(photo by Federico Gama)

THE LOWDOWN

I am the author of three books (two in English, one in Spanish) and the editor of two more. I have been a journalist for more than 20 years, principally in the U.S. and Mexico, but also for magazines in England, Canada and Peru. I have lived in Mexico City off and on -- mostly on -- since 1990, and there is nowhere else on earth where I have felt more at home. This is probably where I'm supposed to go into a song-and-dance about the wife, the kids, the dogs, the porch and so forth; when I get them you'll be the first to know.

A fast-paced account of daily life in a city that defies description.
--Wall Street Journal

This is my latest book, First Stop in the New World, a street-level panorama of contemporary Mexico City. I try to cover a lot of ground – from the richest man in the world, to a 13-year-old girl who lives on the street and sniffs glue. Reviews have been outstanding, from the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune, among other media. Click here to find out more about it (as well as my other books), or here to go directly to its Amazon page.

Here is another of my books, also recently published, called Las llaves de la ciudad. It’s also about Mexico City, although completely different from First Stop in the New World. A collection of pieces I published in magazines in Spanish here, each story profiles a distinct person. You’ll meet Alín, a deaf-mute transvestite who has invented her own sign language; a man who can read your horoscope using the Aztec calendar; a fellow who sells Nazi paraphernalia in the flea market, and even Viviana Corcuera, Mexico City’s most notorious socialite. Together, they form a mosaic of the city. If you are in Mexico, click here to get it, or if you prefer, click here to go to its Amazon page.