Recommended Books

Studying up on Mexico can be one of the most fun bits of "research" you'll ever do. If you'd like to learn more about this fascinating country before you go -- which I encourage -- these books, movies, and musicians are an enjoyable way to do it.

Books

History & Culture -- For an overview of pre-Hispanic cultures, pick up a copy of Michael D. Coe's Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (Thames & Hudson) or Nigel Davies's Ancient Kingdoms of Mexico (Penguin). Richard Townsend's The Aztecs (Thames & Hudson) is a thorough, well-researched examination of the Aztec and the Spanish conquest. For the Maya, Michael Coe's The Maya (Thames & Hudson) is probably the best general account. For a survey of Mexican history through modern times, A Short History of Mexico by J. Patrick McHenry (Doubleday) provides a complete, yet concise account.

John L. Stephens's Incidents of Travel in the Yucatán, Vol. I and II (Dover Publications) are considered among the great books of archaeological discovery, as well as being travel classics. The two volumes chart the course of Stephens's discoveries of the Yucatán, beginning in 1841. Before his expeditions, little was known of the region, and the Maya culture had not been discovered. During his travels, Stephens found and described 44 Maya sites, and his account of these remains the most authoritative in existence.

For contemporary culture, start with Octavio Paz's classic, The Labyrinth of Solitude (Grove Press), which still generates controversy among Mexicans because of some of the generalizations Paz makes about them. For a recent collection of writings by Subcomandante Marcos, leader of the Zapatista movement, try Our Word Is Our Weapon (Seven Stories Press). Another source is Basta! Land and the Zapatista Rebellion (Food First) by George Collier, et al. For those already familiar with Mexico and its culture, Guillermo Bonfil's Mexico Profundo: Reclaiming a Civilization (University of Texas Press) is a rare bottom-up view of Mexico today.

Lesley Byrd Simpson's Many Mexicos (University of California Press) provides comprehensive account of Mexican history with a cultural context. A classic on understanding the culture of this country is Distant Neighbors, by Alan Riding (Vintage).

Art & Architecture -- Art and Time in Mexico: From the Conquest to the Revolution, by Elizabeth Wilder Weismann (Harper & Row), covers religious, public, and private architecture. Casa Mexicana Style, by Tim Street-Porter and Annie Kelly (Stewart, Tabori, and Chang), documents the interiors of some of Mexico's finest public buildings, and private houses.

Maya Art and Architecture, by Mary Ellen Miller (Thames and Hudson) showcases the best of the artistic expression of this culture, with interpretations into its meanings.

Nature -- A Naturalist's Mexico, by Roland H. Wauer (Texas A&M University Press), is becoming difficult to find, but A Hiker's Guide to Mexico's Natural History, by Jim Conrad (Mountaineers Books) is a good alternative. Peterson Field Guides: Mexican Birds, by Roger Tory Peterson and Edward L. Chalif (Houghton Mifflin), is an excellent guide.

Literature -- My favorite writer remains Jorge Ibargüengoitia. Although he died in 1983, he remains popular in Mexico. You can occasionally find his works in translation. His novel Estas ruina que ves (These Ruins You See) gently pokes fun at Mexico's provincial life. His The Dead Girls is a fictionalized telling of a famous crime that happened in Mexico in the '70s. He has several personal narratives, too. All his works display a deft touch at characterization and an insightful and ironic view of life in Mexico.

Novelist Carlos Fuentes is Mexico's preeminent living writer. His earlier novels, such as The Death of Artemio Cruz, are easier to read than his most recent works, which are heavily post-structural and demand a great deal of effort from the reader. Angeles Mastretta's Arráncame la vida (Tear Up My Life), a well-written, straight forward narrative about life in Puebla, brimming with political gossip, is a delightful read. Another good novel covering roughly the same period, but with fewer social observations and more magical realism is Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. This book and the movie of the same title did much to popularize Mexican food abroad.

Hasta No Verte by Elena Poniatowska is worth a read, as is anything by Luis Alberto Urrea, the master of heart-wrenching works about third-world realities.

Guillermo Arriaga, the screenwriter for Amores Perros, is a brilliant writer of literatura, too. If you can read Spanish, pick up these books on your trip: Retorno 201 was the name of the street Arriaga grew up on, and the book is filled with his impressions of Mexico City back then; El Bufalo de la Noche is a novel about a young man reeling from his best friend's suicide. Both books are due to be published in the U.S. by Atria, so keep an eye out for the English versions soon.

Mexican Cinema

Golden Age & Classics -- Mexico's "Golden Age of Cinema" refers to a period in the 1940s when the country's film studios dropped their attempts at mimicking Hollywood and started producing black and white films that were Mexican to the core. The stars of the day are now icons of Mexican culture. Mario Moreno, aka Cantinflas, was the comedic genius that personalized the cultural archetype of el pelado -- a poor, picaresque, slightly naughty character looking to get ahead by his wits alone, which, in fact, don't get him very far. His speech is a torrent of free association and digressions and innuendo that gives the comedy a madcap quality. Dolores del Río was the Mexican beauty who was later shipped off to Hollywood to fill the role of steamy Latin babe. Pedro Infante expressed the ideal of Mexican manhood, and was also Mexico's singing cowboy.

For some takes on old-school Mexico, check out Elia Kazan's 1952 classic, Viva Zapata!, written by John Steinbeck and starring Marlon Brando as the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. Then there's Orson Welles's Touch of Evil, about drugs and corruption in Tijuana (preposterously starring Charlton Heston as a Mexican). Or rent the HBO flick And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself with Antonio Banderas, a true story about how revolutionaries allowed a Hollywood film company to tape Pancho Villa in actual battle.

Luis Buñuel's dark 1950 film Los Olvidados explores the life of young hoodlums living in the slums of Mexico City. It was filmed partially in the Plaza de La Romita, a charming, somewhat hidden section of Colonia Roma.

The New Cinema -- After the 1940s, Mexico's film industry entered a long period of unoriginal endeavors until a new generation of filmmakers came along who've had success both in Mexico and abroad. This new age is being dubbed El Nuevo Cine Mexicano (The New Cinema).

The first film to become a big hit outside Mexico was Like Water for Chocolate (1992), which was directed by Alfonso Arau, author Laura Esquivel's husband at the time. He continues to make films, mainly in Mexico.

Filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón had scored a critical and commercial success in Mexico with his debut film Sólo con tu pareja (1991), a mordant social satire that any film buff interested in Mexico should see. His Y Tu Mamá También (2001) follows a pair of teenage boys who end up on an impromptu road trip to a fictional beach with a sexy older woman they meet at a wedding. The film touches on the hypocrisy of the country's governing classes, and issues of social inequality, all with an ironic slant.

In search of larger budgets, Cuarón has since directed major international productions, including Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the science fiction thriller The Children of Men.

In Amores Perros (2000), the director of 21 Grams and Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu) presents three connected stories about different ways of life in Mexico City that become intertwined at the site of a car accident. Taken together, the stories offer a keen glimpse into contemporary Mexican society. González Iñárritu's Academy Award-nominated Babel is another tour de force; its Mexican border scene is realistic, exhilarating, and frightening all at once.

Guillermo del Toro has also had parallel success. His debut film, Cronos (1993), was a dark, atmospheric piece that garnered critical acclaim in Mexico. From there, he moved on to the international scene and has directed several films with similar moods, including Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth.

Julie Taymor's Frida (2002), produced and acted by Mexican national Salma Hayek, is a wonderful biopic about Frida Kahlo. Watch it and you'll learn everything you need to know about Kahlo's life and work, from her devastating accident to her relationships with Diego Rivera and Leon Trotsky. The exquisite cinematography captures Mexico's inherent spirit of magic realism, evinced in Kahlo's work.

Director Robert Rodriguez's breakout film, El Mariachi (1992) is set in a small central Mexican town. Made on a shoestring budget, this somewhat cheesy action flick is at least highly entertaining. His Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) isn't as great but it's fun to see scenes of San Miguel Allende, where it was filmed. Ditto for the Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts' The Mexican (2001).

Man on Fire (2004) stars Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning, as a bodyguard in Mexico City and the little girl he is hired to protect. There are some great scenes shot around the city, even though the plot is pretty depressing.

Sexo, Pudor y Lágrimas (1999), by director Antonio Serrano is a gritty, unflinching look at the battle of the sexes in Mexico City in the '90s. It was the second film to emerge from the new era of Mexican cinema, after Like Water for Chocolate.

Tijuana Makes Me Happy (2005), directed by Dylan Verrechia with music by Pepe Mogt from Nortec Collective, shows a thankfully bright and realistic picture of Tijuana. The film's goal is "to break down the preconceived notion of Tijuana as a city of sin by showing the humanity of its people: their struggle, the strength of character, and the love of life that flourishes within." Something must be working -- the film has won Latin film awards and was screened in 2007 at the Slamdance festival.

If you want more info on what's happening now in border towns, rent Stephen Soderberg's Academy Award-winning Traffic (2000), starring Benicio del Toro. It includes some powerful scenes focusing on the drug war at the Tijuana border. Or get a hold of the documentary Tijuana Remix (2002), which celebrates the city's culturally unique and idiosyncratic qualities. You can also get a great "tourist guide" online via a short film called Tijuana es Addiccion made by local Jacinto Astiazaran.

Music

Marimba & Son -- Marimba music can be heard in many parts of southern and central Mexico, but it is considered a traditional music in only two places: the state of Chiapas, and the port city of Veracruz. From here, many bands travel to places like Oaxaca and Mexico City, where they play in clubs and restaurants. Marimba is played nightly for free in Parque de las Marimba, in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas.

Son is a native art form from many parts of Mexico. It is played with a variety of string instruments. One of the most famous forms is Son Jarocho, which often is fast paced and has a lot of strumming and fancy string picking. Dancing to this form of music requires a lot of fast rhythmic pounding with the heels of the feet (zapateado). It comes from the southern part of the state of Veracruz. One of its traditional songs, "La Bamba," was popularized by Ritchie Valens in the '50s.

Danzon & Bolero -- Both of these musical forms came from Cuba in the late 19th century and gained great popularity here. Danzón is orchestra music, which combines a Latin flavor with a stateliness absent from later Latin music. Its popularity is greatest in Veracruz and Mexico City. Bolero (or trova) is the music mainly of guitar trios such as Los Panchos. It's soft, romantic, and often a touch melancholy.

Mariachi & Ranchera -- Mariachi is the music most readily identified with Mexico, and mariachis, with their distinctive costume -- big sombreros, waist-length jackets and tight pants -- easily standout. The music originated from a style of son played in the state of Jalisco. It was rearranged to be played with guitars, violins, a string bass, and trumpets. Now you hear it across Mexico and much of the American southwest, but Jalisco and its capital, Guadalajara, are still considered the best place to hear mariachis.

Ranchera music is closely associated with mariachi music and is performed with the same instruments. It's defined by its expression of national pride, strong individualism, and lots of sentiment; hence its favored status as drinking music. The most famous composer is José Alfredo Jiménez, whose songs many Mexicans know by heart.

Norteña, Grupera & Banda -- Norteña owes its origins to tejano music, coming out of Texas. Mexicans in south central Texas came in contact with musicians from the immigrant Czech and German communities of the Texas Hill Country and picked up a taste for polkas and the accordion. Gradually the music became popular further south. Norteña music tweaked the polka for many of its popular songs and later borrowed from the cumbia, slowing the tempo a bit and adding a strong down beat. It also incorporated a native form of song known as the corrido, which is a type of ballad that was popularized during the Mexican revolution (1910-17). Norteña became hugely popular in rural northern Mexico though the 1970s and later generated spin-offs, which are known as grupera or banda, a style of norteña from the area of Sinaloa, which replaces the accordion with electric keyboards. Los Tigres del Norte, with their catchy melodies backed by hopped up accordion and bass guitars, are probably the most famous practitioners of norteña music.

Rock en Español -- Mexican rock gained its identity in the 1980s and exploded in popularity during the 1990s with bands such as Los Jaguares, Maná, and Molotov. Named for the old (1920s) cafe in the capital's Centro Histórico, Café Tacuba has been together since 1989. Their music is influenced by indigenous Mexican music as much as folk, punk, bolero, and hip-hop.