Article first published as Book Review: Vlad by Carlos Fuentes on Blogcritics. About: Vlad by Carlos Fuentes is a short novel taking place in Mexico City, Mexico. The story was part of the 2004 collection “Inquieta Compañía” and recently came out as its own book translated by Alejandro Branger and Ethan Shaskan Bumas. 112 pages Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press; Tra edition Language: English ISBN-10: 1564787796 My rating for Vlad – 4 Buy this book in paper format from Amazon.com* Thoughts: Vlad by Carols Fuentes takes on an interesting premise, what if Dracula still lived and settled inMexico City. As one might expect, there is a lot of dark humor in this book, starting with the strange requests the client is making of the real estate agent (“remote”, “easy to defend”) to the client’s look which consists of a silly wig and glued on mustache. What I found to be different in this book is that the reader knows a lot more than the narrator. This style of storytelling invigorates the dark comedy and brings a sense of ominous foreboding to banal and meaningless lines said by the famous Count. In this rendition of the story, Fuentes marries vampire and lawyers – both server as vessels for…

Article first published as Book Review: Malinalli of the Fifth Sun: The Slave Girl Who Changed the Fate of Mexico and Spain by Helen Gordon Heightsman on Blogcritics. About: Malinalli of the Fifth Sun: The Slave Girl Who Changed the Fate of Mexico and Spainby Helen Heightsman Gordon is a historical fiction novel taking place in South America during Hernán Cortés’ time. Malinalli was an important person in Cortés’ entourage who have been vilified throughout the ages. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book— use the Raf­fle­copter form at the end of the post to enter. 672 pages Publisher: iUniverse (December 16, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 1462064930 My rating for Malinalli of the Fifth Sun – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format. More Books by Helen Gordon Heightsman Thoughts: Malinalli of the Fifth Sun: The Slave Girl Who Changed the Fate of Mexico and Spain by Helen Heightsman Gordon (blog | Facebook) aims to tell a story in history which many people are not aware of. Malinalli was a real person in Mexican history , known by several different names, who is often overlooked or vilified. The story is told through various view points, Cortés, Malinalli’s family, and acquaintances but mainly…

Article first published as Book Review: God’s Middle Finger by Richard Grant on Blogcritics. About: God’s Middle Finger: Into the Lawless heart of the Sierra Madre by Richard Grant is a non-fiction book about the author’s “tour” of Mexico’s Sierra Madre region. Mr. Grant is a British journalist who came to the other side of the pond in search of strangeness and adventure – I think he found both. 288 pages Publisher: Free Press Language: English ISBN-10: 1416534407 My rat­ing for God’s Middle Finger — 4 Buy this book in paper or elec­tronic format More Books by Richard Grant Thoughts: God’s Middle Finger: Into the Lawless heart of the Sierra Madre by Richard Grant (website | Facebook) is a fast paced, sprawling adventure in a strange world which is closer then you think, and sometimes simply too close for comfort. While the book might be considered to be in the travel genre it is a glimpse into a lawless part of Mexico. The often mis-quoted line from Treasure of the Sierra Madre said by Gold Hat (played by Alfonso Bedoya) “Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges” comes to mind and, of course, makes an appearance in the book. The…

Quinn Coloson resigned from the Army Rangers to become Sheriff of Tibbehah County, Mississippi, his uncle’s old job. Cleaning up Tibbehah County is not easy

This week we celebrated the birthday of Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Besides being the wife of the famous aviator, she was an accomplished woman in her own right

The central idea of video being spliced from public cameras, using one person as a central figure without their knowledge, an interesting concept

The fictional story of Harrison William Sheppard, a quite boy of a dull American bureaucrat and a saucy Mexican mother. Sheppard spends his childhood in Mexico