The emergence of Latin American firebrands who champion the cause of the impoverished and rail against the evils of neoliberalism and Yankee imperialism--Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Néstor Kirchner in Argentina, Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico--has changed the landscape of the Americas in dramatic ways. This is the first biography to appear in English about one of these charismatic figures, who is known in his country by his adopted nickname of "Little Ray of Hope." The book follows López Obrador's life from his early years in the flyspecked state of Tabasco, his university studies, and the years that he lived among the impoverished Chontal Indians. Even as he showed an increasingly messianic élan to uplift the downtrodden, he confronted the muscular Institutional Revolutionary Party in running twice for governor of his home state and helping found the leftist-nationalist Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD). As the PRD's national president, he escalated his political and ideological warfare against his former president, Carlos Salinas, and other "conspirators" determined to link Mexico to the global economy at the expense of the poor. His strident advocacy of the "have-nots" lifted López Obrador to the mayorship of Mexico City, which he rechristened the "City of Hope." Its ubiquitous crime, traffic, pollution, and housing problems have made the capital a tomb for most politicians. Not for López Obrador. Through splashy public works, monthly stipends to senior citizens, huge marches, and a dawn-to-dusk work schedule, he converted the position into a trampoline to the presidency. Although he lost the official count by an eyelash, the hard-charging Tabascan cried fraud, took the oath as the nation's "legitimate president," and barnstormed the country, excoriating the "fascist" policies of President Felipe Calderón and preparing to redeem the destitute in the 2012 presidential contest. Grayson views López Obrador as quite different from populists like Chávez, Morales, and Kirchner and argues that he is a "secular messiah, who lives humbly, honors prophets, gathers apostles, declares himself indestructible, relishes playing the role of victim, and preaches a doctrine of salvation by returning to the values of the 1917 Constitution-- fairness for workers, Indians' rights, fervent nationalism, and anti-imperialism."

In Jesus in Our Wombs, Rebecca J. Lester takes us behind the walls of a Roman Catholic convent in central Mexico to explore the lives, training, and experiences of a group of postulants--young women in the first stage of religious training as nuns. Lester, who conducted eighteen months of fieldwork in the convent, provides a rich ethnography of these young women's journeys as they wrestle with doubts, fears, ambitions, and setbacks in their struggle to follow what they believe to be the will of God. Gracefully written, finely textured, and theoretically rigorous, this book considers how these aspiring nuns learn to experience God by cultivating an altered experience of their own female bodies, a transformation they view as a political stance against modernity. Lester explains that the Postulants work toward what they see as an "authentic" femininity--one that has been eclipsed by the values of modern society. The outcome of this process has political as well as personal consequences. The Sisters learn to understand their very intimate experiences of "the Call"--and their choices in answering it--as politically relevant declarations of self. Readers become intimately acquainted with the personalities, family backgrounds, friendships, and aspirations of the Postulants as Lester relates the practices and experiences of their daily lives. Combining compassionate, engaged ethnography with an incisive and provocative theoretical analysis of embodied selves, Jesus in Our Wombs delivers a profound analysis of what Lester calls the convent's "technology of embodiment" on multiple levels--from the phenomenological to the political.

The book not only provides an overview of the Huichol and the plight of Mesoamerican Indians but also sheds light on traditional religion, indigenous Catholicism, messianic cults, urbanization, and indigenous conflicts with the modern Mexican state."--BOOK JACKET.

In light of current events related to immigration issues, the drug war along the border, and the North American Free Trade Agreement, Beldon Butterfield's insightful and informative history of the complex relationship between Mexico and the United States is both timely and useful. Butterfield went to Mexico with Time Inc. in 1962 and has lived there ever since, enabling him to provide a unique perspective on the country's history and culture. He traces Mexico's tangled history from the early arrival of the Aztecs to their fall at the hands of Hernán Cortés, from the Mexican Revolution to the disastrous agrarian reform measures, and from Mexico's standing as one of the wealthiest countries in the world to its status, until recently, as a member of the third world. Mexico's relationship with the United States is a key aspect of its culture. Many cultural barriers between the two countries are breaking down in spite of lingering resistance by both countries and differing perspectives of their common border. While Mexicans cannot forget that the border symbolizes the scar of an unjust war, Americans resent how millions of Mexicans cross it illegally in their quest for work. The good news, Butterfield writes, is that Mexico is changing despite the continued opposition of political forces that want to maintain their unchecked power of the past. Mexico Behind the Mask shows how the road to a more prosperous Mexico seems to be on course.

Riding the Bus" is a great book exposing an author's humble side and inner strengths. I admire Mr. Villalobos' writing capacity and ability to express such deep thoughts. Each poem demonstrates compassion, hope and real facts of life. I strongly recommend this book! Leticia Valdez. Parent Center Community Representative, Wilson High School. ---- "Riding the Bus" by Luis Villalobos is the most inspiring book of poetry I have ever read. He captures those little glimpses of life that we all share and gives them meaning."Bill Cherry, Financial Consultant --- "Riding the Bus" was an amazing book for me to read. Mr. Villalobos has the great ability to take what one person might perceive as insignificant and create poetry that makes these 'insignificant' moments into such intimate and heartwarming pieces. Bayani Africa, US Postal Worker

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Critical study ranges from pre-Columbian times through the 20th century to explore Mexico's intrinsic association between art and religion; the role of iconography in Mexican art; and the return to native values. Unabridged reprint of the classic 1929 edition. 118 black-and-white illustrations.