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On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel

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On Mexican Time

306 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

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About the author

Tony Cohan

15 books12 followers
Tony Cohan grew up in Manhattan and Los Angeles, where at the age of fourteen he made his debut as a jazz musician. After attending Stanford and the University of California he spent two years in Europe and North Africa, performing with jazz artists Dexter Gordon, Bud Powell and blind Catalan pianist Tete Monteliu. Returning to San Francisco, he worked briefly at the University of California Press before moving to Kyoto, Japan for two years to teach and write. Back in California, he wrote an unpublished first novel (and a published erotic novel) and worked as a studio musician with Lowell George, Ry Cooder, and others. During the 1970s he designed media campaigns for musical artists including Van Morrison, Pink Floyd, and Prince. In 1975 he founded the long-running independent press Acrobat Books, publishing nonfiction books in the arts. His 1981 novel Canary (Doubleday) was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, his 1984 novel Opium (Simon and Schuster) a Literary Guild selection. His bestselling travel narrative On Mexican Time (Random House, 2001) was followed by an autobiographical memoir, Native State (Random House, 2003), a Los Angeles Times Notable Book of the Year, and a second travel narrative, Mexican Days (Random House, 2007). His collaborations as lyricist with pianist and composer Chick Corea include the jazz classic High Wire. His essays, stories, articles, songs and reviews have appeared in a variety of media worldwide. His most recent novel is Valparaíso.

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5 stars
451 (22%)
4 stars
777 (38%)
3 stars
607 (30%)
2 stars
131 (6%)
1 star
53 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 206 reviews
Profile Image for Lorna.
796 reviews604 followers
September 3, 2022
On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel by Tony Cohan has been on my library shelves for many years because Mexico is one of my favorite places. Over the years we have explored and relaxed in many locales of that wonderful country, celebrating many milestones in our lives. It is a vast and beautiful country with many diverse cultures and rituals. And it is the rhythm of life in Mexico that Tony Cohan has captured in this beautiful memoir.

Tony Cohan and his wife Mazako visited San Miguel de Allende and were captivated with its history and charm and pull, much resting with the warmth of the people and the color of life in Mexico with fiestas, markets, vibrant colors and flora that lures and enchants everyone who visits.

"We walk through a dimly lit town of roseate Moorish walls. A tuneless band plays somewhere. Church bells stun the air. I see a ghost or a barefoot woman walk by smiling, a bucketfull of calla lilies on her head. Through the open door of a church, I glimpse a wooden Jesus in a wine-colored velvet robe. Cobbles and narrow, raised sidewalks force me to notice where I place my feet, imposing a minuet with each passing person."

"From a scenic outlook from above, San Miguel de Allende most resembles Spanish and Italian hill towns, its steep lanes and old houses gathered around churches and squares. Tumbling down its slopes, the town fades off into trees and scrub, a narrow lake that is dam, then a wide plain and mountains beyond where the sun dies each day."


There is a lot of magic and the allure of this magnificent and vibrant and colorful country on all of one's senses. There is a sequel that I look forward to reading as well as a long overdue trip to Mexico hoping to enjoy some new adventures and San Miguel de Allende will definitely be on the itinerary.
Profile Image for Lisa (Harmonybites).
1,834 reviews361 followers
May 14, 2013
This is one of those expatriot memoirs where an American or Brit pulls up stakes to live la bella vita--or the simpler life--in some warm clime. Think Frances Mayes' Under the Tuscan Sun or Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence, usually told oh so lyrically, eruditely, with lots of literary allusions and mentions of mouth-watering cuisine. I’ve been reading through a recommendation list of such travel writing--this was the last--and I suppose my reaction to this one might be put down to having become rather jaded and cranky reading one after another. The blurbs of reviews inside claim Cohan is a better, more gifted writer than you usually see in these travelogues, and call his prose “vivid,” “elegant,” “poetic” and the inevitable, “lyrical.” It boasts the present tense that is the insignia of the literati, rather choppy prose given lots of sentence fragments and short, declarative sentences, and sports such lines as: “Dew drops quiver on the spiky tips of barrel cacti in the glimmering dawn.” I’m afraid reading I often felt suffocated by perfume. The style was possibly my biggest problem with this book--far, far too flowery for my tastes.

There also was something about Cohan’s sensibility that grated on me. There often is an implied insult to expatriot tales if you’re from the country fled from, but in that respect this was the worst among the dozen or so I have read. I took umbrage at the description of New York City, and particularly the Columbia University area, which I know well. He claimed his daughter lived in an apartment on 110th Street infested with “rats and roaches.” (Rats? Mice and roaches I’d believe--was she living in a crack house?) And the neighborhood was filled with “Bums and muggers, rappers and dopeheads.” A lot more dire than I’d describe it, and given the exaggeration about a place I know well, I suspected Cohan felt he had to trash America in order to paint Mexico in this much more idyllic light. It’s a subtle distinction perhaps, but I remember Mayes, for instance, as showing Italy’s appeal without sounding like she felt a need to feel superior to America and its “consumerism” and yet at the same time with Cohan there’s a patronizing streak towards Mexico evident to me at times.

Yet I continued reading beyond the 100-page mark, because I found interesting reading a description of Mexico. It’s a country Americans should know and understand better than we do, and Cohan did weave in bits of in the history and culture of the land he’s residing in, even if I never felt he quite left the lifestyle and mindset of a tourist. And if I sometimes felt he romanticized life in a third world country, at least he wasn’t completely unaware of his privileged status. But if I had to describe in one word the way Cohan came across to me, it would be: smug.
Profile Image for Diana.
55 reviews6 followers
August 20, 2008
I was alternately impressed by and annoyed with this book.

Here's why I was impressed:
-Author is obviously a talented writer in terms of his florid descriptions of the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of small-town Mexico. I liked how they described the perfect bougianville (sp?) color and all the amazing descriptions of the food--see chapter on "mango mousse"
-The references to learning a language and living in particular tenses... the parallel between the improvement of the author's Spanish and how deeply he penetrated the culture
-References to Latin American literature and it's favorite themes... circular time, dreaming through people, places, time, cultures, two places dreaming eachother. It was obvious that the author was well-read and let the work and ideas of Mexican authors be filtered through his American perspective into the work
-I liked seeing the relationships the author built with Mexicans... although some were in a laborer/contractor/maid variety (grrr) he was very honest and observant about their personalities and he also made some other upper-middle-class friends who were interesting. At least he *tried* to expand his circle beyond other gringos.

Here's why I was annoyed:
-Kinda pretentious... "We're artist types and we can afford to make our art in Mexico, relatively unfettered by money or anything else" I also kinda felt like I was being talked to by a foodie or someone else who has a better appreciation for everything than I do, in their opinion.
-(Side note, and also why I don't understand the pretentious art thing... the author offhandedly mentions that his wife was "harvesting her hair for her art." ....wha?? What the hell kind of art do you make with crap you pull off your hairbrush?? It was just mentioned so non-chalantly like I should know what he's talking about.)
-The 2nd half of the book is really about rennovating a house and I have absolutely no interest in that. If you like TLC Trading Spaces crap I guess you might like reading about it. I think I'm just in a totally different place in my life (not a homeowner, not practically retired, with cashflow issues) and I just don't relate to what they're going through.
-Finally and possibly most importantly, he talks about his little personal Mexican paradise and how the gringos are invading and ruining it... Well, duh, dude, you started the trend! What did you expect? The second book he has written apparently laments how gringos have ruined his precious San Miguel, so he goes off travelling the rest of Mexico to try to find something more "authentic." Insert reference to http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/ here.

I'm not sure why I'm so bitter while writing this review. I picked this book up at my posada while staying in Guadalajara, MX (and yes, I've been to San Miguel, the subject of the book). I just looked at the book jacket and smirked... like this is some romanticized retirement fantasy... but I decided to read it anyway--while in Mexico--to get a better perspective on the place I was staying. I still feel very ambivalent about the book, but I think the author does, too.

Anyway, I think I would recommend it to people who were more at the author's level in terms of stage of life/elitism. I think if someone really wanted to know about Mexico, they should read Mexican literature, but I think just seeing what's being put out there was worth it. I think this would have been better as an essay in a travel magazine and not as a book. Just a few vignettes were worthwhile, but reading the whole book became a forced exercise.
Profile Image for Amy.
68 reviews9 followers
August 22, 2011
I love this book because I have lived in Mexico. Tony Cohan does a wonderful job verbalizing the transformation one goes through when embracing Mexican culture. He understands the subtlties of colors, smells, flavor, sabor. Living in Mexcio is a much larger undertaking than many would understand. The idea of Mexico in the United States is a place you go to party, but don't drink the water. A place riddled with drugs and traffickers and the home of all the illegal aliens that we fear so much.

Cohan communicates the intracacies of Mexican Identity. I have taken courses on the topic and Cohan seems to understand it well. He has a honest desire to understand the competing histories that plague Mexicans. The conflict between pre-hispanic, Spanish and modern identities all fight for accpetance and dominance while simultaneously supporting one another to create a truly unique and impossibly rich and dynamic Mexican culture.

I think I may love this book becasue I already understand Mexican culture and have a love of it. Throughout every description, interaction and experience I found myself going "yes, exacatly, that's what I remember". Bravo to Tony Cohan for bringing me back to Mexico for a couple days. Thank you.
Profile Image for Amy.
613 reviews11 followers
December 10, 2017
This definitely ranks as one of the best travel writing/memoirs I've ever read. Cohan describes how he and his wife left LA for life in San Miguel de Allende and all they experienced there between 1985 and 1999. Published in 2001, and finally read by me in 2017, this is not only an account of another country, but also of another time. I was captivated by his descriptions of the place and daily life, with all of its travails, but also by the fact that it happened pre-iPhone and internet. They had to make long distance calls from the largo distancia office, and when they finally had a landline, they had to borrow someone's phone. He captures Mexico pre-NAFTA, before globalization, and before the world became so homogenized. It is very poignant. While he writes lavish descriptions of the landscapes, fiestas, and food, he also does not shy away from the very problems of living in a third world country and its effects on those who live there. This is a very moving account of what it's like to live overseas. Highly recommend.
842 reviews2 followers
December 20, 2017
So what is it like to "chuck" it all and go live in a country with a language and culture foreign to you? This book gives you an idea. It is romantic, crazy, funny and beautifully written. A love song to Mexico.
Profile Image for Tara Ethridge.
872 reviews29 followers
February 25, 2017
I'll read just about anything about uprooting one's life to live out a dream in a foreign land, and this was great from that aspect. San Miguel itself was a place I visited twenty years ago, and it was a life-altering trip, so I was glad to delve into the details of living there. Lots of great anecdotes about the people and country in here.
Profile Image for Debbie.
236 reviews
May 31, 2011
I couldn't get myself to finish this book. It should have been a newspaper column. The story: an artsy-fartsy American couple moves to San Miguel de Allende to get away from the smoggy rat race of Los Angeles. She makes art. He discovers the manana lifestyle.
Profile Image for JulieK.
813 reviews2 followers
December 16, 2017
The smugness quotient was pretty high at certain points, but I appreciated his atmospheric descriptions of the sights and sounds of daily life in San Miguel.
Profile Image for BLD.
175 reviews1 follower
March 3, 2021
Wonderful story, well-written. Loved it.
Profile Image for Beth.
89 reviews9 followers
Read
September 18, 2017
as if I needed one more white male's perspective. I made it as far as i did through this book because I am soon visiting this city, and have been feeling inspired to know all there is to know about my destination. but perhaps I'll tell my own tales. or better yet, keep my ears open and listen to the stories of the locals.
3 reviews
June 1, 2023
One of those reads that is just a really nice space to be in
Profile Image for Pete Dematteo.
91 reviews4 followers
April 19, 2013
San Miguel Allende used to be a beautiful little town and still is, to a far lesser extent, despite its huge sports utility vehicles with license plates from the United States and its now super-expensive hotels and villas. While the book is interesting, I have lived in Mexico City and have traveled throughout the country and learned a few things.
After 2 years there, I grew incredibly bored, as I am a native New Yorker who is fascinated by hoardes of international immigrant groups. If being sized-up like you are an alien from outer space upon speaking highly accented Spanish is up your alley, you certainly wouldn't detect it from this book. In addition, Cohan, like all too many expatriots, it seems, is trying desperately not only to romanticize the unromantic, but to prove a point to his native countrypeople about how much more accepting he is of adversity and the like than is the typical, so-called provincial, North American. The fact that all too many mere movements are nightmarish ordeals and that one is voluntarily subjecting oneself to such a predicament is nothing to boast about. At least Mary Morris' book about residing in Mexico was too the point and not so Pollyannaish. Cohan's perceptions of being stuck in time or stuck in a time warp are perceptive indeed, though.
Likewise, although it is still relatively economical to reside even in San Miguel Allende as compared to, say, L.A., it is far different for a man of means such as Coban than it would be for a virtually penniless young person visiting Mexico to, say, teach English. Conclusively, it almost sounded as if Coban had brainwashed himself into thinking that this troubled nation was, instead, an utter paradise, which would question me to wonder whether or not he and his wife are masochistic to a certain extent.
Profile Image for Sandra.
371 reviews11 followers
June 3, 2018
I’m surprised how much I enjoyed reading this book. It is, in fact, a highly romanticized view written by an “outsider” who is trying to make themselves sound different from the other pretentious snobs who are doing the same things he is. And yet, he recognized those aspects of him and his life enough that I think it negated that negativity for me.
What I was left with was a relaxing, colorful, enviable escape to Mexico. If it seemed overly enamored and flowery at times, I felt that was because it was written by someone who was truly that in love with the place.
I did feel that the book had an ending, but then proceeded for another 45 pages/3 chapters with parts that seemed stuck on and didn’t really fit/flow. I also think that if I had read this book at another time, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it at all and only felt he was the typical stuck-up American ex-patriot feeling superior/artsy/elite. I was just apparently in the mood for an escape.
Profile Image for Steven.
Author 1 book12 followers
March 16, 2018
This is one of my favorite books of all time. We love experiencing new cultures, so this book made for a fascinating read. Cohan's deep appreciation for Mexican culture (and his discovery of its many facets--contradicting the homogenous stereotypes that Americans typically have of Mexico) makes this book an even richer experience. Stories of Mexico, and the people of San Miguel de Allende are woven seamlessly into Cohan's own story. Reading this book makes you feel like you are going on this journey along with Cohan, and making the same discoveries--both external and internal, that he does in this excellent work.

I would really recommend getting the audiobook if you can. Cohan narrates it himself, and when I listened to the audio, I felt that it really added something to the already powerful experience of this story.
Profile Image for MaggiCat Harris.
145 reviews8 followers
October 13, 2019
On Mexican Time is just that. Sprawling, sometimes maddeningly languid, jumping from one story to another with only a new paragraph to separate the two. Yet, I know this Mexico of days of old and I relish being transported to my favorite place without the hassle of Mexico City’s aeropuerto. A beautiful novel, one I will love to reread in the days of barren winter.

For the people that disliked this book due to Cohen’s descriptive writing, to each their own, I suppose. I feel like you can’t be in Mexico without being flooded with colors, textures, smells, tastes, and sounds and that’s exactly what made this piece so reminiscent to me.
8 reviews
February 9, 2009
SKIP THIS BOOK!!! (can I give only 0.25 stars?) Cohan tells his story from the pompous American perspective. He is always looking down on Mexican culture, albeit he doesn't think so. As I recall he makes the ordinary into exotic, then later criticizes the same thing when he runs out of patience. I ran out of patience for him. If you are interested in San Miguel de Allende then read Mary Morris's Nothing to Declare, which is a fabulous narrative.

Profile Image for Mara.
621 reviews
February 6, 2011
I am a sucker for books about people finding a place in this world that speaks to their heart, moving there and diving into a different culture, then finding an old wreck of a house that speaks to their soul, and pouring all their love and hopes and dreams, money and sanity into restoring the old ruin. This book checks off all those boxes and has me day dreaming of a slower pace of life in a quaint mexican mountain town full of color and flavor.
996 reviews4 followers
May 29, 2018
Tony Cohan and his wife decided to move to San Miguel De Allende in the early nineties so this book was his enthusiastic view of living in San Miguel - I enjoyed reading this book as I learned about the culture in a first hand manner - it is an honest book ! Colorful and bright!! His second book - Mexican Days seems more downtrodden and sadder because he and his wife have lost touch and are not so deeply in love with life or each other.
Profile Image for andrea.
196 reviews5 followers
August 30, 2018
Really enjoyed this.. My son gave this to me for my 60th knowing que tengo ganas regresar a vivir en México. thanks, Tony Cohan for sharing this bit of your life! actually, so little about you, and so MUCH about Mexico. Me encanta, realmente. You describe Mexico the way I know it. Sí - con todos los colores....tantos amores, y también sin falta, algunas dolores. Would've been great had our times overlapped.. due down for more soon.... :)
June 21, 2021
I have mixed feelings about this book. While it is an enjoyable read (easy to read, moves along in a nice fashion), I also felt annoyed at the curated experience of Mexico that he had. I first started reading this this on my daily commute from Ocoyoacac to Toluca on a packed, freezing cold bus at 6 am in the morning. Cohan would have you believe that Mexican time is relaxed; it simply isn't the reality for my fellow commuters.
Profile Image for Donna  Nickerson.
4 reviews10 followers
July 12, 2011
I read this book on the recommendation of a friend. I loved the vivid descriptions of daily life in this seemingly beautiful Mexican village. The culture of the Mexicans comes through as a generous, giving people even though they do not always enjoy the best of circumstances. The book, if nothing else, gave me a new appreciation of the country and it's traditions.
Profile Image for Wendy's Wanderings.
76 reviews19 followers
September 3, 2012
He is a talented writer with wonderful descriptions of some of the things he experienced. It would be nice to see him embrace the culture a bit more. Other reviewer have spoke badly of the author but I felt they were being a bit too judgmental.
Profile Image for Cheryl.
50 reviews7 followers
July 25, 2009
A kind of lazy read memoir - but I loved the images of Mexico and the descriptions of how the author and his wife felt their view on what is important changing as they melded into their new home.
Profile Image for Laurie.
64 reviews1 follower
April 26, 2008
he admits that he and his wife and their independent $ are part of the cultural problem in these small mexican towns but he is happy to keep doing what he's doing. still it sound heavenly....
Profile Image for Terese.
8 reviews3 followers
July 16, 2008
I probably would not have liked this book so well
had I not spent time in San Miguel.
Profile Image for Ben.
56 reviews8 followers
August 1, 2012
This book made me want to live in Mexico. I would be a furniture maker or something. Probably tomar demasiado.
Profile Image for Kathryn.
8 reviews
August 13, 2018
I wanted to enjoy this book. I loved Mexico when I visited and I have liked other books written by travelers and ex-pats. The descriptions of San Miguel and the author’s experiences are rich and evocative. Unfortunately, there were too many things that annoyed me. The description of indigenous people as ‘Indians’, as though there aren’t many different ethnic groups; the author’s obsession with beautiful young (sometimes very young) women; his wife, Masako is written as flat and lifeless, serving only to provide a foil for the author. The writing is lush, to the point of oversimplification and romanticism of Mexican culture. Major events in world history serve only as minor blips, so the author can be grateful they didn’t affect him. While the book makes me want to visit San Miguel, I wouldn’t want to have the author as a tour guide.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sequana.
77 reviews
August 16, 2017
I enjoyed this book. The writing is much better than your average memoir, he is a writer by trade.
I have spent two winters in parts of Mexico, living with the locals and I both could relate and learn from this telling of life in SMA.

I think the personalities of Tony and his wife are certainly unique. I disagree with the critics that this makes them hard to relate to. They are authentic. They have some money, their careers and their indivuality. This is their story, not a how to for expats. I like their story. I like his insights and adventures.

The three stars does not indicate anything negative about the book, but it does not grab me like some favorites. It was worth reading, but not a compelling book that I could not put down.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 206 reviews

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