Mexican Autumn

A series of inter-related short stories, set in a small Mexican fishing village, Bahia de los angeles--a real place fronting the Sea of Cortez on the east coast of Baja California, about 350 miles as the heron flies from the USA border. As the village depends upon American tourists for its income, most stories deal with the resulting clash of cultures. Mexico's foremost attraction lies in its people--not the crowds of noisy go-getters that swamp Mexico City or tourist traps like Acapulco, but the reflective fishermen, philosophic peasants and devotedly Catholic women of the small towns and villages. Such a small village is Bahia de los angeles. Although all the characters in these stories are fictitious, Bahia de los angeles is a real place. Despite its small size, the village attracts a surprisingly large number of American tourists. In fact, since the Mexican government closed the fishing industry down, tourism is now the number one industry in the area. Bahia's dominating feature is a huge mountain, El diablo cojuelo (The Tricky Devil), which almost pushes the little village into the sea. On this mountain is played out one of the most fascinating stories in this collection, "A Pistol for Sister Gregory". In addition to the "Bahia..." stories, a bonus section of the book contains two long tales featuring a fictitious poet, Felipe Chavez, set in different Mexican locations. The first setting is the so-called "Zone of Silence", an incredible area in which credible people actually believe Martians have landed!