Liquid Mexico: Festive Spirits, Tequila Culture, and the Infamous Worm

This might look like just another reference for the bar shelf, but halfway into chapter one's hilarious account of surviving the Tequila Express from Guadalajara to Tequila—complete with nonstop dance brigades of retirees doing the macarena—readers will know they can hunker down for some seriously entertaining armchair travel. Youman and Estep, a husband and wife writing alternate chapters, have studied and worked in Mexico in various capacities and now live in Arizona. For this volume, they took the sociable theme of drinking—beer, tequila, pulque, mescal, margaritas, micheladas , etc.—and traveled Mexico learning what they could, which means readers will emerge knowledgeable about such delightful trivia as why pulque tastes worse the farther it's traveled from the tinacal (production site), and where the margarita got its name. Even better are the authors' more offbeat quests: visiting the flagellants of Atotonilco, training to sing with mariachis, tasting salsa made from live jumil (a kind of beetle), tracing Carlos Santana's relatives and observing gringo students' binge drinking during spring break in Cancún. This fun book allows readers to get close to things they wouldn't want to do themselves—like eat a gusano (mescal worm)—without the hangover. Photos. (Dec.)