True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino, and the Bronx

by Sam Quinones

Overview

Keen observation and astute interviews lead journalist Sam Quinones on the quest to find the authentic modern Mexico—both in Mexico and East L.A., and other parts of the U.S.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826322968
Publisher:	University of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	08/01/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Sam Quinones lived in Mexico for ten years writing freelance for a variety of U.S. publications. In 1998 he was a recipient of the Alicia Patterson Fellowship. In 2001 he published a highly acclaimed collection of stories about contemporary Mexico, True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino, and the Bronx (UNM Press). He now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Sheila, and daughter, Kate, and is a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. He can be contacted through www.samquinones.com

What People are Saying About This

Kim Robinson

Teenage drag-queen prostitutes, cholos on low-rider bicycles, Oaxacan Indian basketball players these are some of the spirited characters inhabiting the modern Mexico chronicled in journalist Sam Quinones' new book, True Tales from Another Mexico. With careful interviews and compelling descriptions, Quinones treats tabloid-style subjects with respect, unobtrusively weaving in political and class analysis of life under the oppressive weight of the corrupt PRI, the party that maintained an iron grip on power until the historic presidential election in July 2000. In Nueva Jerusalen, for example, a psychotic priest trades the community's votes for the freedom to run a lawless town.

In Huejutla, the town's frustrated populace never sees justice from its sold-out legal system which helps explain the bizarre mob lynching of two men who were falsely accused of stealing body organs. Written over the past five years, Quinones' essays also reveal that, increasingly, Mexico doesn't end at the border. Traditional corridos, or ranch music, become narcocorridos when they move to L.A. As the challenges of the Vicente Fox era emerge, Quinones demonstrates that Mexico's porous culture will be its strength, with the Mexican diaspora continuing to borrow, to adapt and to thrive.

Editorial Reviews

It's the best type of nonfiction book: one that captures a moment in time yet remains as relevant as ever.—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher

Quinones, an accomplished storyteller, uses a narrative style to grand effect. Sometimes, the narrative takes unbelievable turns, yet the author has met each of his subjects, and, while his text is by necessity anecdotal, his is a refreshing treatment of a country in which everything has been penetrated by the ruling party. He recounts stories of men who dress as women, of the narcotraficantes, and of the chamber of deputies' section called The Bronx, where misbehaving is both common and a speciality. This is an excellent view of the informal economy and various means that are used to get around Mexico's reliclike system of social, economic, and political organization. Highly recommended. . . .

Library Journal