Cogan’s Reviews If one were to believe that this is really a novel in nine stories, as the author and publisher claim, then one would have to say it was a failure. It simply isn’t a novel. And stringing some short stories together doesn’t make it a novel either, just because a few of them […]
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Cogan’s Reviews I’m not sure why I haven’t reviewed this book, currently in its 3rd edition, sooner. It’s been around since 1993 and it was one of the first books my wife and I read when we arrived here in Ajijic eight years ago. And – heaven knows! – I’ve reviewed more than 60 books […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews The simplest way to describe this tale is to quote from the author’s preface. “South of Yesterday” is the story of my mother’s life as a bride coming to a strange land. The book flows through the charmed life of an American living in Guadalajara in the early nineteen hundreds, into the violence […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews I’m not sure how come I’ve lived in Mexico these last seven years and never got around to reading this rather well known account of life in Ajijic a good half century ago. This seems to be about the time that the earliest arrivals from up north “discovered” the place and decided to […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews It’s a long time since I started to read a book with such high hopes. And I don’t think I’ve ever put one down, unfinished, with such a feeling of disappointment. Why the optimism? Well, I’m sure everyone knows that Laura Esquivel is the author of the very successful “Like Water For Chocolate”, […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews Several months ago I reviewed Mexifornia by Victor Davis Hanson. The author of that one described his book as “a reflection upon the strange society that is emerging as the result of a demographic and cultural revolution like no other in our times” – namely, the heavy duty immigration of Mexicans to California and neighboring […]
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Cogan’s Reviews My spies tell me that author Scofield used to live in Ajijic and that Lago de Luz, the setting for her novel, is in fact Ajijic. If so, here’s her description of the village: “Lago de Luz, on the altiplano far from the sea, where it is neither hot nor cold, boasts no […]
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Cogan’s Reviews I came across this slender little volume in a friend’s house recently and I’m glad I took the time to read it. Less than a hundred pages, it’s a compilation of photos, drawings, essays, poems, letters, parts of novels and stories and other sources, all designed to shed light on this unique and […]
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Cogan’s Reviews I reviewed the forerunner of this novel, “Rain of Gold”, a short time ago and reported that I really enjoyed it, even though I don’t normally read many family sagas. The first book was based on the history of the author’s mother’s family. This book is a kind of sequel in which Villaseñor tells […]
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Cogan’s Reviews I finally have gotten around to reading this much beloved novel even though it’s been available for years and was made into a very popular movie few years ago. I’m glad I did. It turned out to be one of the more pleasant reading experiences I’ve had in a while. If you haven’t […]
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