****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
436 pages. No chapters. Five parts of the story on this Mexican journey. This reader just finished author Paul Theroux’s recently released “On the Plain of Snakes” and felt as if he was in the car with Paul as he traveled both sides of the border, before heading south into the interior. When discussing the border, the author had a political slant, which is fine, since immigration and border issues have been the topic of public discourse over the past few years. As an Arizonan, with land near the border, discussion of border issues is important.Many told the author not to drive into Mexico, that it was dangerous and readers will feel that danger as Paul travels south. While he did not have any contact with the cartels, he did with the federales, which cost him a few dollars. Travel into Mexico for this reader is typically walking across into Nogales, Sonora, for a wonderful lunch at La Roca and then shopping for Puebla made Talavera pottery at El Changarro. As for driving, for this reader, only from Sonoyta, Sonora, to Puerto Penasco, where there tend to be more Arizona license plates on the weekend than Mexico license plates.This book was especially interesting because Paul visits small towns and meets with the poorer people. The income of these people is incredibly low, and while Paul points out that the maquiladoras along the border provide employment, the wages typically are very low. Readers will want to visit Oaxaca and the small villages that surround the main city. Perhaps that is why it took so long to read this book, because this reader was constantly stopping to google something on his iPad. Interesting villages, towns, restaurants, hotels, events all need to be googled for additional information.This reader was fortunate to have conducted business in Mexico for much of his career, which meant visiting the major cities and working with his Mexican business counterparts. This was enjoyable work and there was never any known danger. This is not the Mexico that Paul writes about, and the Mexico that Paul writes about, is the Mexico, that readers will want to know, if there was not any danger. Paul is a braver man than me. Great book, as have been all his travel books. After returning to Arizona from a road-trip with his wife to the deep south, Paul’s “Deep South” was published. It was read and immediately this reader wanted to put petrol in his jalopy and head back out to the places that Paul wrote about.March 14 & 15, 2020, will be the Tucson Festival of Books, an incredible two days of talks & signings by authors. What excitement it would be if Paul would be there to talk about “On the Plain of Snakes”, simply another great book in his vast collection.
