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True Tales From Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino and the Bronx
A cult classic of a book from Mexico’s vital margins – stories of drag queens and Oaxacan Indian basketball players, popsicle makers and telenovela stars, migrants, farm workers, a slum boss, and a doomed tough guy.
Sam Quinones - one of the great contemporary reporters out of Mexico, the border, and the immigrant diaspora – begins True Tales with the life and death of the godfather of the Narcocorrido, Chalino Sanchez.
The book recounts a small-town lynching of two traveling salesmen and how a village of ranchers invented one of Mexico’s greatest business models – popsicle shops, which are now everywhere part of the country’s landscape.
There’s the stunning story of Zeus Garcia, a bus boy in Santa Monica and the Michael Jordan of Oaxacan Indian basketball players. And Aristeo Prado, a renegade from a tiny rancho known for poverty and wanton violence.
Along the way, Quinones lives with a colony of drag queens in the red-light district of Mazatlan as they prepare for the country’s oldest gay beauty queen contest. He spends time in Tepito, the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood and center of pirated goods in Mexico City. And with soap opera queens, he chronicles how telenovelas reflect the country’s socio-political change.
He attends a Mother’s Day party put on by La Loba, the ruling-party’s boss of the Chimalhuacan slum outside Mexico City, attended by 17,000 women, who were entertained by a troop of Chippendale dancers.
Those tales and others develop a momentum of amazing storytelling that is rich in surprise, weird turns and, above all, that bursts with the authentic vitality of Mexico.
The Economist: “… a tireless reporter, fascinated by the stories that lie behind an ephemeral headline in the Mexican press.”
Tucson Weekly: "... a hell of a storyteller."
Los Angeles Times: "...It's hard to choose a favorite tale from this collection, so improbable and delightful are they to read."
The Nation: "... a literary manner that tends toward a condensed, almost telegraphic narrative."
Amazon readers gave it a stunning 4.8 stars:
“You'd hardly notice that it's all true if it weren't for the fact that these tales are simply too good to be fiction. Quinones has a knack for noticing the seemingly invisible.”
“This book will blow your mind. He has an innate ability to dig up and find the most fascinating stories in the most out-of-the-way places yet also show how they often are a microcosmic reflection of how Mexican society operates.”
“It's 13 years since I first read this book and I am still recommending it today for people who are sincerely interested in knowing the back stories of Mexico. … Disneyland has a back lot. If you only want the tourist view, great, spend your money and enjoy! If you want to try to understand a different culture, all of it, here are more parts.”
True Tales From Another Mexico will give you a deeper view of America’s southern neighbor.
Sam Quinones - one of the great contemporary reporters out of Mexico, the border, and the immigrant diaspora – begins True Tales with the life and death of the godfather of the Narcocorrido, Chalino Sanchez.
The book recounts a small-town lynching of two traveling salesmen and how a village of ranchers invented one of Mexico’s greatest business models – popsicle shops, which are now everywhere part of the country’s landscape.
There’s the stunning story of Zeus Garcia, a bus boy in Santa Monica and the Michael Jordan of Oaxacan Indian basketball players. And Aristeo Prado, a renegade from a tiny rancho known for poverty and wanton violence.
Along the way, Quinones lives with a colony of drag queens in the red-light district of Mazatlan as they prepare for the country’s oldest gay beauty queen contest. He spends time in Tepito, the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood and center of pirated goods in Mexico City. And with soap opera queens, he chronicles how telenovelas reflect the country’s socio-political change.
He attends a Mother’s Day party put on by La Loba, the ruling-party’s boss of the Chimalhuacan slum outside Mexico City, attended by 17,000 women, who were entertained by a troop of Chippendale dancers.
Those tales and others develop a momentum of amazing storytelling that is rich in surprise, weird turns and, above all, that bursts with the authentic vitality of Mexico.
The Economist: “… a tireless reporter, fascinated by the stories that lie behind an ephemeral headline in the Mexican press.”
Tucson Weekly: "... a hell of a storyteller."
Los Angeles Times: "...It's hard to choose a favorite tale from this collection, so improbable and delightful are they to read."
The Nation: "... a literary manner that tends toward a condensed, almost telegraphic narrative."
Amazon readers gave it a stunning 4.8 stars:
“You'd hardly notice that it's all true if it weren't for the fact that these tales are simply too good to be fiction. Quinones has a knack for noticing the seemingly invisible.”
“This book will blow your mind. He has an innate ability to dig up and find the most fascinating stories in the most out-of-the-way places yet also show how they often are a microcosmic reflection of how Mexican society operates.”
“It's 13 years since I first read this book and I am still recommending it today for people who are sincerely interested in knowing the back stories of Mexico. … Disneyland has a back lot. If you only want the tourist view, great, spend your money and enjoy! If you want to try to understand a different culture, all of it, here are more parts.”
True Tales From Another Mexico will give you a deeper view of America’s southern neighbor.
344 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 3, 2015
56 people are currently reading
610 people want to read
About the author
Sam Quinones
16 books540 followersSam Quinones is a long-time journalist and author of 3 books of narrative nonfiction.
He worked for the LA Times for 10 years. He spent 10 years before that as a freelance journalist in Mexico.
His first book is True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino and the Bronx, published in 2001, a collection of nonfiction stories about drag queens, popsicle-makers, Oaxacan basketball players, telenovela stars, gunmen, migrants, and slain narco-balladeer, Chalino Sanchez.
In 2007, he published Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream: True Tales of Mexican Migration. In this volume he tells stories of the Henry Ford of velvet painting, opera singers in Tijuana, the Tomato King of Jerez, Zacatecas, the stories of a young construction worker heading north, and Quinones' own encounter with the narco-Mennonites of Chihuahua.
His third book was released in 2015. Dreamland: the True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic recounts twin tales of drug market in the 21st Century. A pharmaceutical company markets its new painkiller as "virtually nonaddictive" just as heroin traffickers from a small town in Mexico devise a system of selling heroin retail, like pizza. The result is the beginning of America's latest drug scourge, and the resurgence of heroin across the country.
The book has received rave reviews in Salon.com, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, American Conservative, Kirkus Review, and National Public Radio.
Amazon readers gave Dreamland 4.7 stars and called it "a masterpiece" and "a thriller."
"I couldn't put it down," said one. Said another: "This book tells one of the most important stories of our time."
Following Antonio's Gun, the San Francisco Chronicle called Quinones "the most original American writer on Mexico and the border out there."
He has done numerous Skype sessions with book groups that have chosen his books to read.
Quinones also writes True Tales: A Reporter's Blog, at his website, http://www.samquinones.com.
For several years, he has given writing workshops called Tell Your True Tale. Most recently the workshops have taken place at East Los Angeles Public Library, from which have emerged three volumes of true stories by new authors from the community.
For more information, go to http://www.colapublib.org/tytt/.
He worked for the LA Times for 10 years. He spent 10 years before that as a freelance journalist in Mexico.
His first book is True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino and the Bronx, published in 2001, a collection of nonfiction stories about drag queens, popsicle-makers, Oaxacan basketball players, telenovela stars, gunmen, migrants, and slain narco-balladeer, Chalino Sanchez.
In 2007, he published Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream: True Tales of Mexican Migration. In this volume he tells stories of the Henry Ford of velvet painting, opera singers in Tijuana, the Tomato King of Jerez, Zacatecas, the stories of a young construction worker heading north, and Quinones' own encounter with the narco-Mennonites of Chihuahua.
His third book was released in 2015. Dreamland: the True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic recounts twin tales of drug market in the 21st Century. A pharmaceutical company markets its new painkiller as "virtually nonaddictive" just as heroin traffickers from a small town in Mexico devise a system of selling heroin retail, like pizza. The result is the beginning of America's latest drug scourge, and the resurgence of heroin across the country.
The book has received rave reviews in Salon.com, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, American Conservative, Kirkus Review, and National Public Radio.
Amazon readers gave Dreamland 4.7 stars and called it "a masterpiece" and "a thriller."
"I couldn't put it down," said one. Said another: "This book tells one of the most important stories of our time."
Following Antonio's Gun, the San Francisco Chronicle called Quinones "the most original American writer on Mexico and the border out there."
He has done numerous Skype sessions with book groups that have chosen his books to read.
Quinones also writes True Tales: A Reporter's Blog, at his website, http://www.samquinones.com.
For several years, he has given writing workshops called Tell Your True Tale. Most recently the workshops have taken place at East Los Angeles Public Library, from which have emerged three volumes of true stories by new authors from the community.
For more information, go to http://www.colapublib.org/tytt/.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 9, 2013
Great view of often unseen parts of Mexico and Hispanic life in the US. What's the story about all those Oaxacan basketball teams in LA and how did narcocorridos become so popular? A couple of the great stories by a now LA Times writer and reporter. Highly recommended -- and I know Sam but that wouldn't change my recommendation.
August 20, 2008
A wonderful read about resourcefulness, optimism and the human condition in Mexico!
March 12, 2019
amazing account of what is going on in Mexico. sad story
January 2, 2026
Of course because of when it was written, some of the terms and framings feel a bit outdated. Overall, however, the essays are vividly written and precise. As a fellow journalist, I was astounded by how deeply Sam was able to report the most remote parts of Mexico, especially in an era where Mexico was still stereotyped by their northern neighbors.
The best part of this book are the people Sam meets. He quotes and describes them without opinion or sugar-coating, often resulting in surprising and funny lines that are revealing of Mexican politics at the time and brings the reader close to the story. So few nonfiction today achieves this, often gutting humorous bits to save the reader a few minutes of their shortened attention span; I wonder if this has to do with the healthy ecosystem of alt newspapers at the time.
As a U.S. citizen I also enjoyed reading this book for the chapters in which he tied Mexican migration and the U.S. by telling us unexpected stories; for example, the obsession rural Oaxacans have with basketball and their tournaments in Souther California, or the returned "gangsters" who innocently aim to mimic the romanticized violence they claimed to witness across the border. The rich number of characters in each essay helped the book avoid most stereotypes and simplifications, though of course I'm sure there are still some and, again, I'm reading this from an outsiders perspective.
I read this for book club, and we agreed that not only was this thoroughly enjoyable, but as ex-pats living in Mexico for varied amounts of time, this book helped us understand (with a grain of salt) so much of other Mexican modern media and conversations and politics we've been exposed to. That in itself is the goal of non-fiction, I hope. It was also trippy to read some current politics in the book and to see how it turns out today. (Read: Vicente Fox).
This is a book that inspires me to write and report better. Love! Wish this had a larger circulation. Excited to read Sam's other books.
The best part of this book are the people Sam meets. He quotes and describes them without opinion or sugar-coating, often resulting in surprising and funny lines that are revealing of Mexican politics at the time and brings the reader close to the story. So few nonfiction today achieves this, often gutting humorous bits to save the reader a few minutes of their shortened attention span; I wonder if this has to do with the healthy ecosystem of alt newspapers at the time.
As a U.S. citizen I also enjoyed reading this book for the chapters in which he tied Mexican migration and the U.S. by telling us unexpected stories; for example, the obsession rural Oaxacans have with basketball and their tournaments in Souther California, or the returned "gangsters" who innocently aim to mimic the romanticized violence they claimed to witness across the border. The rich number of characters in each essay helped the book avoid most stereotypes and simplifications, though of course I'm sure there are still some and, again, I'm reading this from an outsiders perspective.
I read this for book club, and we agreed that not only was this thoroughly enjoyable, but as ex-pats living in Mexico for varied amounts of time, this book helped us understand (with a grain of salt) so much of other Mexican modern media and conversations and politics we've been exposed to. That in itself is the goal of non-fiction, I hope. It was also trippy to read some current politics in the book and to see how it turns out today. (Read: Vicente Fox).
This is a book that inspires me to write and report better. Love! Wish this had a larger circulation. Excited to read Sam's other books.
July 30, 2020
The content was great, very great glimpses into small groups of people throughout Mexico that paints an overall picture of the socioeconomic conditions of some of Mexico at the time. I do however think that the journalistic aspect/exoticism of the place and people described rubbed me the wrong way. It sort of fell into this orientalism-esque trap and didn't give much credit to the agency of the individual people -- rather it spewed out polemical and general statements about Mexico, its people, government without justifying them.
There was a lot of potential to dive deeper into some of the stories, agency of the people/individuals but this book was not that. Instead it unfortunately held up some bad stereotypes and generalizations that seemed unfounded. Not to say there wasn't great snapshots of individuals and their histories and their lives, but the way it was presented and analyzed certainly fell into some sketchy stereotypes
There was a lot of potential to dive deeper into some of the stories, agency of the people/individuals but this book was not that. Instead it unfortunately held up some bad stereotypes and generalizations that seemed unfounded. Not to say there wasn't great snapshots of individuals and their histories and their lives, but the way it was presented and analyzed certainly fell into some sketchy stereotypes
January 31, 2019
Best book I’ve read on Mexico ever, I think.
Premise is that in order to truly understand the officialist Mexico as molded by the 20th Century PRI, one must understand those confined to the outskirts of the society the PRI created. So Quiñones tells
The stories of outcasts, miscreants, the unlucky, unpopular or downright insane. A lot of these essays feel like long drafts of LA Times articles that he wrote and that got cut to fit the print edition. But his cheeky yet detached voice is there, and the lessons are still highly applicable to the Mexico of today.
Premise is that in order to truly understand the officialist Mexico as molded by the 20th Century PRI, one must understand those confined to the outskirts of the society the PRI created. So Quiñones tells
The stories of outcasts, miscreants, the unlucky, unpopular or downright insane. A lot of these essays feel like long drafts of LA Times articles that he wrote and that got cut to fit the print edition. But his cheeky yet detached voice is there, and the lessons are still highly applicable to the Mexico of today.
November 23, 2017
This book was a title I saw while shopping for something else on Amazon. The subject intrigued me and so I bought it for myself. This book offers some interesting insight into a complex subject. We don't often get to see this side of Mexico portrayed in media so I had to read more. It is made up of short stories so it is easy to read. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the subject.
July 7, 2017
Great balance of informative and entertaining (at least for someone who knew very little about Mexico - but I suspect you'd still enjoy it if you were more familiar). Really enjoyed reading this.
February 2, 2023
KSKS
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2017
A very fine resources for trying to understand the workings of Mexican society from the ground up. I just wish I could find a similar contemporary text. 20 years makes this a bit dated, but it's also weird to read about the beginnings of NAFTA (and the end of the Bracero program) just now when Trump is gunning for the treaty and giving Mexico so much grief. I'll be reading more Quinones, for sure, he is an excellent researcher, reporter, and writer.
January 27, 2013
I've now read both of Sam Quinones books and wish there were more - especially one current to 2012. I'd encourage anyone interested in understanding Mexico at a deeper level to read these books. I'll paste in two comments from newspapers that summarize much better than I'd be able to why these books are so good:
- L.A. Times Book Review said “over the last 15 years, he has filed the best dispatches about Mexican migration and its effects on the United States and Mexico, bar none.” and
- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review "Geniunely original work, what great fiction and nonfiction aspire to be, these are stories that stop time, and remind us how great reading is."
- L.A. Times Book Review said “over the last 15 years, he has filed the best dispatches about Mexican migration and its effects on the United States and Mexico, bar none.” and
- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review "Geniunely original work, what great fiction and nonfiction aspire to be, these are stories that stop time, and remind us how great reading is."
August 31, 2008
This is a book of several stories about life in Mexico.. the society.. and the people, the government and the hopes and dreams as well as the poverty, sadness, and religious life of the people.. It was a good book, teaching me more about the country other then the typical drugs, smuggling, etc..
Took a long time to read, as my eyes are going bad and I need an operation.. This is not good for a person like me, who loves and lives to read!!
Took a long time to read, as my eyes are going bad and I need an operation.. This is not good for a person like me, who loves and lives to read!!
July 9, 2007
Reading this right now. Its informative, and the author employs a tight, but humorous writing style that includes his own ideas so that you have a decent idea of where he is coming from. I particularly like how he ties in Mexico's current effects on Southern California. It adds dimension to the local scenery.
March 5, 2015
This book painted a whole new side of Mexico I had never known about or considered before. It imagines a different Mexico, the seeds of which are sown in this story, while also bringing up and examining the issues of why this new Mexico has not broken free yet. A very good, informative read for anyone interested in Mexico's quirky underpinnings.
December 12, 2007
Sam Quiñones is a journalist, and each of these short pieces reflects that - quick glances into worlds that most of us white Americans never imagine. Politics, telenovelas, drug smugglers, indigenous basketball leages, drag queens...fascinating.
September 21, 2008
What a fascinating book! Really interesting stories that will definitely stick with me.
April 7, 2010
both of sam quinones books True Tales and Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream are must reading to start to understand the immigrant experience and mexico.
highly recommended!
highly recommended!
September 19, 2012
Relevant to this immigrant hating political climate. Hits nail on the head
December 9, 2016
great book Sam is a great author. i love mexico and reading about it!!! This is definitely one to read.
Read
May 21, 2018After reading the well-researched (if at times uneven) Dreamland, I was rather curious to read more of Quinones' work, and this fit the bill real well. Stories from backwater Mexico, and from the places where backwater Mexicans wound up north of the border, singing narcocorridos and playing basketball according to the rules of the Zapotec mountain villages, and how that contrasts with the platform put forth by the official PRI government. He's a bit too enamored of Vicente Fox, but other than that, it's exceptionally told.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews