This is one of the best books available about life for both expat residents and natives in villages and cities across Mexico. What sets it apart from other books about living in Mexico is that it's a literary collection of twenty-two short stories and essays, full of insights by contemporary authors who write and live full time in Mexico or who have spent a lot of time living in the country. Their writing spans a variety of topics; many contributions extol life in Mexico's abundant sunlight while others examine what the shadows sometimes obscure. It's a sampler of sorts, with active hyperlinks for more information about the authors and their other writing. The anthology contains complete chapters from books and also single pieces from internationally-acclaimed authors and emerging writers: Bruce Berger, E.G. Brady, Ann Hazard, Michael Hogan, Jim Johnston, William Kaliher, Janice Kimball, Judy King, Jeanine Kitchel, David Lida, C.M. Mayo, Carol M. Merchasin, Mikel Miller, Katie O'Grady, Antonio Rambles, Daniel Reveles, Robert Richter, Lin Robinson & Ana Maria Corona, John Scherber, Jennifer Stace, James Tipton, and Candelora Versace. Perhaps the best way to gain valuable insights about the day-to-day life of people in a foreign country is to read good books by authors living and/or writing in that country. The purpose of this book is to identify several writers who can help readers accomplish this for Mexico. Edited by Mikel Miller, with co-editors Michael Hogan and Linton Robinson. Enjoy! This anthology reveals many different dimensions of Mexico in 22 fiction and nonfiction selections, most of them by U.S.-born authors. Drawn from varied sources that include travel guides, blogs, and short story collections, the pieces form an eclectic, if inconsistent, mosaic. "The Blossoming of Baja's Pacific Coast" by Ann Hazard vividly praises the area's inexplicable draw for artists and musicians as well as the seductive allure of its fresh Margaritas...some of the selections positively hum, including David Lida's "Acapulco Gold," which sees the golden arches of McDonald's and its dining tourists as a beacon for a homeless child, and Bruce Berger's evocative and gorgeously crafted "Under theCypress." The anthology's montage of images and voices creates an almost puzzling effect of simultaneously unveiling and obscuring its subject; thoughtful travelers might feel similarly upon leaving a destination and wondering whether it was ever really there for them to know at all. --Publishers Weekly ( BookLife) Michael Hogan is the author of twenty-four books, including the best-selling   Irish Soldiers of Mexico  and the controversial  Savage Capitalism and the Myth of Democracy.  He is Emeritus Humanities Chair at the American School Foundation of Guadalajara, and a former professor of International Relations at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara. He is also a member of the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Sociedad de Geografía y Estadísticas de Jalisco.