On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel
by Tony Cohan

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Book Reviews of On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel

Book Review: Captures the "smell of the place"
Summary: 5 Stars

A bunch of reviewers trashed this book for being too self-centered, too generalist, and too focused on shopping trips. Those people miss the point. Part of the joy of living in Mexico, for Tony Cohan and for other Americans and Europeans who move there, is precisely being able to buy your vegetables, tortillas and shoelaces from a person you know rather than a faceless corporation. If you don't understand this, visit Mexico (not Cancun or Acapulco, but Oaxaca, San Cristobal, Guanajuato and the like) and you will. It's a micro-book, and it makes no pretentions to be otherwise.

While the author at times gets a little carried away with his romanticization of San Miguel, he brings a perspective that really resonated. If you go in expecting one individual's personal account rather than a travel guide or an anthropological study, you'll be more than satisfied. Well-written and fun, it's a fantastic read, and a must if you don't know much about Mexico.

Summary of On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel

What followed was a love affair with a country and its people that has endured. On Mexican Time is a lyrical attempt to capture the Mexican magic that bewitched the two of them. Cohan introduces us to a quirky cast of Mexicans and expats, including murderers, idealists, philanderers, and writers. Spanning 15 years, the book conveys something of the curiously intangible passage of time, as we watch girls become mothers, marriages drift apart, and friends come and go. The text is rich with sensuous details, and Cohan is excellent at conveying the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of a country that he clearly adores.

On Mexican Time is much less of a glib chronicle than other books of the "charming new life in paradise" genre. Although he is not averse to the odd moment of portentousness, Cohan makes a gentle and elegant guide through the experiences of expat life in San Miguel. --Toby Green

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