Much has been written about Continental influences on American and British literature, but Mexican influences have gone relatively unobserved. Yet, as this study shows, Mexican experiences have had a singular influence on the development of literature in English. Drewey Wayne Gunn considers prominent American and British writers who either visited or lived in Mexico during the period 1556-1973 and who, as a result of their experiences, wrote works with a Mexican setting. Gunn finds that, while certain elements reflecting the Mexican experience--colors, landscape, manners of the people, political atmosphere, a sense of the alien--are present in the writings, the authors reveal less about Mexico than would be expected. It is, rather, the expression of the Mexican experience that reveals much about the authors. The Mexican journey often marked the beginning, the end, or the turning point in a literary career. Gunn shows the impact of Mexican culture on each writer, discusses the relationship between the writer's experience and his work, and traces the influences among various writers. He makes available a great deal of biographical and literary material that has not before been available in one source, and he provides new insight into our cultural relationship with Mexico. Among the British writers considered are D. H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Malcolm Lowry, Graham Greene, and Evelyn Waugh. Among the American writers considered are Stephen Crane, Katherine Anne Porter, John Dos Passos, Hart Crane, Archibald MacLeish, John Steinbeck, Tennessee Williams, Saul Bellow, William Carlos Williams, Wright Morris, and Robert Lowell.

Moving beyond the tequila-soaked clich s of Mexican tourism, this multifaceted book explores the influence and experiences of Americans in Mexico since World War II. The authors trace Mexico's growing role as an important refuge for Americans seeking not only sun and fun but also an alternative cultural and social model. And on the other side of the border, Mexican citizens and politicians have responded in creative and unexpected ways to growing numbers of migrants from their northern neighbor. Delving into the rich and varied worlds of political exiles, students, art dealers, retiree/artist colonies, and tourist zones, this work illustrates why large numbers of Americans have been irresistibly drawn to Mexico for the past sixty years. Specialists in literature, anthropology, history, and geography bring their unique perspectives to the stories of both short- and long-term migrants. Together their essays illuminate the complex goals and impact of American tourism, offering a fascinating interpretation to all those interested in modern Mexican history, border studies, tourism, and retirement in Mexico. Contributions by: Diana Anhalt, Dina M. Berger, Nicholas Dagen Bloom, Michael Chibnik, Drewey Wayne Gunn, Janet Henshall Momsen, Rebecca M. Schreiber, Rebecca Torres, David Truly, and Richard W. Wilkie

How did men become the stars of the Mexican intellectual scene? Dude Lit examines the tricks of the trade and reveals that sometimes literary genius rests on privileges that men extend one another and that women permit. The makings of the “best” writers have to do with superficial aspects, like conformist wardrobes and unsmiling expressions, and more complex techniques, such as friendship networks, prizewinners who become judges, dropouts who become teachers, and the key tactic of being allowed to shift roles from rule maker (the civilizado) to rule breaker (the bárbaro). Certain writing habits also predict success, with the “high and hard” category reserved for men’s writing and even film directing. In both film and literature, critically respected artwork by men tends to rely on obscenity interpreted as originality, negative topics viewed as serious, and coolly inarticulate narratives about bullying understood as maximum literary achievement. To build the case regarding “rebellion as conformity,” Dude Lit contemplates a wide set of examples while always returning to three figures, each born some two decades apart from the immediate predecessor: Juan Rulfo (with Pedro Páramo), José Emilio Pacheco (with Las batallas en el desierto), and Guillermo Fadanelli (with Mis mujeres muertas, as well as the range of his publications). Why do we believe Mexican men are competent performers of the role of intellectual? Dude Lit answers this question through a creative intersection of sources. Drawing on interviews, archival materials, and critical readings, this provocative book changes the conversation on literature and gendered performance.

What would American literature look like in languages other than English, and what would Latin American literature look like if we understood the United States to be a Latin American country and took seriously the work by U.S. Latinos/as in Spanish? Debra A. Castillo explores these questions by highlighting the contributions of Latinos/as writing in Spanish and Spanglish. Beginning with the anonymously published 1826 novel Jicoténcal and ending with fiction published at the turn of the twenty-first century, the book details both the characters' and authors' struggles with how to define an American self. Writers from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Mexico are featured prominently, alongside a sampling of those writers from other Latin American heritages (Peru, Colombia, Chile). Castillo concludes by offering some thoughts on U.S. curricular practice.

Tom Miller’s On the Border frames the land between the United States and Mexico as a Third Country, one 2,000 miles long and twenty miles wide. This Third Country has its own laws and its own outlaws. Its music, language, and food are unique. On the Border, a first-person travel narrative, portrays this bi-national culture, “unforgettable to every reader lucky enough to discover this gem of southwestern Americana.” (San Diego Union-Tribune) It’s a “deftly written book,” said the New Times Book Review. “Mr. Miller has drawn a lively sketch of this unruly, unpredictable place.” Traveling from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, Miller offers “cultural history and fine journalism.” (Dallas Times Herald) Among his stops is Rosa’s Cantina in El Paso, the Arizona site where a rancher sadistically tortured three Mexican campesinos, and the 100,000-watt XERF radio station where Wolfman Jack broadcasts nightly. He interviews children in both countries, all of whom insist that the candy on the other side is superior. On the Border, translated into Spanish, French, and Japanese, was the first book to identify and describe this land as a Third Country. Miller “knows this country,” says Newsday, “feels its joys and sorrows, hears its music and loves its soul.”

The Illusion of Ignorance examines the cultural politics of the American encounter with Porfirian Mexico as a precursor and model for the twentieth-century American encounter with the world. Detailed discussions of the logistics of conducting diplomacy, doing business, or traveling abroad in the era give readers a vivid picture of how Americans experienced this age of international expansion, while contrasting Mexican and American visions of the changing relationship. In the end, Mexico's efforts to promote Mexico as a partner in progress with the U.S. was lost to an American illusion schizophrenically divided between fantasies of American leadership toward, and refuge from, modernity. The Illusion of Ignorance argues that American ignorance of the experience of other nations is not so much a barrier to better understanding of the world, but a strategy Americans have chosen to maintain their vision of the U.S. relationship with the world.