Revisions and additions for print editions

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Apr 082023
 

These revisions and additions pages apply primarily to books purchased in Mexico. Books purchased more recently via Amazon are the latest printing at the time of purchase (check for any later revisions), and Kindle editions should automatically update whenever minor revisions are made.

Links go to the revisions and additions page for the respective title:

 Posted by at 11:35 am

New website: the launch of LakeChapalaArtists.com

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Jan 202018
 

We are excited to announce that we have moved the “Lake Chapala artists and authors” project to its own dedicated website. This will allow us to modernize the look and functionality of the site and better serve our many readers.

All existing profiles of artists and authors, comments and other information, are already on the new site. All existing (old) links to or from the Sombrero Books site should continue to work normally.

The new permanent URL for the project is: http://LakeChapalaArtists.com

Enjoy!

Tony Burton

 Posted by at 12:20 pm
Jun 292017
 

Canada celebrates its 150th birthday this year. In honor of Canada Day, here is a list of those Canadian artists and authors who have connections to Lake Chapala and who have already been profiled on this blog. Enjoy!

Henry Sandham (1842-1910), a well-known Canadian illustrator of the time, illustrated Charles Embree‘s historical novel, A Dream of a Throne, the Story of a Mexican Revolt (1900), the earliest English-language novel set at Lake Chapala. Embree, who published several novels and numerous short stories, was a genuine Mexicophile if ever there was one, but died in his early thirties.

Canadian artist Clarence Ainslie Loomis painted Ajijic in the early 1990s. I would love to learn more about this elusive character whose paintings are very distinctive.

Loomis was following in the footsteps, so to speak, of Canadian artist Eunice Hunt and her husband Paul Huf who spent many years working in Ajijic in the 1960s and 1970s. The couple married in Ajijic and their two sons were both born in Mexico. The family subsequently moved to Paul’s native Germany to continue their artistic careers.

In the 1950s, a young Canadian woman, Dorothy Whelan, became the partner of artist and photographer Ernest Alexander (1921-1974) who ran the  Scorpion Club in Ajijic. “Alex” led an extraordinary life but things spiraled out of control after the couple left Ajijic and moved to San Francisco.

Several Canadian poets have been inspired by Lake Chapala. For example, Earle Birney visited Ajijic in the 1950s and Canadian performance poet Canadian performance poet Leanne Averbach visited the lake many years later. Al Purdy first visited Chapala on a quest to explore the haunts of D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) and later produced a limited edition book based on his trip. [Lawrence wrote his novel “The Plumed Serpent” while staying in Chapala om 1923.]

Canadian historian and non-fiction writer Ross Parmenter (1912-1999) only ever spent a few days at Lake Chapala, in 1946, but has left us detailed descriptions of the local villages and of what life was like at the time.

The enigmatic Maxwell Desmond Poyntz, who was born in British Columbia on 4 January 1918 and died in Canada, at the age of 81, on 29 November 1999, is known to have visited Jocotepec while working on a “proposed trilogy”. It is unclear if he ever finished this magnum opus; there is no record of its publication.

The famous Canadian playwright and novelist George Ryga (1932-1987) had a holiday home in San Antonio Tlayacapan for many years in the 1970s and 1980s and frequently visited and wrote while staying there. Several literary friends and relatives of Ryga also visited or used his holiday home. They include Ryga’s daughter Tanya (a drama teacher) and her husband Larry Reece, a musician, artist and drama professor; Brian Paisley, and the multi-talented Ken Smedley and his wife, the actress, artist and model, Dorian Smedley-Kohl. Ken and Dorian Smedley were instrumental in mounting the first (and only) Ajijic Fringe Theatre – “El Fringe” – in 1988.

We plan to add profiles of many more Canadian artists and authors associated with Lake Chapala in coming months.

Sombrero Books welcomes comments, corrections or additional material related to any of the writers and artists featured in our series of mini-bios. Please use the comments feature at the bottom of individual posts, or email us.

 Posted by at 5:37 am  Tagged with:

Mexico by Motorcycle: An Adventure Story and Guide, by William B. Kaliher

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Jul 132015
 

Sombrero Books is delighted to announce the publication of  Mexico by Motorcycle: An Adventure Story and Guide.

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

Author William B. Kaliher is widely published and a regular contributor to Mexico Today. He has been traveling Mexico’s highways and byways since 1964. A born storyteller, he holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of South Carolina.

kalliher-motorcycle

Mexico by Motorcycle: An Adventure Story and Guide includes numerous photographs and describes Bill Kaliher’s travels off the beaten track in Mexico by motorcycle in 1971 and again in 1993. With travel tips and sound advice gained since his first trip in 1964, this is a book for the armchair traveler, the bike aficionado, and Mexico fans. Read it before you cross the border, then tuck it in your backpack or purse as a reference on the road.

Join the author as he chats about changes in Mexico over the years, cultural differences between the USA and Mexico, Mexican motorcyclists and Bike Clubs, and shares driving tips, historical facts about Mexico, the best cities, regions and sites you might want to visit, and his invaluable insights gleaned from six decades of visiting Mexico. This 272-page book also includes a handy fold-out map showing the routes described in the text.

Milford Burris (a retired businessman and South Carolina legislator) writes, “I am a Harley rider who has toured Mexico twice by auto with Bill Kaliher. On our first trip, Bill patted a thick book resting on the console and said, ‘If anything happens to me, call the people in here. They will help you.’ We lunched with multi-millionaires one day and squatted to talk with peasants in a shack the next, all Bill’s friends…. Everyone knew him in small towns like Catemaco, Puerto Escondido and Tapalpa.”

Mexico by Motorcycle: An Adventure Story and Guide is currently available as a regular softcover book (272 pages); an e-book version will be released shortly.

Initial reviews on Amazon.com are highly favorable. Buy your copy today!

San Sebastián del Oeste (Editorial Agata, Fotoglobo, 2001)

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Jan 072014
 

San Sebastián del Oeste (Editorial Agata, Fotoglobo, 2001).

san-sebastian-del-oesteFotografias del pueblo de San Sebastián del Oeste, con textos cortos. Muy interesante.

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

Photographs of this magical town in the state of Jalisco, which is one of the most atmospheric mountain towns you could ever wish to see. Short texts (in Spanish) accompany the photos. A fine tribute to a wonderful place.

Softcover, 72 pages. Dimensions (in inches): 8.75 x 8.75 x 0.4. ISBN: 970-657-083-7 Price: US$20.00 (plus shipping, contact us for details)

Want to learn more about San Sebastián del Oeste?

 Posted by at 5:48 pm

Tapalpa Editorial Agata, Fotoglobo, 2001

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Jan 072014
 

Tapalpa (Editorial Agata/Fotoglobo, 2001)

tapalpa-foto-globoShort articles on the locations set the scene for dozens of vintage sepia photographs of this historic village which has become a prime tourist destination (and is one of the “Magic Towns”) in Jalisco, Mexico. The book includes photos of Tapalpa, La Constancia, las Piedrotas, Los Frailes, Ferrería de Tula, Ojo Zarco, Arroyos, Buenavista, El Tacamo and Cascada el Saltito and Cascada de las Palomas.

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

Softcover, 64 pages. Dimensions (in inches): 10.6 x 7.8 x 0.2; ISBN: 970-657-102-7 Price: US $15.00  (plus shipping, contact us for details)

Related books:

 

 

 

 Posted by at 5:31 pm

La Fiesta de San Andrés – Historia Visual

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Jan 072014
 

La Fiesta de San Andrés – Historia Visual (Editorial Agata/SCJ/Conaculta, 2003). Visual history, with Spanish-language text, of the Huichol Fiesta de San Andrés, related and photographed by anthropologist Kal Muller.

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

Famous photographer Kal (Kalman) Muller, who grew up in this Huichol Indian village in the sierras of Western Mexico, documents the relatively new tradition of celebrating the  fiesta of San Andrés. A highly unusual book, which could only have been produced by a great anthropologist-photographer.

fiesta-san-andresLa Fiesta de San Andrés nos muestra un rostro diferente del pueblo Wixarika (Huichol). La nación Wixarika famosa en todo el mundo por sus peculiares y arraigadas tradiciones, ritos, fiestas y cosmovisión, lo que ellos mismos llaman El Costumbre, se nos muestra inovadora, dinámica y adaptable. El antropólogo Kalman Muller, quien se crió en esta misma comunidad de San Andrós, y quien ha tenido contacto permanente con la misma durante toda su vida es el encargado de traernos estos vivencias. Mismas que nacieron por iniciativa de la propia comunidad, bajo la invitación de Rosalío Rivera Sánchez “Chalío”, para el legado histórico de las futuras generaciones Wixarikas y del mundo entero.

Language: Spanish. Softcover, 78 pages. Dimensions (in inches): 10.7 x 8.0 x 0.25 ISBN: 970-657-122-1 Price: US$20.00 plus shipping (contact us for details)

Want to learn more about the Huichol Indians?

 

 Posted by at 4:47 pm

The Jew with the Iron Cross: A Record of Survival in WWII Russia, by Georg Rauch

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Jan 072014
 

The Jew with the Iron Cross: A Record of Survival in WWII Russia, by Georg Rauch (iUniverse, Inc., 2006).

rauchPaperback: 269 pages; ISBN-13: 978-0595379873; dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches; Price: US$15.00 plus shipping (contact us for details)

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

As a teenager, author Georg Rauch helped his mother protect the Jewish couples hidden in their Viennese attic. Officially classified as one-quarter Jewish, Rauch is drafted into Hitler’s army and sent to fight for causes he detests. Rauch finds himself near death many times, but his talents as a shortwave radio operator, chef, and even harmonica player all play a role in his survival. Captured by the Russians in the autumn of 1944, Rauch faces brutality and near-fatal illness as a POW. Recruitment for Russian espionage saves his life this time, but his story isn’t over yet.

Based on eighty letters sent home from the Russian trenches, The Wooden Spoon is a riveting tale of paradox and survival during World War II.

“A fascinating account of what it was like for a partial Jew to serve in the German military during World War II. Rauch’s experiences and hardships dramatically depict the physical and emotional struggles of a ‘Mischling’ during the Third Reich.”—Bryan Mark Rigg, author of Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers

“Not about combat tactics but about what it meant to be in an army at war. Rauch has put a human face on aspects of the war that are usually only referred to in passing.”—Tom Houlihan, WWII cartographer

Georg Rauch was a successful professional artist who exhibited extensively in Europe, the United States and Mexico. Rauch and his wife, Phyllis, made their home overlooking Lake Chapala in the central highlands of Mexico for more than thirty years.

Want to learn more about this very interesting artist?

Jalisco en el progreso de México (1947)

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Jan 072014
 

Jalisco en el progreso de México – aportación a la obra de gobierno del Lic. J. Jesús Gónzalez Gallo. 6. Estudios Fundamentales. Published in Guadalajara, Jalisco, 1947.

gonzalez-gallo-jalisco-en-el-progreso-de-mexicoPaper bound. Papel cultural. 287 pp. Some minor stains and marks, but no annotations, notes or signatures.

Includes chapters:

  • Cronología Jalisciense by Prof. Ramón García Ruiz
  • Estudio Demográfico by Srta . Aurora P. Magallon
  • Estudio Económico de la Industria by Juan Victor Verges
  • Economía Agrícola y Ganadera Forestal de Caza y Pesca by Lic. Francisco Arguellos Castañeda
  • Comercio y Transportes by Lic. Augusto Avalos Lemus
  • Politica Hacendaria by Srts. Lic. María Steimpress Esponda.

(1947)

RARE. Price US$20.00 plus shipping. Please contact us for rates.

 Posted by at 10:18 am

“A visit to Don Otavio, A Mexican journey” by Sybille Bedford (Eland, 1982).

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Jan 072014
 

A visit to Don Otavio, A Mexican journey, by Sybille Bedford  (Eland, 1982).

bedford-don-otavio-red319 pages. Price: US$8.00 plus shipping. Please contact us for rates.

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

This is the classic travel account based on a prolonged visit to Mexico (principally the area around Lake Chapala) in the early 1950s by the fine British travel writer Sybille Bedford. Slight crease to top right of front cover; tiny stain on frontispiece; otherwise a clean, tight copy with no apparent markings.

 Posted by at 10:14 am

A visit to Don Otavio by Sybille Bedford

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Jan 072014
 

A visit to Don Otavio, A Mexican odyssey, by Sybille Bedford  (Eland, 2002).

bedford-don-otavio-grey312 pages. Price: US$8.00 plus shipping. Please contact us for rates.

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

This is the classic travel account based on a prolonged visit to Mexico (principally the area around Lake Chapala) in the early 1950s by the fine British travel writer Sybille Bedford. Former owner’s signature on frontispiece; otherwise a clean, tight copy with no apparent markings.

 Posted by at 10:06 am

Tapalpa – Pueblo mágico (Editorial Agata, Fotoglobo, 2001)

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Jan 042014
 

Tapalpa – Pueblo mágico (“Tapalpa – Magic Town”), was published by Editorial Agata/Fotoglobo in 2001.

tapalpaThis photo book with captions in Spanish has beautiful full-color photos of this magical mountain town. (Fotografias del pueblo mágico de Tapalpa con textos cortos).

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

Softcover, 143 pages. Dimensions (in inches): 11.0 x 8.5 x 0.4.

ISBN: 970-657-088-8 Price: US$35.00 (plus shipping, contact us for details)

Related books:

Tapalpa  (Editorial Agata, Fotoglobo, 2001) -64 pp; sepia photos

 

 Posted by at 6:12 pm

The Line – La Linea, by Beldon Butterfield (Ediciones de la Noche, 2007)

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Jan 042014
 

The Line – La Linea, by Beldon Butterfield (Ediciones de la Noche, 2007).

butterfieldSoftcover, 444 pages. Dimensions (in inches): 8.25 x 5.5 x 1.0. ISBN: 978-1-60461-176-2 Price: US$20.00 (plus shipping, contact us for details)

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

This novel is set in the nether world of the Mexican drug trade, where men and women on both sides of the border wage an ill-fated “war on drugs” against a formidable enemy in command of an army of ruthless killers with endless resources.

Amid this amoral world of violence, a three way romance is forged between the striking and athletic DEA agent Fernanda Deering, the dashing but conniving Jaime Nuñez, a sub comandante in the PGR – Mexico’s elite law enforcement agency – and George Redfield, a bon vivant bi-cultured Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.

Born and raised in Argentina, Beldon Butterfield is a U.S.-educated author who came to Mexico with Time Inc. and now divides his time between Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende.

 

 Posted by at 6:08 pm

Tlajomulco (Editorial Agata, Fotoglobo, 2004)

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Jan 042014
 

Tlajomulco (Editorial Agata, Fotoglobo, 2004).

tlajomulcoLanguage: Spanish. Softcover, 96 pages. Dimensions (in inches): 8.7 x 8.7 x 0.2 ISBN: 970-657-144-2 Price: US$20.00 (plus shipping, contact us for details)

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

A full-color book of great color photos and short descriptions of all the major sites and scenes in the municipality of Tlajomulco. Tlajomulco is an historic town located between the city of Guadalajara.and Lake Chapala in Jalisco, Mexico.

The book includes places such as Santa Cruz de las Flores, San Agustín, Cajititlán, San Lucas, San Juan Evangelista and Cerro Viejo.

 

 Posted by at 5:42 pm

Laguna de Sayula; humedad del sur de Jalisco, México (Unión Editorialista. 2005)

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Jan 042014
 

Laguna de Sayula; humedad del sur de Jalisco, México (Laguna de Sayula; wetland in southern Jalisco, Mexico”) Unión Editorialista. 2005

sayulaLanguage: Spanish. Softcover, 174 pages. Dimensions (in inches): 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.6. ISBN: 970-657-158-2 Price: US$40.00 (plus shipping, contact us for details)

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

This beautiful book about the Laguna of Sayula (located alongside the main toll highway linking Guadalajara and Colima) in Jalisco begins with a short historical introduction to the region. Most of the volume is dedicated to a comprehensive account of all aspects of the Laguna’s natural history: geology, flora and fauna, particularly the rich bird life that characterizes this region. The book is richly illustrated throughout with excellent color photos.

A very hard-to-find item. Only two copies in stock.

 Posted by at 5:34 pm

Exploring Yucatan: A Traveler’s Anthology, selected and edited by Richard D. Perry

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Jan 042014
 

Exploring Yucatan: A Traveler’s Anthology, selected and edited by Richard D. Perry (Espadaña Press, 2001).

perry-yucatanSoftcover, 318 pages. Dimensions (in inches): 9 x 6 x 0.9. ISBN: 0-9620811-4-0 Price: US$20.00 (plus shipping, contact us for details)

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

For centuries, explorers, adventurers, artists, naturalists and archeologists have recorded their experiences of work and travel in Yucatan. Their vivid memoirs give us historic insights into the attitudes of the past, document how conditions have changed over time, and help to illuminate the present in this exotic tropical region of Mayan Mexico.

Now, a broad and varied selection of these classic writings have been excerpted and collected in one volume to entertain and enlighten today’s traveler to Yucatan.

The selections include all the major Mayan sites and regions of the Yucatan peninsula, from Campeche on the Gulf coast to Tulum on the Caribbean coast. The narratives are accompanied by numerous historical and new illustrations, maps, a glossary and full index. Essential reading for anyone traveling the Ruta Maya.

 Posted by at 5:29 pm

Past Times in Chapala, by J. Jesús González G. (1994)

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Jan 042014
 

Past Times in Chapala by J. Jesús González G. (1994)

aquellos-tiempos-chapalaThis 56 page book is an evocative, bilingual (Spanish-English) description of the delights of the popular resort community of Chapala, on the shores of Mexico’s largest natural lake, written by a prominent politician. The book includes 75 sepia-tone photos dating from the early decades of this century. The translation is by Tony Burton.

Sombrero Books is reader-supported. Purchases made via links on our site may, at no cost to you, earn us an affiliate commission. Learn more.

Hard to find item. Price US$15.00 (plus shipping, contact us for details)

 Posted by at 5:22 pm

Some Common and Interesting Plants of San Miguel de Allende (1999)

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Jan 042014
 

Some Common and Interesting Plants of San Miguel de Allende, by John and Anne Packer, is a bilingual flora guide, with Spanish translations by Manuel Lopez, published by Plant Press Publications, 1999.

packer-plants-san-miguelSoftcover, 120 pages; 52 colour photos. Dimensions (in inches): 9.0 x 6.0 x 0.3 ISBN: 0-9684769-0-2 Price: US$15.00 (plus shipping, contact us for details).

This useful and authoritative bilingual field guide can be used anywhere in central Mexico. It is particularly well-suited for visitors from the north who are encountering semitropical plants for the first time. The book describes some of the more common trees and shrubs, cacti and herbaceous perennials, as well as many of the colorful climbers that make Mexican towns such interesting places to visit.

As well as a technical description, general information is supplied telling whether the plant is introduced from Europe or elsewhere, and other details that make the plant memorable. Common and scientific names are provided for every entry. “Easy to use, well laid out, concise and well written” – Atencion San Miguel

 Posted by at 5:14 pm

A Drink Named Tequila, by José María Muria and Ricardo Sánchez (Ed. Agata, 1996)

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Jan 042014
 

A Drink Named Tequila by José María Muria and Ricardo Sánchez (Ed.Agata, 1996).

Softcover, 81 pages. Dimensions (in inches): 8.6 x 8.6 x 0.3. ISBN 968-7310-79-0  Price: US$15.00 (plus shipping, contact us for details)

All genuine tequila comes (by law) from within a limited region of Western Mexico, centered on the small town of Tequila, an hour’s drive west of Guadalajara.

Beautifully illustrated with 32 color plates, A Drink Named Tequila traces the history and mystery of tequila (the liquor) from its ancient roots to today. The text, by one of Jalisco’s foremost historians, José María Muria, provides many fascinating insights into Mexico’s national drink.

For example, did you know what the agave (maguey) plant, from which tequila is derived, represented in the ancient Nahuatl culture? “In the Nahuatl culture, the maguey was a divine creation that represented Mayáhuel, a goddess who had four hundred breasts to feed her four hundred children.”

For a long time, the production of liquor of any kind was completely prohibited in New Spain:

“With the intention of favoring the importation and sale of produce from the major Iberian peninsular landowners, the Spanish Crown had prohibited the production of liquor in America, and brutally persecuted those who disobeyed. This, as well as to ensure – at least, so they said – that the Indians and mestizos would consume less, was why mescal was born and raised clandestinely. In turn, this explains why it took so long to leave clear proof of its existence and why today we know so little of its teething stages and first, tottering steps.”

Many of the early tequila brands were given feminine names:

“It became common for distilleries to be baptized with a feminine variant of the surname of their owner; Martinez: “La Martineña”; Guarro: “La Guarreña; Gallardo: “La Gallardeña”; Flores: “La Floreña”; Quintanar: “La Quintaneña”, etcetera. It also became common to link the brand name with some positive quality, as in the case of … “La Perseverancia” (“The Perseverance”), or…  “La Constancia” (“The Certainty”).”

Of interest to historians looking at the migration of rural businessmen from the site of their wealth in the countryside toward the cities, Muria writes that,

“Of all the great rural businessmen, the tequila producers were the last to move their places of residence from the countryside. As the twentieth century began, it is well known that practically all the hacienda owners had relegated their ancestral residences to the role of summer homes or for occasional visits, given that now their greatest desire was to figure prominently in the loftiest circles of society in Mexico’s provincial capitals, the capital of the Republic, or even in Paris or some other flashy European city.”

The book does have a handful of minor flaws. For example, Muria writes that the cocktail known as a margarita is made from “a combination of tequila with a dash of lime juice, mint and salt”. Perhaps he wrote this phrase after tasting one too many tequilas, since for a genuine margarita, his “mint” would need to be replaced by a shot of orange-flavored liqueur such as cointreau or Gran Marnier…

Despite such minor details, A Drink Named Tequila (Editorial Agara, 1996) remains a fascinating and well-illustrated read.

Want to learn more about tequila?

 Posted by at 3:28 pm