The majority of this collection is from the Southwest or Mexico but interestingly there are similar pieces from less expected places e.g. Eastern US, central Europe, the Philippines. A significant number of the pieces are pictured. The text mixes technical information about the art pieces with information about how they came into the collection. The art itself ranges from primitive to superb folk art - executed in a variety of media. Among the pieces that catch my attention is a crucifix with an angel at Jesus' side and the retablo of Our Lady of Refuge.

This is an excellent volume for those interested in folk devotional art or Mexican / Southwestern art.

Complete, informative and concise. A must have for the collector! It's worth having Amazon find it.

Esta publicacion nos muestra con fotografias, el lado humano de una ciudad. Personas anonimas que viven y sienten, pero sobretodo el momento y la esencia son captados con sensibilidad. La Fotografia que se muestra aqui es clara y simple. Podria yo decir el lugar y el tiempo yaque yo naci en Tijuana, mas no el porque. Esta publicacion si que es apreciable!

Abbas' photos of the everyday scenes of Mexican reality strike an emotional chord within the viewer. It is as if a creative magic compelled and inspired the photographer to capture and convey the life and energy within the mundane, juxtaposing powerful images of the contradictions of Mexican society. While the photos are arranged by themes associated with death, they overwhelmingly breathe and speak of life. Introduction by Carlos Fuentes.

John Britton's monograph is one of the best I've read on the impact of the Mexican Revolution in the Unites States. This work will soon find itself among the pillars that define the western vernacular. The index is masterfully done and beautifully concieved. Bravo!

This is one of a small number of reports on individual Maya archaeological sites that is written for laypeople as well as fans of the Maya. Rio Azul was a riverside city of the ancient Maya located in the forested lowland corner of Guatemala next to Mexico and Belize. The book is an excellent introduction to the format and reasoning of archaeological reports, but in this popular summary of his findings, Adams, who directed mapping and excavation a decade ago, digests all the numbing lists of basic data and highlights the most interesting discoveries. (If new to the Maya, follow the author's advice [Preface] and read his stirring conclusions first.) In his early chapters Adams ably shows how insights and broad implications can be drawn from simple facts by analysis and wide comparisons. He explores his favorite topics like architecture, pottery, tomb ritual, wetland agriculture, population estimation, and rank-size ordering of sites for determining political relations. He has long championed military explanations for ancient Maya events and the rise and fall of their cities, a useful counterpoise to the euphoria over Maya religion and personalities generated by the recent decipherment of Maya hieroglyphics. Strong on comparisons with the regional capital, famous Tikal, to the west, Adams almost ignores the extensive investigations across the river in Belize which he has since led! (This book seems to have been about 5 years in publication.)

Other than six color plates, 60 illustrations are slightly fuzzy because they are printed on ordinary paper. The index is terrible. A completely different way of presenting a Maya city, which looks an awful lot like Rio Azul, can be enjoyed in the oversize pictorial book of fictionalized history titled San Rafael: A Central American City Through the Ages, by Xavier Hernandez.

Rio Ganges is an original novel by David Theis about an abandoned son who must endure trial and depredation. He seeks a new life in Mexico, yet when his wife leaves him for a wealthy patron, he must learn to confront and deal with his anger and guilt. His quest to regain his family is a stirring, emotional, gripping, highly recommended odyssey.

The Rio Grande River (Great River) is the third longest river in the United States that divides Mexico and the US. Peter Lourie travels the entire river from it's headwaters in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. This is a wonderful account of his travels on this grand river. The history, rich land and people of the Rio Grande are captured in the detailed and colorful photographs. Each region that the Rio Grande travels through is unique and beautiful. I admire Peter Lourie because he is very respectful of the people and the delicate land of the Rio Grande. He did a wonderful job in illustrating the beauty and importance of this remarkable river. I absolutely enjoyed this book because the Rio Grande is very close to home!

Every once in a while a book sneaks into your life and nothing is ever quite the same again. It happens when you least expect it and later you are hard-pressed to remember how or why you choose that particular book...or did it choose you? This is such a book. At first blush this appears to be a book about one man's exploration of the Colorado Plateau in general and the Colorado River in particular. To the knowledgeable reader that topic alone would not be all that unusual in the literature of the West, unless it was done in an extraordinary manner...a really extraordinary manner. This one is, and more. Callahan is of the very few writers that have a real attachment to life and the environment and can write about it in an honest,convincing and readable way. For example,his ability to convey his passion for the Colorado River has enabled me to better understand Norman Maclean's statement "I am haunted by waters." The author begins his odyssey at the headwaters of the Colorado River in the Never Summer Range of Colorado and ends in northern Mexico in a salt desert among "...human garbage and human faith." In a series of essays and poems the reader visits such towns as Green River and Moab, UT; Monument Valley; the San Rafael Swell; the Grand Canyon; Mexico and every conceivable spot in-between including a number not on any map. It is a seven year journey like no other you have ever encountered. In a humorous, vibrant, poetic manner he takes the reader on a virtual guided tour of the Colorado Plateau with its rich compliment of people, wilf life and landscapes all affected, in one way or the other, by the River. Callahan says like much of the desert southwest he is "watermarked" and, when he explains one of the reasons he feels that way, which date back to his childhood, you will understand his liquid obsession...natural and otherwise. He talks about friends, past and present, growing old, women, erlationships with his children, ex-wives, and other things that matter in an open, non-judgmental manner that is refreshing and, at times, painful and brutally honest. Consider this passage: "I've come to that point in my life where I can no longer recall the reasons I began most things, the point where all directions look the same, and every choice seems equally senseless. I drink too much, I play with myself too often, I eat like myocardial infarctions and colon cancer don't kill middle-aged men, and every morning I swear I'll change, but nothing ever changes. Except times in the desert, and especially except times in the desert near water."

In a poetic tone and heartfult manner the reader is treated to one man's odyssey to quench his desire for solitude, friendship, and an understanding of life that is unflinching honest, at times irreverent, and always refreshing in its candor. If you like John Holt, T.H. Watkins, Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and Ivan Doing, this book is a must. It will sneak up on you and make you glad you took the trip.

After seeing the exhibit at LACMA, this book was a great compliment to the art that was shown. It ranged from pre columbian to modern and was very intersting and informative. The photgraphs in the book are complimented by the narration and anaylsis by the author.