From the Back Cover
From the perspective of a North American who knows Mexico intimately, George Szanto spoke with Mexican fiction writers. In telling their stories they disclose a civilisation, a hidden Mexico beyond its sunny beaches and steep pyramids, and explore what is concealed by the facades of political institutions and cultural beliefs-what lies hidden inside the statues of saints. Elena Poniatowska has spent a lifetime revealing Mexicans to themselves. She believes that the Chiapas rebellion will change the course of Mexican history. Paco Ignacio Taibo II's focus is Mexico City's politico-criminal underbelly. He is the author of some fifty books, including detective novels. Mara Luisa Puga, winner of Mexico's highest literary award, sees the division between Mexico City and the rest of the country as an immense threat to a unified Mexican nation. Juan Villoro's work ranges from literature for children, through political journalism, to short stories and novels. Ricardo Perera is out of the mainstream and his well-crafted work is ideologically distant from the literary establishment. Margo Glantz's autobiographical novel, The Family Tree, searches the mysteries of her family's Jewish past. The eloquence of Carlos Fuentes is revealed in an interview which serves as an epilogue to Inside the Statues of Saints.

FROM THE PUBLISHER