Rating: 
Summary: What would it be like living in Mexico?
Review: I fell in love with Mexico after my second trip last year. Immediately upon our return, my wife recommended I read a book that she had bought called On Mexican Time by Tony Cohan.On Mexican Time - A new life in San Miguel, tells the story of two people tired and exhausted of their life in Los Angeles, take a holiday in San Miguel and enjoy their trip to Mexico so much that they return six months later to. The writing is a little flowery and over-descriptive at first, but as they become more 'pedestrian' in Mexico, the writing changes to a matter of fact style. Whether this was on purpose or not, it certainly helps to reinforce his view that the country is changing. The renovating that occurs in their historic home is entertaining and amusing. 'The man who died twice' gives an interesting insight into the Mexican attitude towards crime. The saddest chapter in the book is El Tremblo, which is set during the Mexico City earthquake. If you have a small understanding of recent Mexican history or have fallen in love with the country and are thinking of staying long-term, it's worth a read.
Rating: 
Summary: A good description of ¿la vida mexicana¿.
Review: All in all, "On Mexican Time" is a pretty good read if you want to find out a little about living in Mexico and the people (both natives and imports) that you will encounter there. In their fifteen years in San Miguel de Allende Tony and Masako gain a pretty good appreciation for the Mexican way of life. I'm not saying they adopted that way of life because, from beginning to end, they both remained very much norteamericanos (Spanish PC for gringo). I, too, have lived in Mexico and I believe that those of us born north of the border will never fully understand all the elements that make up the Mexican psyche, and visa versa. Who we are, as a culture, is a concatenation of centuries of historical, theological and sociological factors. It is unlikely that any of us can fully understand why another culture acts the way it does. Nevertheless, Cohan aptly portrays the 'sabor' of 'la vida mexicana'. His descriptions of the joys and sorrows of the Mexican nationals and the quirky behavior of the expatriates bring clearly to mind many people I have known. While I haven't been to San Miguel de Allende his description of the city; its streets, shops, festivals and homes, is a very accurate portrayal of many other cities in Mexico. On the down side, he could have done with a lot less about all their shopping. If I read the words 'plaid bolsa' one more time it will be too many. While some description of the differences between our two cultures is in order, I feel like I've just read his entire grocery list for the past 15 years.
Rating: 
Summary: tender, insightful
Review: It's a global world. People don't just live in the place they come from any more. But there are adjustments, misunderstandings. This book is a really good look at one writer's odyssey into really living in another land. Much is revealed as the years unfold. An object lesson, and in inspiration.
Rating:
Summary: a beautiful book
Review: This book really gets into what goes on in Mexico. I grew up in Guanajuato and sometimes it takes a really gifted writer to expose a place. I think the gringo hipper-than-thou comments about what is authentic or not really miss what Cohan has done. He has perfectly describe a town and region I have known all my life. Maybe Mexicans are in a better position to appreciate this than others, I don't know. But this book really took me through a rich journey. Felicitaciones!
Rating:
Summary: right on time with on mexican time
Review: a deeply thought out book that in an instant makes me want to be in St. Miguel de Allande. (I did at least find it on the map). Conan is not as humorous as Mayle nor does he go quite as indepth over the frustrations of working with contractors and artisans but nevertheless he portrays a lovely picture of his (and his artist wife's) life in Mexico and friends both native and expatriate that fill his days. He hints at but does not tell us reasons why so many nonMexicans flock to St. Miguel. I loved the book.
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes Annoying, Sometimes Touching...
Review: You know how these expatriate memoirs go, but to summarize: Travel writer Tony Cohan and his artist wife have this feeling of uneasiness in the 3:00 AM of their souls that (as far as I can tell) comes from living a life--why is it always in New York City of LA?--that doesn't involve worrying about how to pay the mortage, whether one's 10-year-old car will start, or having to get to work on time Monday morning no matter what. And author Tony Cohan soon realizes that--outside of their sealed enviroments of residence, car, and clients' offices--the surrounding society seems to taken a chaotic cast, like something out of Bladerunner. So, the two of them did what any other couple with a six-figure bank balance would do. They rambled down to the small town of San Miguel de Allende, tucked away away in the mountains of Mexico, where they gradually felt the feelings of malaise lifting. Naturally, the two of them found themselves spending more and more time there. (They shuttle back and forth from LA like most of us catch a crosstown bus.) They learned a little Spanish--make that damned little. They learned a little about the culture--make that damned little as well. One day, in a rare and curious moment of passion, they pulled $85,000 out of the bank and bought a dilapidated house that they had rehabbed until it looked kinda like their place in LA, except with chalk walls and quaint neighbors outside. Friends visit. Friends depart. Once in a while, other duties beckon--like when Cohan has to fly back to the US to meet with a publisher. Life can be tough, you know? But you just push on through, you and your lifemate... That's the ticket.... And the love between you deepens, just like the love you have for San Migule. Fade out. Roll the credits. I think the problem with the book, what really annoys the hell out of readers and reviewers, is that they can't identify with the narcisstic twit lifestyle of Tony Cohan and his wife. What are the stakes in the narrative, except to scratch a vague itch? At times, when the stakes DO seem to rise beyond the pursuit of self, the reading gets interesting. Most often, it's when acquaintances get sick, or when they die. (That's bound to happen when you hang around for fifteen years in a small Meixcan town in which your friends are Americans at the outset are well into middle age or beyond.) The scenes that resonated to me most were the ones where Cohan and his wife rehabbed an old house. A couple of years ago, I re-did a bodega that rented for $100 a month in the red-light district of a border town, where I was doing some documentary work. I had some of the same cross-cultural mishaps happen, except mine reached a more dramatic crescendo when I went to holler at some spectacularly inept locals who were patching the roof. In a snit, I ran through a sliding plate glass door that my then-wife had cleaned spotlessly and replaced back in its track only moments ago. A bit more on the positive side: Cohan's prose is competent. So, this is an OK read on an airplane. And I think that "On Mexican Time" can serve as a starting point for the neophyte who will eventually want to learn (much) more about Mexico.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty and superficial
Review: Installing a bright blue baked enamel stove and a fire-engine red refrigerator may not be everyone's cup of tea, but this story about the restoration of an old house in the Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende is full of vivid images. What it lacks are character development, structure, and understanding of culture beyond the superficial. Cohan's descriptions of problems with the Mexican help are endless.... However, On Mexican Time is a quick read and easily consumed in an afternoon on the beach.
Rating:
Summary: Real people living their dream in Old Mexico
Review: I was totally inspired by Tony's story of their new life in San Miguel. The book kept me looking forward to the next chance I had to pick it up and keep reading. The description of life there has me so inspired that I'm hoping to take a bus trip there this summer. Totally enjoyable reading experience! Thanks, Tony!
Rating:
Summary: another yuppie house remodel
Review: I echo the sentiments of previous readers--too much shopping, remodeling, and too many gringos. Cohan and his wife escape L.A. so they can duplicate their acquisitiveness by buying and furnishing a house in Mexico. This is essentially an account of a 15-year visit to a nice, middle-aged couple's lovely vacation home. Made me want to join the Zapatistas.
Rating:
Summary: More Mayes than Mayle
Review: I bought this book based on descriptions that it was in the same vein as Peter Mayle's descriptions of Provence. Consequently, I was set up for considerable disappointment. Unlike Mayle's lighthearted, and occasionally self deprecating depictions, this work is more about Cohan's reflections and soul searching than about San Miguel, Mexico. The mid-life angst Cohan shares seems to echo that of Frances Mayes in her "Under the Tuscan Sun". Where Mayes bemoans the shackles of her answering machine, Cohan laments the oppression of an existence at the mercy of home security systems in Los Angeles. Much of his work is the rant of a stereotypic ex-patriot: the US is shallow, materialistic, success oriented; Mexico is kind, cultured, and humanistic. However, Cohan and his wife are periodically required to return to Sodom to finance their existence in Xanadu resulting in descriptions of the increasingly culture shock they experience in the US, only decompressing upon their return to mellow Mexico. Yawn. His descriptions of San Miguel and Mexico are genuinely interesting as is his description of various home improvement projects (again reminiscent of Mayes). These save the book and make reading it worthwhile, but it's hardly a "refreshing" or even a particularly uplifting read.
| 
