Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico [Hardcover]

C. M. Mayo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2002

Baja California. "The very air here," wrote John Steinbeck, "is miraculous."

Was it the air, or was it something else that attracted C. M. Mayo to the Baja peninsula? Whatever it was, Mayo has devoted years to traversing this land, researching it, inhaling it. The result is Miraculous Air, a travelogue that takes the reader on a remarkable journey through history, economics, literature, and politics, from mountaintop missions to beachside tourist towns. Along the way she introduces a stellar cast of intriguing characters including daredevil aviators, sea turtle researches, starving Jesuit missionaries, goat ranchers, hawkers of plastic virgins, and many more.

Sometimes awash in tackiness and poverty, often lifted by the richness of its heritage and natural beauty, Baja California is a world of contrasts. Mayo beautifully, sometimes heartbreakingly, captures candid moments of a place and its people.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

With elegant prose and an artist's eye for detail, Mayo may just have written one of the best books ever about Baja California. Mayo (Sky over El Nido, which won a Flannery O'Connor Award for short fiction) divides her time between Mexico City and the United States, and it's her Mexican residency and employment that give her Baja explorations an extra edge. This Mexican California, a 1000-mile-long peninsula, presents a bewildering combination of opposites. The landscape can be fierce desert or productive farmland. Baja's citizens are often desperately poor or revoltingly rich. The land attracts both opportunists and expatriates; the Jesuits arrived early on and were removed by interdict from their own church. From south to north, Mayo explores Baja's tourist -crowded Cabo San Lucas and its notorious border city, Tijuana. She travels by mule to view ancient petroglyphs and explores the ruins of long-abandoned missions. One might say she experiences to the fullest all Baja has to offer. Still, the mysterious allure of Baja California is never diminished; it remains a destination that conjures up a frisson of danger and the siren call of unexplored spaces. Highly recommended for travel collections of large public and academic libraries.
Janet Ross, formerly with Sparks Branch Lib., NV
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

C. M. Mayo’s collection Sky Over El Nido won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and she is the founding editor of the bilingual (Spanish/English) literary journal Tameme.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: University of Utah Press (October 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874807409
• ISBN-13: 978-0874807400
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,949,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been living in and writing about Mexico for many years. Twenty three, last I counted. I'm the author of THE LAST PRINCE OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE, an historical novel based on the true story, which was named one of the best books of 2009 by Library Journal; also, MIRACULOUS AIR: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico; a collection of Mexican literary works in translation with the somewhat misleading title (I mean, it's not a guidebook!), MEXICO: A TRAVELER'S LITERARY COMPANION; and SKY OVER EL NIDO, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for short fiction. My latest translation is SPIRITIST MANUAL, the secret book originally published in 1911 as MANUAL ESPIRITA, by Francisco I. Madero. www.cmmayo.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't go to Baja until you've read this book, February 16, 2003

By 

Lokapala (Blodgett, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico (Hardcover)

God, what a read! Like a novel, almost, full of surprises and little historical bits that will enrich your visit to Baja beyond measure... it was my first visit to Mexico, in 1957, and reading this book takes me back to my childhood visions of a place where the air is miraculous, the sand clean and white, the people like brothers and sisters. Read this book in the teeth of winter, to survive the snowbound months. And if you want to give someone a gift when they're Baja-bound, give them this book. Truly a miraculous treasure.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An evocative and superbly written travelogue, December 10, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico (Hardcover)

Miraculous Air is an evocative and superbly written travelogue by C. M. Mayo and her travels across Baja California, also known as "the other Mexico." The title is a nod to the famous classic author John Steinbeck, who wrote "The very air here is miraculous and outlines of reality change with the moment"; and Miraculous Air does indeed reveal an eclectic and exciting land, showcasing the people who truly live up to those words. Miraculous Air is very highly recommended reading, especially for armchair travelers, as well as anyone thinking of traversing the very special California peninsula known a Baja!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go to Baja, December 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico (Hardcover)

If you are a confirmed Baja buff or just want a great read about a special place or if you want to learn something about not just Baja but about what makes Mexico and Mexicans so unique, this book will enchant you.