Customer Reviews

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

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Quinones has an eye for Mexico that's not shared by most gringo writers. And he's got the ability to insinuate himself into situations that none of us have the flair, diplomacy -- or even the cojones -- to penetrate. Like hanging with the Kansas City gang out in Zamora. Or explaining those fancy but unoccupied houses out in the hinterland.

He's got the ability to transcend just world of Mexico -- he even knows that Dickies manufactures for LL Bean.

Frequently when I relate something I've read about Mexico to Mexicans, asking for their verification, I'm laughed out of the room. I queried our in-house panel of experts - Ramiro, my gardener who owns two Paleterias Michoacanas right in the 'hood, and Maria, the woman who works for me and hails from a burg in the Tierra Caliente -- and they agreed with Quinones' assessments.

Now, we all know what rancho and corrido mean. Or so we think. But Quinones takes those concepts just a step farther, explaining the social importance of concepts like these, threading the sense of community throughout each story in this book.

And did you notice that the publisher bound this book just a notch above the usual bindings? It's a library binding, and that says something. This book demands it, because it's one to be read over and over again.

This book is fantastic. I don't often actually buy non-fiction because I usually don't plan to re-read it. This is a rare exception. Quinones is 1st & foremost a great storyteller. You'd hardly notice that it's all true if it weren't for the fact that these tales are simply too good to be fiction. Quinones has a knack for noticing the seemingly invisible. The best example being the tale of Chalino Sanchez (who graces the cover). How could someone who completely misses the U.S. radar of popular culture become a folk hero and single-handedly create a musical genre selling millions of copies of albums in the process & then having at least 1,500 songs written about him? Quinones manages to make it sound perfectly believable. If you're anything like me you'll be mesmerized by these essays.

This book will blow your mind. Quinones is able to totally take you into worlds rarely heard about before. Who knew there was a thriving basketball hotbed in Oaxaca that has been transported to LA? The whole genre of narcocorridos (basically, traditional Mexican "country" [ranchero] music with a gangsta slant) started in LA, too.

The topics of lynchings in rural Mexico, the popularity of telenovelas at home and in Eastern Europe(?) and the religious cult at Neuva Jerusalen are all so fascinating and far beyond anything anyone has probably imagined Mexico to be.

He has an inate ability to dig up and find the most fascinating stories in the most out-of-the-way places yet also show how they often are a microcosmic reflection of how Mexican society operates in general.

The question is: When is Sam Quinones going to compile a Tales 2?

It is clear from the book there is more than one Mexico. It's not what you think. The border is a focus but hardly all. Gangs are a focus. The book raises a major question. Is Mexico changing and how?Quinones presents many portraits from gangbanger singer Chalino Sanchez to the dead women of Juarez. Each sketch adds a different and fascinating dimension to a complex perception of what Mexico is. No other book presents that plurality as well. The book is a page turner, a fast paced quick read. It is not, however, superficial but in-depth coverage. It is fascinating.

Quinones' reporting gives you the best of both worlds--the clear-eyed objectivity and perspective of an extremely knowledgeable news reporter, with a feature writer's ability to dig into revealing street-level stories. Quinones belongs to the rare breed of reporter who can tell a compelling human-interest story without getting all weepy and sentimental about the people he's profiling. And he can keep a popular perspective while writing about the people pulling the levers of power, never mimicking their bureaucratic jargon or relying too much on dubious statistics. If everyone could combine the best qualities of news and feature reporting the way Quinones does, American journalism would be in much better shape.

The only time I sense him getting too close to a source is in his "Popsicle Kings of Tocumbo" where he misses the obvious parallels between the ice-cream vendors and Amway salesmen. (Maybe Amway would be more successful if it followed the popsicle kings' example and actually sold products people wanted at reasonable prices.) On the whole, however, he does a fantastic job, doing some especially intriguing fact-finding in the "Lynching In Huejutla" chapter.

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

Another reviewer pointed out that Quinones' accounts are "researched", and this is true; he's done what he needed to do to find his facts. But I would add that the overwhelming note, for me, is that the man has "been there". I heard about "True Tales" from a reviewer of Elijah Wald's "Narcocorrido", and would now agree with that reviewer that the Quinones piece on Chalino Sanchez tells us a lot more about his world than Wald's book, valuable but a bit touristy, a bit arch, and a bit academic. There is an immediacy in these chapters by Quinones, of grittiness, suffering, delusion, terror, helplessness, of all the qualities of the many Mexicans Quinones met and listened to. His description of the lynching is the most direct, realistic and frightening I've ever read; this can happen anywhere, anytime. These stories are unadorned realities of Mexico and the Border, and the entire world as well.
As Edward Abbey said, of the same country, "this is the real world, muchachos, and you are in it."

This book focuses on contemporary cultural trends in Mexico and also looks at how these trends are shaping U.S. society. Among the topics covered are contemporary popular music, the complexities of gender roles, and the economic hardships faced by many Mexicans. Quinones provides an honest, unflinching look at the seedy side of society, but also shows the heroic side of people facing near impossible odds in their efforts to escape poverty. The book is readable and is at times quite funny (reality is sometimes absurd, especially in Mexico).

"This beautifully written collection of essays is a wonder and a delight. . . . Quinones has succeeded in finding `another Mexico'. Intimately tied to the United States, it is at times far from God, but as this splendid book shows, it is also in the midst of a transformation."-Wilson Quarterly

IN MANY OF THE STATEMENTS THAT I READ I SEEN THAT MANY SAID A LOT ABOUT THE WRITTER WELL WE ALL HAVE MANY OPINIONS I PERSONALLY HAVE MY OWN OPINION I THINK IS ONE MY GREAT BOOKS THAT I HAVE TO READ IN MY FREE TIME LIKE SCHOOL OR JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE BUT JUST WANTED TO ADD THAT I LOVE CHALINO AS THE PERSON HE WAS A WHILE BACK WITH HIS MUSIC I ADMIRE HIM AS A FATHER AND I AM IN LOVE WITH HIS SON 4-SHO!!!