Dancing Alone in Mexico: From the Border to Baja and Beyond

by Ron Butler and Ron Butler

Book Overview

Can a man have a love affair with a foreign land? Ron Butler never dreamed Mexico would capture his heart and his soul. But when his ex-wife moved to Guadalajara with their children in the wake of divorce, he found himself crisscrossing the country, seduced by its charms and moved by its rhythms and its melodies. Like the diver of an old Mexican legend who lives beneath the sea seeking the best pearl, Butler lost himself in Mexico and found the hidden treasures of every tiny hamlet and big metropolis. He writes about the endangered monarch butterflies of El Rosario, the street bands of Zacatecas, and the mummies of Guanajuato. He takes a magical night ferry ride from Mazatlán and a train excursion into Copper Canyon--a chasm four times larger than the Grand Canyon--in Mexico's most mysterious mountains. He goes off the beaten path in such tourist havens as Acapulco and Cancún. And he walks in the footsteps of movie stars and artists who too have been enamored of Mexico. Poking into the nooks and crannies of Mexico, Butler indulges in tasty Mexican specialties at both the finest restaurants and out-of-the-way street stands. He finds the best tequila in the town named Tequila, the world's most delicious cup of coffee in Veracruz, the sweetest dulce in Morelia, and the best mole--a Mayan chile and chocolate sauce embellished by nuns anxious to please a visiting Spanish viceroy--in Puebla. Sharing his considerable knowledge of art, Butler also uncovers the best of Mexico's museums and advises shoppers about folk crafts. Informative and helpful as the best travel guide, Dancing Alone in Mexico will help even seasoned travelers to get the most out of their trips to Mexico. Casual and lively as the best travel memoir, the book will also delight the armchair traveler with south-of-the-border stories and adventures that come only to those who dance not alone but with an entire land.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816520232
• ISBN13: 9780816520237
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Length: 217 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Better late than never. Please add these editorial reviews to others re DANCING ALONE IN MEXICO. Thanks. RB"[A] love song to a country, to a people, to a way of life that is at once alien and yet irresistibly alluring." -Chicago Tribune"Dancing Alone in Mexico captures the flavor of the country, its true essence, in a series of personal memoirs that provide illuminating insights for anyone venturing south of the border, or for the armchair traveler seeking literary adventure." -The Mature Traveler"Whether Butler is describing an afternoon of shopping in Nogales, his search for the perfect cup of Mexican coffee, or the allure of the night ferry to La Paz, he writes with a passion that is contagious. This is an excellent book, with an intimacy more often found in love letters than travel books." -Arizona Daily Star"If you plan to travel to Mexico, Dancing Alone in Mexico by Ron Butler is must reading. If you would like to travel to Mexico but can't get there, Dancing Alone in Mexico is well worth the price to live vicariously through the eyes and ears of a many who loves, enjoys, understands and knows the country better than any norte Americano I know." -Montgomery Alabama Advertiser"Indispensable for the true traveler." - Jim Harrison, author of The Road Home"Fun to read, informative, and eye-moistening for those of us who have loved Mexico for longer than we care to tell. A big ­Olé!" - Barnaby Conrad, author of Matador

Read on the Copper Canyon Train

Book Review: "Dancing Alone in Mexico--From the Border to Baja and Beyond", paperback, by Ron Butler (U. of Arizona Press) Travel is something of a perpetual elixir for my wife, Sally, and me. The surprises we encounter are much more important than any specific trip, since as septuagenarians, we have pretty much seen it all. Last year a well known travel magazine wrote an article about "50 of the top places in the world you must see". It turned out we had been to 42. Taking yet another unique trip in early January of this year, up and down the Copper Canyon (Barranca de Cobre) on a fancy train called the Sierra Madre Express proved no exception. One goes to Tucson, boards a bus for Nogales, crosses the Border into Mexico and takes this spectacular train trip up into a canyon deeper than our Grand Canyon on a train with liveried men ready to meet your every need for food and drink. The best part is that you only sleep on the train one night going and one night returning. The other nights are spent in quaint posadas, enjoying excellent food and real Mexican countryside ambiance, not the noxious fumes of Mexico City. But I digress. We joined some 30 well traveled, mostly older folks, all calm and congenial, each with his or her own fascinating life experiences, . One fellow traveler proved particularly interesting. Ron Butler, a Tucson based veteran travel writer, has successfully sold stuff over a long career to Fodor, Ladies Home Journal, Travel and Leisure, etc. This avuncular, white haired sometime raconteur brought along his attractive thirtyish daughter, Alexandra, and a copy of his recent book, his life story, which those suffering from marital malaise will especially relish. With over half of American marriages ending in divorce, he has a large de facto audience! While this book was just recently written, it comes out of a long incubation: Divorce many years before, then potential loss of children, job and self worth, recovered by only by his inner strength. Years ago now, his beautiful but footloose (spoiled with her public success as a model) wife left him and abruptly drove from New York City with their 2 children, a son and a daughter, then 6 and 12 respectively, to Guadalajara, Mexico to live. To keep in touch with his children, Butler is initially forced to commute from Manhattan, where he had just quit his job at Esquire Magazine. As time passes however, he moves to Tucson. He starts to come to Mexico frequently, but not wanting to stay in or near the ex wife's home in Guadalajara, the way he "wins" quality time with his children is to take them traveling around Mexico. The process is nurturing and ultimately bonding with them. Travel in those years in Mexico was cheap, even for first class accommodations, and the 3 travelers soon found the ambience of Mexican travel enchanting. Page 2 Unlike your typical travel article, this book is about a real life saga, an author in pain, letting his hair down, but professionally most

Cheap Shot

With th listing of my book DANCING ALONE IN MEXICO, you have chosen to run an "anonymous" review by a reader who seems to have turned criticizing my book into a cottage industry. Listing such items as a misplaced accent mark or a misspelled Spanish name, she has written these coments to everyone from my publisher to, I imagine, her local bookstore. I have dozens of very positive reviews and will be happy to send you a selection. Just tell me where. Thanks, Ron Butler