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katiefox's review
3.0
Too much about the author's life, not enough about Mexico. I did enjoy the parts about the culture and life of San Miguel.
traveliz's review
4.0
It has been really interesting to read this book while staying in San Miguel de Allende. As with other places in Mexico that I deeply love, everything has changed. San Miguel is now bursting at the seams with grey haired gringos. Expensive restaurants and boutiques fill the beautiful city and the Mexican population of the town tries to subsist in a place they can no longer afford to live. The book is a lyrical tribute to the past.
timothyneesam's review
4.0
Author Tony Cohan and his wife, artist Masako Takahashi, fall in love with the arts community San Miguel de Allende, a couple hours outside Mexico City. It's suitably atmospheric, with nice descriptions of colour and atmosphere, with interesting characters sketched throughout. It tends to the warm, inviting and appreciative of the differences between American and Mexican culture, even when when plans go awry, or when a character kills someone ... twice. Recommended for those who like travelogues or who, like myself, have fallen for Mexico.
maggicat13's review against another edition
4.0
On Mexican Time is just that. Sprawling, sometimes maddeningly languid, jumping from one story to another with only a new paragraph to separate the two. Yet, I know this Mexico of days of old and I relish being transported to my favorite place without the hassle of Mexico City’s aeropuerto. A beautiful novel, one I will love to reread in the days of barren winter.
For the people that disliked this book due to Cohen’s descriptive writing, to each their own, I suppose. I feel like you can’t be in Mexico without being flooded with colors, textures, smells, tastes, and sounds and that’s exactly what made this piece so reminiscent to me.
For the people that disliked this book due to Cohen’s descriptive writing, to each their own, I suppose. I feel like you can’t be in Mexico without being flooded with colors, textures, smells, tastes, and sounds and that’s exactly what made this piece so reminiscent to me.
stapilus's review
4.0
A highly descriptive - to a fault - account of living long-term in Mexico. Best section in the middle one, about the purchase and renovation of their house there.
alundeberg's review
5.0
This definitely ranks as one of the best travel writing/memoirs I've ever read. Cohan describes how he and his wife left LA for life in San Miguel de Allende and all they experienced there between 1985 and 1999. Published in 2001, and finally read by me in 2017, this is not only an account of another country, but also of another time. I was captivated by his descriptions of the place and daily life, with all of its travails, but also by the fact that it happened pre-iPhone and internet. They had to make long distance calls from the largo distancia office, and when they finally had a landline, they had to borrow someone's phone. He captures Mexico pre-NAFTA, before globalization, and before the world became so homogenized. It is very poignant. While he writes lavish descriptions of the landscapes, fiestas, and food, he also does not shy away from the very problems of living in a third world country and its effects on those who live there. This is a very moving account of what it's like to live overseas. Highly recommend.
colls's review against another edition
1.0
I didn't care for this book all that much and ended up skimming over the bits about the renovations because... yawn. I don't think the author really ever got past his own ego enough to tell a very good story.
mholtzy's review
3.0
It was nice to learn some history while napping in old town of Puerta Vallarta. His language is too flowery for me for the long haul. I always enjoy some context while in a place though. It was fun to get a gringo's perspective on living there - since I usually try to blend in as much as possible when a foreigner. Only worth reading if you're in Mexico and you make it through the first third and are still enjoying it.
nanajo's review
4.0
I struggle to explain all that I find so wonderful in my visits to Mexico so what a treat to find this book that so eloquently describes my experiences. One particular dialogue says it all for me.
"If I smile, people smile wider. If I say "Buenos dias," they say it back, stronger."
"In Mexico," Paul says, "you put out a little, you get back a lot. In human terms, at least, you could say it's a functional economy."
Finally understand how the nickname Pepe originates from Jose. "putative paternity" in reference to Joseph the father of the Immaculate Conception. Putative meaning generally considered or reputed to be.
"If I smile, people smile wider. If I say "Buenos dias," they say it back, stronger."
"In Mexico," Paul says, "you put out a little, you get back a lot. In human terms, at least, you could say it's a functional economy."
Finally understand how the nickname Pepe originates from Jose. "putative paternity" in reference to Joseph the father of the Immaculate Conception. Putative meaning generally considered or reputed to be.
alundeberg's review against another edition
5.0
This definitely ranks as one of the best travel writing/memoirs I've ever read. Cohan describes how he and his wife left LA for life in San Miguel de Allende and all they experienced there between 1985 and 1999. Published in 2001, and finally read by me in 2017, this is not only an account of another country, but also of another time. I was captivated by his descriptions of the place and daily life, with all of its travails, but also by the fact that it happened pre-iPhone and internet. They had to make long distance calls from the largo distancia office, and when they finally had a landline, they had to borrow someone's phone. He captures Mexico pre-NAFTA, before globalization, and before the world became so homogenized. It is very poignant. While he writes lavish descriptions of the landscapes, fiestas, and food, he also does not shy away from the very problems of living in a third world country and its effects on those who live there. This is a very moving account of what it's like to live overseas. Highly recommend.