On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey
By Paul Theroux
I’ve travelled much of the world over the last forty years thanks to Paul Theroux’s many books which now number 56. I was especially eager to read this book since I’ve made the journey through Mexico several times with my wife in a car (VW bug) and a pick-up truck, so I was familiar with some of the challenges, dangers not to mention adventures the author would encounter.
The “Godfather of Travel Writing” follows his own critique for what makes a superior travel book, “not just a report of a journey, but a memoir, an autobiography, a confession, a foray in South America a topography and history, a travel narrative, with observations of books, music, and life in general; in short, what the best travel books are, a summing up.”
This book includes countless memorable descriptions of Mexico’s landscapes and insight into the country’s history, and literary including Mexican magical realism and political movements such as the Zapatistas.