Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City

by Kurt Hollander

In the '80s, when author/photographer Kurt Hollander lived in New York and published The Portable Lower East , life there was particularly rough, and cops often drove yellow cabs as a method to surprise and roust its residents. Before the decade ended, Hollander moved to the equally rough climes of Mexico City, making his living writing and photographing for The Guardian , The New York Times , Los Angeles Times , and many other publications.
Hollander's visual and textual extravaganza, Several Ways to Die in Mexico City , provides a perspective of this extraordinary city that could only have been caught by an observant outsider who lived in all its nooks and crannies for over two decades.
Crammed with caustic but fair observations of the city's history, food, cults, drugs, and buildings, Hollander proves that he can love a city and culture that also kills its inhabitants softly. The book contains dozens of extraordinary photographs.
While living high in Mexico City, Kurt Hollander edited poliester , the renowned bilingual art magazine about the Americas. He also directed the feature film Carambola and wrote a successful series of children's books. Grove Press published the Portable Lower East Side anthology in 1994.

Genres: Memoir

300 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2012

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author begins with his own harrowing personal experience of intestinal illness and how it prompts his discovery that micro-organisms (i.e. gut bacteria) are extremely important and also extremely diverse, and then attempts to build on that---what exactly?, a kind of a diatribe about how environment is both shaped by and shapes human and other life? I don't really have a problem with that basic premise, except that there's no real way to prove it, or if it is provable, Mr. Hollander's rambling and speculative treatise doesn't get the job done.

At some point, early on in the narrative, he devotes a whole paragraph to his science-based "sources" and we are then to assume that all of his asinine speculation derives securely from his interpretation of these established"facts." There is much here about Mexico City and its history and culture, and the history and culture of other places that is interesting and worth knowing, but I just don't trust the author in his interpretation of things--especially when he strays from the nebulous world of sociology into that of microbiology. He never, for instance, clearly defines what he means when he uses terms like viruses, bacteria, amoebas, parasites, microbes, etc.. The terms seem to be used interchangeably even though they have very precise meanings in science, which he does not bother to distinguish, and clearly does not understand. The book is so jammed with outrageous claims, that I just don't want to touch any of it with a ten-foot pole An example is the following sentence taken from page 99:

"Other microorganisms that survive within the meat of animals and cause food poisoning in humans, including the very popular E. coli and my own personal favorite salmonella, can lead to mucus and blood in the feces, Down syndrome, peritonitis and in some cases death. . . . "

Really? Down syndrome. This is ludicrous crap.

Have no idea why I read this to the very end other than that I have a compulsive personality. I'm sure that's the result of some kind of gut bacterial interaction that Mr. Hollander could explain, but I can't.

[Unwisely · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange book. I picked it up on a whim while walking through the library (the same time I got the bundle of mostly female memoirs I was reading earlier this year). While it claims to be an autobiography, it is only that for a bit, it's more the history of Mexico City, touching on whatever captured the author's fancy. Pulque is discussed at length, and the conquest by Cortez, and water issues and civil engineering.

He makes some sort of bizarre claims, like that the comfort foods you crave help you fight off your native parasites. But he also doesn't make any claims to accuracy (and in fact says when he found several numbers, he picked the largest/most shocking. At least he's honest.)

I admit, I put this book down and read some other books that had to go back to the library first. For a slim volume, it wasn't a very quick read. Interesting, sure, but not gripping.

I did re-pique my occasional interest in visiting Mexico City (while simultaneously being kind of frightening - I'm also sort of afraid of breathing or being in a vehicle there).

[Diogenes Grief · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. Macabre. Scintillating.

Hollander gives an in-depth and widespread look at history, culture, environment, and social psychology in Mexico from both an insider & outsider perspective, which makes this book such an interesting and enlightening read. His dark humor is also a huge plus.

Endnote: don't bother with the embalming process.

[Howard Reed · Rating 1 out of 5]

I choose not to rate as I haven't read it... I haven't read it because I read his expose in the Guardian called Tragedy of Tampico... a city I have spent many winters.
His article, with its self serving sensationalism, half truths and inaccurate depiction of the city were enough for me to decide to save my money.
So my review above is based wholly on his article, which required several editor corrections after its release.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Te amo d.f., aunque si me mueras.

[Mojavejen · Rating 1 out of 5]

A great concept, poorly executed. The editing is terrible, which is especially embarrassing for a small press (what else do they have to do all day?). The author brings up some fascinating subjects such as the changing Mexican diet and the cult of Santa Muerte, but he falls so often into Mike Davis-y screeds or colorless downloads of textbook facts that he fails to make any convincing point. The few tacked-on autobiographical sections are the most interesting parts. I like Hollander's photography and visual books and wish he'd focused on stories about his own life in DF.

[Dominic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fun (mostly because I already bought life insurance). The Aztec and now Mexican obsession with blood and guts and death was eye-opening. Most importantly, the news that hot chiles are natural predators for intestinal parasites means this guy is going to be sweating through dinner for the next month.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odd, idiosyncratic, and could have used a copy editor (oh, the small presses...heroic, but understaffed), but this is what nonfiction can and should be: an essay, or attempt, to discover something unresolved.

[Jerry Hanlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative on atypical details. This is not a puff piece commissioned by the mayor of Mexico City. Microorganisms are the least of it. From Montezuma's Aztec Two-Step to the latest in demographic and scientific inputs.