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First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, the Capital of the 21st Century
written by David Lida
Studio : Riverhead Hardcover
by Riverhead Hardcover
Publisher : Riverhead Hardcover
Released : 2008-06-12
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9781594489891
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 20 reviews)
List Price : $25.95
Our Price : $13.08
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Product Description |
A panoramic literary portrait of Mexico City— a vibrant, seductive, paradoxical city now commanding the world’s attention and showing us the way to the future of urban life.
David Lida moved to Mexico City fifteen years ago in search of a kind of culture, energy, and spontaneity that he thought had been lost in his native New York City. What he found was a thriving, miraculous urban center comprising centuries of living history, even as its rapid development was making it a prominent force on the world stage. Through the eyes of an American who has become an insider, First Stop in the New World is a street-level panorama of contemporary Mexico City—from the high arts to the sex industry; from the dense jungle of urban politics to the interactions of everyday commerce; from one end of this five-hundred-square-mile city to the other. Lida expertly captures the kaleidoscopic nature of life in a city defined by pleasure and danger, justice and lawlessness, ecstatic joy and appalling tragedy—in limbo between the developed and developing worlds.
While London and Paris have become more homogenous, less captivating, and less surprising since the days when Dickens and Balzac wrote about them, Mexico City points to our urban future—if Manhattan was, as posited by Rem Koolhaas, the urban “Rosetta Stone of the twentieth century,” Mexico City will play that same role in the twenty-first. And with his personal, literary-journalistic account, David Lida will serve as the ultimate chronicler of this exciting city at a vital moment in its history. |
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A Candid Portrayal of the U.S.'s Neighbor to the South |
I hope David Lida's book is the beginning of a new genre of literature about Mexico and other Latin American countries. For too long, the perception of Mexico in the U.S. has been shaped by news reports of crime and corruption. While conceding that these and other problems exist, Lida argues that the U.S. media's depiction of the country is sometimes "exaggerated and poorly researched."
Lida's main message is that the rich cultural elements of Mexico City make it a rewarding place to live for those who are willing to brave its many complications. In making his case, Lida does not down play the city's problems. Rather, he brings them into sharp focus. In doing so, he effectively conveys why Mexico City would be an interesting place to live or visit.
More than a "travel book", First Stop in the New World offers insights into the very character of Mexico City residents. |
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viva la vida |
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If you want to know how a city of 26 million people and 600 square miles functions and how the people deal with all the excitment and craziness this is the book for you. Mr. Lida makes no apologies for and tells it like it is for a city that cannot be ignored. |
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Want to know the real Mexico City? |
Then you'll want to read this book
Mr. Lida describes the traditional tourist spots but he also shows us a Mexico City that few of us will ever visit. He introduces us to some intersting people we would never meet otherwise.
He describes different sections of the city, and in doing so took me back to some of the wonderful times I have spent there in the past.
And for those of us who are planning to visit this amazing city soon, Lida provides us with plenty of places to visit. I am looking forward to seeing the bakery first.
He may not be the first person to move to a different country, but I applaud his courage to live in such a complicated city and show us all, with great style and respect, what it is really like.
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A mix of great articles and tedious fluff |
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The book is a must read for anyone interested in Mexico City. There are indeed a number of great articles which not only present colorful vignettes of Mexico City but also provide a context that presents them in their historical and cultural place. (e.g. the Moneda street markets in the context of the tianguis tradition and how it's succumb to he mega stores). But there are also quite a few chapters that seem half-written and aimless. The book is good but it could have used an editor, a few more good articles, or both. |
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Read this book, join the 16th to the 21st centuries |
Like other reviewers I love Mexico City and I am constantly asked, by friends trembling in fear, why I am going to the DF "again" and why I'm not terrified to go there.
From now on, I'm going to make them buy Lida's book and read it. He can say it better than I ever will. Then if they want to talk to me about Mexico City, we'll have some reality to talk about. Reading this book, I was deliriously happy. Lida gets it about Mexico City. His writing is clear, straight-ahead, and evocative. He offers a sense that rings true of life in the great, enlivening and fabulously weird and wonderful metropolis and especially the citizens of a city where you can find pyramids in someone's yard, and where my neighbors greet my xoloitzcuintli dog and then whisper to me (so the dog can't hear) "We used to eat them."
There is so much bad writing about Mexico, way too many misconceptions, and far too much narrow reporting of events and people who are at the extremes - movie stars, assassins, cartels, and Mexicans crossing the line into the lost (stolen?) provinces of California and Arizona. Lida tells us what the vast majority of defeños do and think and say. And eat.
Get this book, read it and join Lida in the 21st century. |
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