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    Mexico: Stories
    Mexico: Stories
    Mexico: Stories
    Audiobook8 hours

    Mexico: Stories

    Written by Josh Barkan

    Narrated by Robert Fass

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The characters in these stories are everyday citizens-a chef, architect, nurse, high school teacher, painter, beauty queen, classical bass player, plastic surgeon, businessman, mime-simply trying to lead their lives and steer clear of violence. Yet inevitably, violence has a way of intruding on their lives. A surgeon finds himself forced into performing a risky procedure on a narco killer. A teacher struggles to protect love-struck students whose forbidden romance has put them in mortal danger. A painter's freewheeling ways land him in the back of a kidnapper's car. Again and again, the lines between "ordinary life" and cartel violence are shown to be paper thin, with tragic results. Though the lives of Mexico's characters are effected by the corrupt and dangerous subculture of their country, these are much more than simple "crime stories". They are complicated and deeply moving tales that tap into universal and enduringly powerful themes: love and loss, religion, family relationships, government abuse, sexual identity, professional ambition, cancer; they introduce us to characters that feel fully realized in their humanity.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateJan 24, 2017
    ISBN9781681683034
    Mexico: Stories

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    Reviews for Mexico

    3.5/5

    118 ratings51 reviews

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    • 3/5
      The twelve stories here all take place in Mexico. They document the effect of narcoterrorism on normal life and how the hold of the cartels clash with traditional Mexico. They are compelling, even unique, stories told from the view of a variety of narrators. A plastic surgeon, a chef, a nurse, an architect, Special Forces soldier, a journalist; some are expatriates, some Mexican. An issue with such a diversity of narrators is that the research is never far from the surface as each one tries to convince the reader of their occupation through unnecessary detail.One problem is every story is told in the first person voice, leading to a certain monotony. An exception is The Painting Professor: there is some relief from the first person, at least until a gang member disappointingly pops up late in that voice. Another problem is the tendency of the narrators to spell almost everything out in detail, in case the reader is too dense or unimaginative to make inferences or discoveries on their own. Also, there’s a wandering wordiness at times, making the eye skip ahead until it finds something to grip onto again. These problems never allow the stories to soar – and they should be soaring, you want them to.In the end, these are intriguing stories that are weighed down not by content, but by style.
    • 3/5
      Read 2 1/2 stories. All the characters seem too complacent to me.
    • 3/5
      Josh Barkan’s collection of short stories Mexico is interesting but unconvincing. Barkan dabbles in the surreal, makes overtures to the crime genre, and attempts to capture the experiences of both expatriates and native Mexicans, but this scattershot approach didn’t capture my attention. There are signs throughout that this collection could have been something more—a gang member who is frustrated in his attempts to see the art created by his own countryman or an atheist trying to find his place in Mexico City’s Jewish community without sacrificing his principles—but these moments of promise are bogged down by rambling plots and the author’s narrow focus on the illegal drug trade. Although drug trafficking and cartel violence is part of every story in the collection, Barkan offers only a superficial portrayal of most of those involved in it. Cartel leaders are cartoonish villains without complex emotions or motivations and low-level participants, with a few notable exceptions, equally one-dimensional. With a title that suggests that this collection is supposed to represent a country with as rich a history and culture as Mexico, I had hoped for far more nuance than Barkan provides.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed the collection of short stories. There was a lot of violence, but most of the stories dealt with drug cartels and other criminal groups in Mexico. A lot of the stories were focused on expats living and working in Mexico. The stories provide information about the joys of the Mexican culture, but also the shadow of criminal activities and bribes paid to politicians, police, military, etc. and how it impacts people living there. The stories are well-written and interesting.
    • 5/5
      Usually in a collection of short stories there are some clunkers that I skim through. I found that each of the stories held my interest. At the core of each story is interaction with the Mexican drug cartels. A variety of characters deal with some aspect of the drug trade in their lives, many of them in Mexico City.
    • 3/5
      Thank you to LibraryThing for the opportunity to read this book in advance.I'm giving this book 3 stars. It was entertaining, and what I didn't realize going in was that these stories were a work of fiction. I should've figured that out earlier than I did because of how outlandish some of the stories were, and to be true, would not have had the multiple points of view that some stories had.But on the contrary, I found it incredible (in a good way) that the author could have created so many varied stories and plots from his own imagination and/or experiences. I thought surely these have to be true, because no one person could have fathomed these ideas and these storylines on his or her own. How do you come up with the idea to mix the blood of a child with the meat of an animal and call it an entree for a top narco? That is to the author's credit. He is a wonderfully talented writer.However, though I was under no impression that this book was going to be positive and magical about the strength and fortitude of Mexico and its people, the stories on a whole were nevertheless very macabre and depressing. Each tale dealt with drug dealers and death and corrupt police. Definitely not a peppy book and not for anyone looking to read something light and fluffy.This is a dark book, but it is an entertaining one, and a quick, rather addictive read.
    • 5/5
      This is a collection of stories, each features a central character from a different profession. The recurring theme of these stories is the struggle of daily life in a country where the drug cartels operate with no laws. The book has a grim and hopeless tone, although we are exposed to the trial of exposing one's emotions and the need to maintain a "normal" life until the touch of evil is felt. My thanks to the author and the Penguin First to Read program for a complimentary copy.
    • 4/5
      “Ten seconds before they kidnapped me, son of a bitch, I was walking my dog, Azteca.”I love linked short stories and I also like stories that follow a central theme. This, strong well-writtencollection, deals with the latter. Most of these tales, involve working class people, living in Mexico City or other Mexican locales. Many of these characters, are Americans, with Mexican ties, (much like the author himself). How these “regular” lives, clash and cross paths with the dangerous cartels, is the running theme. It is truly terrifying. How a life can be turned upside down in an instant, is truly frightening.This is Barkan's first collection of stories and it is an impressive debut.
    • 4/5
      I’m a sucker for a short story collection–something about unraveling the thread that links the seemingly disparate characters and tales– so I all but jumped at the chance to review Josh Barkan’s Mexico: Stories. In it, Barkan, a celebrated writer and Creative Writing professor who lives part-time in Mexico City, portrays a land of rich culture and beauty marred by crime and violence. He presents a dozen first-person narratives that illustrate the vibrancy and danger of the land from an outsider’s perspective.Before diving into the collection, I was afraid Barkan may have gone the unfortunate path of Rachel Dolezal in claiming a culture not his own. Yes, his wife is native born and the two divide their time between Mexico and the States, according to his jacket bio., but that does not a Mexican make him. However, my fears were alleviated once I began reading and discovered that each of narratives were told from the perspective of someone from the outside of the culture looking in- an American chef who opens up a restaurant south of the border, a young architect who spends more time in the states and traveling to other countries than in his homeland and so emanates a marked distance between himself and his native land. The outsider as storyteller proves an effective choice in illustrating cultural differences and traditions, as well as the surprising prevalence of cartel violence in the lives of everyday citizens.The tales juxtapose somber happenings with absurd details and vise-versa. Though there is a richness to the landscape, Barkin allows a tacky, seediness to seep in. The stories are often uncomfortable and at times horrific. I liked that, because they are told from the perspective of a series of narrators, there is the question of honesty. How much of what our narrators are telling us is true and how much embellished, misunderstood? It makes for quite an interesting meta-narrative.I have to admit that I had difficulty with Barkin’s prose. I found it to be a bit awkward and clunky throughout, as if meant to mimic what is lost in translation. He also seemed to repeat the same term within the same or within back to back sentences quite often, making me again question if this was by design- meant to evoke the mild confusion and agitation of a foreigner attempting to struggle with the language- or if I am simply a neurotic linguist. Perhaps the two are not mutually exclusive. I also found most of the characters to be off-putting. Some are intentionally cast as villain or anti-hero/heroine but most, regular folks in less than regular situations, simply did not come off well to me, for whatever reason. (Perhaps it goes back to the prose.)Though it wasn’t my stylistic cup of tea, I admire Barkin’s ability to craft a well-connected series of short stories that embrace elements of the familiar and the foreign, the believable and the extraordinary, and that give voice to the inherent vulnerability of all beings, regardless of religion, occupation, or side of the law.*- I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
    • 3/5
      I've been on a short story kick and was definitely in the mood for this. Some of the short stories in here were slam dunks and others were odd ducks, with rushed endings and bizarre plots. For example, the opening story is beyond bizarre and flirts with cannibalism, drug lords, and ancient Aztec gods. All of the stories revolve around Mexico City and many of the characters are Americans or whites living in the city, viewing it through their lenses. Most, if not all, are crime stories as they apply to every day people; teachers, painters, journalists, students, mimes, etc. A lot of gang violence, drugs, rival Narco leaders and more. Dark, gritty, unexpected, this was an interesting read. I received this book for free from Librarything in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.
    • 5/5
      A thoroughly readable compilation of 12 fictional stories taking place in different areas of Mexico with subjects ranging from elderly artists to pre-teen students. The narrative of each short story pulled me in and although strung together by only incident upon incident of drug related events or bullying, most seemed plausible and intriguing. I Look forward to more from his author.
    • 3/5
      This is a book of tangentially connected short stories, all taking place in and around Mexico City, Mexico. We hear from painters, chefs, and cancer patients, architects, and plastic surgeons. We do not really hear from any Mexicans. Nearly all the subjects of the stories are ex-pats from the United States. Only three stories involve individuals born in the country, and even these keep themselves separated from the land of their birth.In addition, the stories all tend to revolve around one theme: Narcos and violence. A chef’s restaurant is visited by an infamous Narco and he is tasked with making him “the best thing he has ever eaten,” a cancer patient talks with the former wife of a midlevel drug kingpin, an architect gets caught in the crossfire of rival gangs, a painter is taken by professional kidnappers and held for ransom.This book is a series of stories about outsiders looking in, and so sees only the violence and corruption. You will find nothing of Mexican culture or everyday life here, instead you will find poverty and deprivation. This is not a book about Mexico, it is about disconnectedness.I must admit to being a bit disappointed by the single-mindedness of the subject matter. I had been looking forward to a variety of stories about the country, as there’s much, much more to Mexico than Narcos and death. Though the stories are well written, the repetition of theme gets old after a while.An advence copy of this book was provided by the publisher via LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review. Mexico will be available for purchase on January 24th, 2017
    • 4/5
      *I received a copy of this book through GoodReads First Reads Giveaway.*A striking collection of short stories set in Mexico, vividly portraying a culture of violence interspersed with everyday life. These characters struggle to do the right thing or to just make it through the day alive - and everything is described in a well-chosen prose and emphatic tone. This book was published in an opportune time and I wish I could put it in more people's hands.
    • 2/5
      I was expecting a collection of stories of drug dealers in Mexico and people interacting with that. That is what I got, beaten over the head with, in some very uneven and overly depressing stories. I also HATED the cover, though I cannot say why.
    • 1/5
      I truly hoped I would enjoy Barkan's book, but as I continued to read the vignettes he presented I found myself pushing myself to get to the end, just to be done. It felt like there was potential, but it fell flat. It was all a little contrived, and as another reviewer put it, "wooden." As I read the short story "I Want to Live" I noted that the dialogue was incredibly unrealistic - I couldn't ever imagine stumbling upon the situation presented. I just don't imagine anyone speaking or reacting in any of the ways Barkan depicted, and it really ruined the book for me.
    • 4/5
      These are such a great grouping of stories. Not only are they well written but they are complete in and of themselves, the most complete of any I have lately read. Mexico City, drugs, cartels, shootings, jockeying for positions in the drug trade and regular people trying to live and work amongst all this violence. What would you do if you were a chef in a restaurant and El Chapo walks in, tells you that you ?must create a dish using only two ingredients that will be the best dish he had ever tasted. If it isn't he will kill not only you, but everyone dining in your restaurant? Or as as a nurse you are told that due to genetic risks you must have both your breasts amputated, sitting in the doctors office, noticing a beautiful girl who tells her a story about her time as the pawn of a drug dealer? A plastic surgeon, an artist and more. Just regular people who despite running in to these drug lords, manage to find ways to improve and live their lives, something good comes out of tragedy. As I said such good and interesting stories. Gritty and grim at times, but real.ARC from Netgalley.
    • 4/5
      Josh Barkan's short story collection, Mexico, is named in a way that will rub those who need to be politically correct the wrong way. After all, does he mean that the types of people the stories depict, the types of drug cartel horrors define Mexico? Is that all there is to Mexico? But the cover is a perfect complement to the title, the image of stereotypical and perfect Mexico stained and disfigured. No, Barkan's short story collection does not claim that drug cartel violence is all there is to Mexico. The stories are all about people whose lives cross paths with or are directly involved in the drug cartel business. Some seemingly remotely, and some right in the thick of it. The stories always put me in Mexico, whether it be in D. F. or Puebla or some other part of the country, and not only in the city, but in the streets, the markets, the restaurants, the hotels, the cheap clubs with pole dancing women... Location, as expected from the title of the book, was tangible throughout the stories, bringing them to vibrant life.Most of the stories are told from a first-person perspective, so the writing style is colloquial and conversational, devoid of elaborate passages. Some stories are more successful than others in evoking the sense of dread the characters feel faced with unspeakable violence and impossible moral dilemmas that need to be rationalized away after they manage to survive the situation. The first-person narrative gives the stories a rambling, aimless feeling that, at times, made me lose interest. The overwhelming feeling I walked away with after reading Mexico was that in the vicinity of such pervasive crime and violence, there is nobody who cannot be touched, scarred, hurt, or affected by it. The seeming randomness of it is the real horror, that a person minding their business can inadvertently be caught in the middle of it all, never to survive it unscathed. That being a chef, teacher, nurse, surgeon, or an architect can easily put you in harms way, that trying to do the "right" thing is not always the best way to survive...Recommended for those who like fusion food, posh high schools, gun fights, painting, and, well, Mexico.Thanks to LibraryThing and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange of my honest review.
    • 3/5
      I was intrigued by the premise of this story collection from Josh Barkan: to show the intersection between the lives of ordinary Mexicans and the horrendous crime-related violence in that country. It's an important premise, and I'm interested in both the place and the subject. On top of that, I like dark and unpredictable stories. So . . . I had high hopes for his book.Unfortunately, the stories themselves mostly didn't deliver for me. I found them contrived and artificial. Some of them were downright preposterous. Worse, they were strangely flat -- full of wooden prose and lifeless characters. I get it that Barkan is trying to achieve a dark and deadpan tone; I'm just not sure he was successful.To take just one example, "The Sharpshooter," there wasn't a single thing in that story that felt honest or real to me from beginning to its very poor and clichéd ending. Barkan's stories didn't shed much light on this subject for me. And for stories that purport to be about regular Mexicans whose everyday lives are thrown into tumult, the stories didn't affect me much. When the characters and flat and unrealistic, it's hard to feel any emotion for them. The novels of Don Winslow are much more honest and affecting. Read his work if you want to understand the tragedy of Mexico's violence and feel deeply about its people.It's an uneven collection, but some stories are reasonably successful. There are descriptions of promise, and some laugh-out-loud moments. I admire Barkan's ambition with this collection, and I look forward to reading what he writes next.(Thanks to Crown/Hogarth for an advance copy. Receiving a free copy did not affect the content of my review.)
    • 3/5
      I was not planning on reading Mexico: Stories by Josh Barkan this soon. Yet, Mexico being a hot topic in the US, I could not resist the temptation! ? Before I started reading this short story collection, I read some other reviews on the book which were mostly negative because those readers felt this book depicts Mexico as a land of violence than anything else. Knowing that stories of violence are not entirely baseless, I went ahead keeping an open mind. However, after having read the first ten short stories of the book, I realized why Josh Barkan is being criticized. In the first ten short stories, there are drug kingpins and thugs who would wrong innocent people – who have nothing to do with narcos most of the time. Bad things will happen to these innocent people – sometimes they will get killed – and everyone including the police will go on about their business as if nothing happened. So after reading the first few stories, one might feel as if Mexico is a country where danger lurks around in every alley and people have to do unimaginable things to survive if the reader even for a moment forgets that these stories are fictional! Having said that I must admit that I found Barkan’s writing to have elements of humor, however gruesome his stories are. Also, one of the last short stories in the collection – The Prison Breakout – was a home run for me! Sure, there is violence in this short story as well, but it also highlights acts of humanity poignantly.The Prison Breakout reminded me of Andrea Levy’s short story – Loose Change. Both short stories show us how doing the right thing may always not be so easy, even if you are a good person. In The Prison Breakout, the narrator is an American writer living in Mexico City. He works for the US government as a background checker of Mexican death row inmates in the US. If he finds mitigating factors that led those inmates to commit heinous acts, they just might just escape their death sentence. His expertise is why one of his friends asks the narrator to investigate the case of Jesus Martinez. Martinez is a deaf man who is in his early thirties. He has been locked up for life because a judge found him guilty of a crime he did not commit. During a bank robbery, an elderly woman had got killed, and apparently, the two perpetrators had communicated using sign language. Although Martinez had been at his own birthday party thrown for him by his relatives and friends, and despite the fact that perpetrators were short unlike Martinez who is tall according to the witnesses at the bank, the police had arrested Martinez because he is deaf, and the judge who has “a particularly bad reputation for sending innocent people to prison” had sentenced him. After five interviews with Martinez and having talked to the bank robbery witnesses and Martinez’s relatives and friends, it is clear to the narrator there is no way that Martinez could have been part of this crime he is accused of. When Martinez asks the narrator to lip read and pleads him to help him escape from the prison, what will the narrator do? Although Martinez is innocent if authorities find out he helped Martinez escape, that will be his ticket to jail for life.I believe people are inherently good. Most of us would stand up for what we believe is right, volunteer, donate to our chosen charities etc. But not most of us would help an innocent man escape from jail, or open our doors to complete strangers who come to us in their hour of need without a moment of hesitation, even though we know it is the right thing do. Just because one decides to not to get involved in these situations, I do not believe it will make him/ her evil, for those are tough scenarios. But maybe this also means most of us are not as good as we want to believe?If Josh Barkan’s collection had included more thought provoking stories like The Prison Breakout, I think I would have preferred it more. However, Josh Barkan is young, and Mexico is just his third collection. He has a long way to go, and I am looking forward to reading his future work because I feel like he is a writer with potential.
    • 4/5
      This a collection of stories from people living in all walks of life in Mexico City. Mostly individuals who are not involved in crime but, because of the high rate of crime of Mexico City, somehow get involved in a crime or with a criminal. Out of twelve stories, I expect at least one would resonate with each reader, as one did with me.
    • 5/5
      This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.If you have a fondness for well-written short stories you should enjoy Josh Barkan's "Mexico". He has penned an even dozen short tales, ranging from 13 to 27 pages, revolving mostly around life in Mexico City and its environs. Searching for a word that describes Barkan's style I first thought of 'sleek', often interpreted as smooth and glossy, for Barkan's writing is nothing if it is not smooth. Perhaps glossy is not appropriate, but the words flow like silk. Slick might also apply, as long as it is not in the negative connotation the word sometimes carries, as it is difficult to find fault with any aspect of his writing. I was continuously amazed with the observation that there is no fat in his prose, nothing digresses from the story line, no extra, non-essential verbiage or excess to detract from the narrative. There is an economy of words, however, there is no sparsity.In the very first story, "The Chef and El Chapo", Barkan sets the stage with "It may sound crazy, but people like to eat what they are." Then he proceeds to punch you in the nose, just to get your attention, and cause you to say to yourself "I never would have seen that coming." In "The God of Common Names" we find that love will find a way, sometimes Romeo wins. "The Kidnapping" and "The Plastic Surgeon" speak to the randomness of life, how chance encounters during the normal course of living one's life are sometimes fraught with peril, over which none of us typically has much control. In the end the reader is still uncertain about "The Painting Professor", is it a happy ending, or is it something else entirely. Journalists pursue vastly different paths in "The American Journalist" and "The Prison Breakout", one finds the has the strength to act on his convictions, the other chooses to let events rule the day. Perhaps you will recognize your own youth in "The Escape From Mexico" where perhaps the only unconditional love you will ever have does what those special people do.I thoroughly enjoyed the unique stories and the characters Josh Barkan has created and found that "Mexico" is a big book, despite the number of pages.
    • 3/5
      The Sharpshooter is the the standout in this collection.Otherwise, I found the characters in these stories to all speak with the same voice. Whether they are 20-something or 50-something, American or Mexican, they all speak/narrate the same way. And the voice is distinctive to the point of being distracting--it feels awkward and I guess very informal, but it is not dialect in any way. It feels like someone trying to be way too cool. And it makes for an odd reading experience, as different characters speak but they all sound the same.Also, the word "narco" is very overused, especially in the first story. I wish I had counted the number of times it showed up.
    • 4/5
      I wish the title of this was something like Mexico and the Cartels or something like that. Although the blurb says that the short stories delve into modern Mexico and the cross-section of everyday citizens and the crime/cartel in Mexico, I didn't expect every story to be so horrific and violent. The stories have the right amount of plot and character development among the "good" characters, but the stories started to run together as they all follow the same arc. At times I wished for a story about someone in the cartel or gang as they were always the vague, one-dimensional characters. I still give this 4 stars and will look for future writing from Barkan.
    • 5/5
      Great read. A collection of short stories of the lives of those who find themselves in Mexico City. Dealing with drugs, murder, the cartels, jail, the reader is treated to multi faceted views of the city and the people who occupy it. I cannot do justice to how good this book good; my favorite is the story about the prisoner. Please, pick up this book, it's a refreshing voice on short stories. Love it.
    • 3/5
      Thank you to LibraryThing for the opportunity to read this book in advance.I'm giving this book 3 stars. It was entertaining, and what I didn't realize going in was that these stories were a work of fiction. I should've figured that out earlier than I did because of how outlandish some of the stories were, and to be true, would not have had the multiple points of view that some stories had.But on the contrary, I found it incredible (in a good way) that the author could have created so many varied stories and plots from his own imagination and/or experiences. I thought surely these have to be true, because no one person could have fathomed these ideas and these storylines on his or her own. How do you come up with the idea to mix the blood of a child with the meat of an animal and call it an entree for a top narco? That is to the author's credit. He is a wonderfully talented writer.However, though I was under no impression that this book was going to be positive and magical about the strength and fortitude of Mexico and its people, the stories on a whole were nevertheless very macabre and depressing. Each tale dealt with drug dealers and death and corrupt police. Definitely not a peppy book and not for anyone looking to read something light and fluffy.This is a dark book, but it is an entertaining one, and a quick, rather addictive read.
    • 4/5
      I was granted "Mexico" by Librarything in exchange for an honest review. As a former inner-city Middle School teacher, I provided instruction for students of families who emigrated from Mexico. Most of these families miss their homeland but not for the reasons portrayed in this anthology. Barkan does a fine job of capturing and expressing a very specific set of points of view. This is not a portrait of wider Mexico, but of corruption that so many accept as status quo and then status GO. As a written work, it is well-crafted and an intense read. It is in no way definitive of Mexico or its beautiful people (and they are quite a special cultura!). Barkan offers insight into how crime permeates the lives of different people and if that's what he set out to do then he did it well.
    • 4/5
      This is a captivating set of noir short stories set in modern Mexico. In each scenario, everyday people – teachers, architects, doctors and restaurant owners, living un-extraordinary lives are unexpectedly confronted by the violence of drug lords and big money barreling head on into their lives like a freight train. One of the most haunting for me was the first story in the collection. What can you create when one such kingpin appears in your restaurant and demands at gunpoint that you cook a gourmet dish for him that he has never before before, but that can only contain two ingredients? The answer to that riddle will stay with you a long time. Hang on to your hats, this is one heck of a roller coaster ride.Received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book! Each chapter is a story in itself about how people from different and distinct backgrounds and occupations become entwined with the Mexican drug cartel, some by choice and others by chance; intentionally or unintentionally. Some of the stories are dark, but they are gritty and truthful at the same time. A few of the stories are a big strange, but nonetheless the author gives the reader a variety of characters, some which are easier to relate to than others, but all were interesting.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the short stories in this book. It came along as I was doing research on Frida Kahlo and the Mexican Revolution.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book more than I anticipated. The stories are intriguing and often times thrilling. It served as a nice work of entertaining fiction. However, as a book that is named after an entire country, I found it unnerving the degree to which the stories took some of Mexico's most notorious stereotypes to the absurd. At times, the pieces of each story hardly seemed realistic in the aggregate and were not balanced enough with equally compelling stories of everyday Mexican life.