powerful religious images by Aragon and his followers that the reader will ever experience.
Since 1974, I have been a frequent visitor to New Mexico and have written a few books on the Anglo painters. After reading Miller's and Frank's essays, I said to myself, "I wish I had written these words. Both scholars write with conviction and authority. They also write in a style I have labeled "an easy read." They have organized their material so that it makes sense. You understand why the objects were created, who created them and importantly, how they were created. Happily, these objects, some still in the churches in Ranchos de Taos, Chimayo, Taos, and chapels throughout the Southwest, others in museums and private collections, have been "gathered" and presented to the reader and viewer in a beautiful and effective manner (I was tempted to use the phrase elegant but refrained).
All reviews of the publication praise A Land So Remote for its visual appeal, handsome photographs," fascinating account of the history and culture of Hispanic New Mexico," scholarship, a major contribution to Hispanic studies. One critic even suggested that, before being placed in a glass case [with other rare books], it might serve as a coffee table book. Never! If anything, it will be a banquet table book, and will be the scene of great feasts-visual and literary. But their words, like mine, fail to express the impact this handsome three-volume study will have on you-the participant. This study will, like the objects that it treats, transcends time. Secure your copy. I can assure you that it will never gather dust (although it will go out-of-print).

Dean A. Porter, Ph. D.
Director Emeritus, The Snite Museum of Art
Professor of Art History
University of Notre Dame

En este libro loaeza nos muestra una resemblanza de lo que habitaba en el pensamiento de la "gente Bien" de los años 80's, desde su afinidad a hacer sus compras en el extranjero, los colegios de sus hijos, sus "preocupaciones" hasta la gran caida del poder adquisitivo a traves de las multiples devaluaciones del pais.

Vale la pena el viaje al pasado, pero debemos de recordar a cada momento que esto es la vivencia de la "gente bien" o "clueless"

Este libro es una sátira acerca de la burguesía mexicana, sus costumbres, sus complejos y la manera en la que se enfrentaron a la terrible crisis financiera mexicana en los tiempos de De la Madrid. Guadalupe Loaeza se burla de la manera en la que sufrieron todos aquellos burgueses al ver que el estilo de vida al que habían estado acostumbrados desde muchas generaciones antes que ellos se derrumbaba frente a sus ojos. Describe la manera en la que esa burguesía se fue forjando y muestra un poco de su evolución.

Davis Ford has compiled a labor of love, this by capturing the thoughts, ideas and personas of an era that is quickly leaving us. Just as Tom Brokow has referred to those who participated in WWII as members of a great generation, so are those whom Dr. Ford memoralizes in his book. You can almost hear the campfire crackle as the cowboys discuss their lives in a time soon to be remembered only by the false pictures generated by Hollywood of men who are truely of the ages. Everyone who has even sat astride of a horse, or watched John Wayne in action, needs to read this book to hear the true story of the American west and the men who made history, and won a country, in their own quiet way. This book will be read 100 years from now by those who want to know the true story of the American west and those that left their own personal brand on our country.

In his excellent book, The Last Cowboy, Davis Ford creates a colorful mosaic not only of Leroy Webb but also of many other authentic cowboys - as well as the development of an entire region. The format of the book enhances the story with quotes encased in barbed wire, action pictures, regional maps and appropriate quotations interspersed in the text. The Last Cowboy is an outstanding chronology of an era told through ancestral history, geographical details and economic facts woven into telling the life story of Webb. It is a pleasure to read this well-researched and well-crafted history, augmented by humorous anecdotes and the personal observations of the author.