Memories of a Musician in Mexico Mike Curtis 9781463646127 Books
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Points on a map of Mexico lead us on an amazing journey, anchoring a compelling narrative of a musician's turbulent past and tranquil present. 7 maps, 30 photos. Very open and honest...but it’s also very poetic and evocative.” Pattie West, staff writer, US Dept. of Agriculture “Like a guidebook with parts of Under The Volcano inserted.” Byard Pidgeon, photographer
Memories of a Musician in Mexico Mike Curtis 9781463646127 Books
I've traveled with Mike and Annalisa to Mexico - so you can't quite consider this an entirely unbiased review. But you can consider it from the point of view one who always appreciates a traveler sharing wild stories and an exuberance and enthusiasm that's contagious.Mike Curtis, now the principal bassoonist with the Eugene (Oregon) Symphony, has been to Mexico 20 or 30 times, and his love for the land and Mexicans is palpable. He was first there when he was a 4 year-old, and most recently last spring (55 years later) when he invited us to go with him and his family to a small coastal town just north of Puerto Vallarta. With Mike's guidance, we eschewed the comfort and the glitz of resorts for the places where gringos rarely go; he was adventurous and daring. The result? My wife and I spent a week feeling the spirit, joy, and resilience of Mexicans, staying in comfortable - and cheap - places, getting to see places and things that I never would have ordinarily, eating wonderful, authentic food, meeting a wonderful array of characters.
In this way, Memories of a Musician can be a useful guidebook for those looking for something more interesting and meaningful than five-star resorts. The places he recounts have cultural and historical - and personal - value, as well as being a bit off the beaten path. Sure, one can use Fodor's or Frommer's for a utilitarian list of places to stay and eat, but really, the most useful guidebooks, don't you think, are ones that reveal the humanity of the guide, as well as his authority born of experience?
But the essence of this book is so much more than a guidebook. As the title suggests, it's a memoir whose subjects are the love of music and the love of Mexico - and those loves are a common thread to the narrative. This memoir is unique in that it is not organized chronologically, but rather by regions - Baja, La Costa, Occidente, Toluca, Oriente, and El Bajio - although the geography does provide a rough correlation to the chronology of Mike's life. This hopping to and fro in time took a bit of getting used to, but once I relaxed with it, I enjoyed the ride; it provided an organic structure to the story - sort of the way that our memories really work.
Mike's reflection of his life is candid, revealing - and pulls few punches. His experiences reflect the longings of a young man eager to drink in the whole of what life and this rich country has to offer him - and the immense highs and lows that one much expect from such a Bohemian lifestyle. His anecdotes are not only funny (and exciting), but occasionally provide a glimpse of Mexican life that few gringos get to experience - thankfully. Mike has a knack for immersing himself into the local scene and he befriends some of the oddest (and interesting, scary and often, kind . . .) characters. His writing is honest and conversational, befitting his easygoing and spontaneous nature. His generous use of Spanish phrases adds an authority that I liked; the meanings were clear either through explicit translation or in context. And despite the tribulations in Mike's life, it is ultimately gratifying to see him emerge intact, whole and happy on the other side.
The quibbles I have with the book are few: The photographs have no captions. Though they are placed well in the text, some specifics would have been helpful to me. To be perfectly useful as a guidebook, more detail is needed - mileage, travel directions, cost . . . But really, in this era of information being so widely and accurately available over the Internet, such a shortcoming is easily addressed. (But to be fair this book is more travelogue than guidebook.)
So, read this book to explore a Mexico that few Americans get to experience. Read this book to accompany an extraordinary musician through a bumpy life of drugs and risks to a life of, in Mike's words, "health, sobriety, and happiness" with his wife, Annalisa and their son, Ian. Read this book to see the unabashed love Mike has for the land, the culture and the people of Mexico. You understand the almost spiritual nature of his writing as he relives the places and events that make Mike Curtis that man that he is. Read this book to smell the ocean, to taste the mango-on-a-stick, to feel the bustle of La Peñita at night, and the exuberance of the mariachi bands. Mike writes with authority and evocatively about the Mexico that lies deep in his soul.
I can't wait to revisit Mexico with this book as a guide, or better yet, to have Mike Curtis personally showing me the way.
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Memories of a Musician in Mexico Mike Curtis 9781463646127 Books Reviews
In this volume, the author offers us a glimpse of Mexico as it existed when he was...a boy, catching fish in the Pacific with nothing but a hook, a line, and an aluminum can; a musician, establishing himself in of the premier orchestras in the republic; and a man, returning with his family for a nostalgic visit to the country that he loves.
Part travelogue, part inner journey (like any good travelogue), and sprinkled with a soupcon of confession, Memories has something for everybody who wishes to better understand our neighbor to the south. Whether fast-talking his way out of trouble with a couple of desperados, evoking a traditional melody echoing through the plaza, or exploring the mysteries of an ancient civilization, our correspondent always has the right touch - knowing what to say, and when to say it.
Therefore, let us award his initial literary effort four stars - because there's always room for improvement, you know - but four stars anyway, for the promise it displays; for the insights it provides; for its candor and gentle humor; and above all, for the engaging style in which it was written.
One can only look forward to the next installment from the pen of Miguel Vicente Cortez.
Fine condition
I really enjoyed this book. Mike's casual narrative style makes you feel that you are really there in Mexico. Personal anecdotes and funny episodes keep you interested. each destination is described using geological and historical information as well as cultural references. a fun book to read.
Mike Curtis describes Mexico unlike anyone else. From his younger years to the present he takes the reader to places rarely exposed by most travel writers, and he does it from the very unique perspectives of a musician-divorcee-husband-father-former drugee-fisherman-and astute observer. This book is a gem!
I would just say that this book is a good read, and a fun read, and thought provoking, like all good books are. It is a unique and insightful look at Mike and Mexico, both separately, and together, and all of it over quite a long period of time. Being both honest and rare, it is an important book. Read it, you won't be disappointed.
Having traveled a bit south of the U.S. border, it was thrilling to read Mike Curtis's real stories of Mexico -- the villages, beaches, mountains, food and, especially, the people a gringo tends to meet when venturing beyond the resort cities and seeing the "real" Mexico. His perspective is that of a musician, yet that shows more in the lyricism and cadences of his writing than in his stories; his experiences in the Mexican National Symphony and in other musical settings are secondary, if even that.
Part travelogue over a series of decades and part memoir, he describes a life that many of us coming of age in the late 1960s and 1970s can relate to -- if only we'd gone to Mexico earlier, and then kept returning in these modern times. So now I travel to Mexico in 2011 and 2009 and so on, and as I relish fresh memories of artisans and crasftsmen, just-caught pescado, steaming tortillas, serene and glorious seascapes and sometimes a bit too much cerveza and tequilla, I read "Memories of a Musician in Mexico" and find myself saying, repeatedly Wow. Mike Curtis captures this country so wonderfully, so accurately.
I've traveled with Mike and Annalisa to Mexico - so you can't quite consider this an entirely unbiased review. But you can consider it from the point of view one who always appreciates a traveler sharing wild stories and an exuberance and enthusiasm that's contagious.
Mike Curtis, now the principal bassoonist with the Eugene (Oregon) Symphony, has been to Mexico 20 or 30 times, and his love for the land and Mexicans is palpable. He was first there when he was a 4 year-old, and most recently last spring (55 years later) when he invited us to go with him and his family to a small coastal town just north of Puerto Vallarta. With Mike's guidance, we eschewed the comfort and the glitz of resorts for the places where gringos rarely go; he was adventurous and daring. The result? My wife and I spent a week feeling the spirit, joy, and resilience of Mexicans, staying in comfortable - and cheap - places, getting to see places and things that I never would have ordinarily, eating wonderful, authentic food, meeting a wonderful array of characters.
In this way, Memories of a Musician can be a useful guidebook for those looking for something more interesting and meaningful than five-star resorts. The places he recounts have cultural and historical - and personal - value, as well as being a bit off the beaten path. Sure, one can use Fodor's or Frommer's for a utilitarian list of places to stay and eat, but really, the most useful guidebooks, don't you think, are ones that reveal the humanity of the guide, as well as his authority born of experience?
But the essence of this book is so much more than a guidebook. As the title suggests, it's a memoir whose subjects are the love of music and the love of Mexico - and those loves are a common thread to the narrative. This memoir is unique in that it is not organized chronologically, but rather by regions - Baja, La Costa, Occidente, Toluca, Oriente, and El Bajio - although the geography does provide a rough correlation to the chronology of Mike's life. This hopping to and fro in time took a bit of getting used to, but once I relaxed with it, I enjoyed the ride; it provided an organic structure to the story - sort of the way that our memories really work.
Mike's reflection of his life is candid, revealing - and pulls few punches. His experiences reflect the longings of a young man eager to drink in the whole of what life and this rich country has to offer him - and the immense highs and lows that one much expect from such a Bohemian lifestyle. His anecdotes are not only funny (and exciting), but occasionally provide a glimpse of Mexican life that few gringos get to experience - thankfully. Mike has a knack for immersing himself into the local scene and he befriends some of the oddest (and interesting, scary and often, kind . . .) characters. His writing is honest and conversational, befitting his easygoing and spontaneous nature. His generous use of Spanish phrases adds an authority that I liked; the meanings were clear either through explicit translation or in context. And despite the tribulations in Mike's life, it is ultimately gratifying to see him emerge intact, whole and happy on the other side.
The quibbles I have with the book are few The photographs have no captions. Though they are placed well in the text, some specifics would have been helpful to me. To be perfectly useful as a guidebook, more detail is needed - mileage, travel directions, cost . . . But really, in this era of information being so widely and accurately available over the Internet, such a shortcoming is easily addressed. (But to be fair this book is more travelogue than guidebook.)
So, read this book to explore a Mexico that few Americans get to experience. Read this book to accompany an extraordinary musician through a bumpy life of drugs and risks to a life of, in Mike's words, "health, sobriety, and happiness" with his wife, Annalisa and their son, Ian. Read this book to see the unabashed love Mike has for the land, the culture and the people of Mexico. You understand the almost spiritual nature of his writing as he relives the places and events that make Mike Curtis that man that he is. Read this book to smell the ocean, to taste the mango-on-a-stick, to feel the bustle of La Peñita at night, and the exuberance of the mariachi bands. Mike writes with authority and evocatively about the Mexico that lies deep in his soul.
I can't wait to revisit Mexico with this book as a guide, or better yet, to have Mike Curtis personally showing me the way.
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