Rating: 
Summary: Makes you feel at home.
Review: I bought my copy of this book in San Miguel de Allende. I was on a two week trip, working with a mission group in a nearby village, but staying in a bed and breakfast in San Miguel and attending church services in a small neighborhood church. I loved the place, and the people and wondered what it would feel like to actually live in the region full time. With great humor, as well as love for the place and the those who inhabit it, Mr. Cohan let me know. This book is marvelously full of color, both in the descriptions of places, and in the feelings it gives. He captures much of what I felt as a urbanite suddenly finding himself in a much more peaceful much less hurried place. San Miguel de Allende is a magical place. Mr. Cohan's writings capture at least a portion of that and allowed me bring it home.
Rating: 
Summary: More Mayes than Mayle
Review: I bought this book based on descriptions that it was in the same vein as Peter Mayle's descriptions of Provence. Consequently, I was set up for considerable disappointment. Unlike Mayle's lighthearted, and occasionally self deprecating depictions, this work is more about Cohan's reflections and soul searching than about San Miguel, Mexico. The mid-life angst Cohan shares seems to echo that of Frances Mayes in her "Under the Tuscan Sun". Where Mayes bemoans the shackles of her answering machine, Cohan laments the oppression of an existence at the mercy of home security systems in Los Angeles. Much of his work is the rant of a stereotypic ex-patriot: the US is shallow, materialistic, success oriented; Mexico is kind, cultured, and humanistic. However, Cohan and his wife are periodically required to return to Sodom to finance their existence in Xanadu resulting in descriptions of the increasingly culture shock they experience in the US, only decompressing upon their return to mellow Mexico. Yawn. His descriptions of San Miguel and Mexico are genuinely interesting as is his description of various home improvement projects (again reminiscent of Mayes). These save the book and make reading it worthwhile, but it's hardly a "refreshing" or even a particularly uplifting read.
Rating: 
Summary: another yuppie house remodel
Review: I echo the sentiments of previous readers--too much shopping, remodeling, and too many gringos. Cohan and his wife escape L.A. so they can duplicate their acquisitiveness by buying and furnishing a house in Mexico. This is essentially an account of a 15-year visit to a nice, middle-aged couple's lovely vacation home. Made me want to join the Zapatistas.
Rating:
Summary: What would it be like living in Mexico?
Review: I fell in love with Mexico after my second trip last year. Immediately upon our return, my wife recommended I read a book that she had bought called On Mexican Time by Tony Cohan. On Mexican Time - A new life in San Miguel, tells the story of two people tired and exhausted of their life in Los Angeles, take a holiday in San Miguel and enjoy their trip to Mexico so much that they return six months later to. The writing is a little flowery and over-descriptive at first, but as they become more 'pedestrian' in Mexico, the writing changes to a matter of fact style. Whether this was on purpose or not, it certainly helps to reinforce his view that the country is changing. The renovating that occurs in their historic home is entertaining and amusing. 'The man who died twice' gives an interesting insight into the Mexican attitude towards crime. The saddest chapter in the book is El Tremblo, which is set during the Mexico City earthquake. If you have a small understanding of recent Mexican history or have fallen in love with the country and are thinking of staying long-term, it's worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: I Wanted to Love This Book....
Review: I have travelled to Mexico three times, though not to San Miguel de Allende. I was truly excited by the prospect of reading this book as I have an ongoing fascination with Mexico and its culture. Unfortunately, Cohan's self-indulgent whining and tedious, repetitive prose style present themselves as tangible obstacles. I did, however, enjoy some of his vivid descriptions and the few glimpses of this town he provides that aren't obscured by his egotistical point of view.
Rating:
Summary: ON MEXICAN TIME........ A TREASURE!
Review: I loved ON MEXICAN TIME. I lived in San Miguel de Allende from 1984-94 and only left for health reasons. I adored living there. From the first page to the last, Tony Cohan transported me back to that miraculous place. Cohan writes so beautifully and brings the streets of San Miquel alive. I could hear the traffic on the cobblestones and the birds in the Jardin and feel the warm sun of summer and freezing temperatures of winter and see the azure skies I miss so. It was with sadness that I finished the last page. I wanted more! My children gave me a gift certificate from Amazon.com for Christmas and I bought the book with it and I must say this was the best gift I have received in an age. Mr. Cohan has but scratched the surface on the eccentrics of San Miguel. I hope one day to write a book of my own that will tell the tale of my spiritual awakening (not to Christianity but to a Buddhist perspective)and all the guardian angels I met along the way and how my ten years there very nearly ended but eventually saved my life. Thank you Tony Cohan for a jewel of a book...
Rating:
Summary: ON MEXICAN TIME........ A TREASURE!
Review: I loved ON MEXICAN TIME. I lived in San Miguel de Allende from1984-94 and only left for health reasons. I adored living there.From the first page to the last, Tony Cohan transported me back tothat miraculous place. Cohan writes so beautifully and brings the streets of San Miquel alive. I could hear the traffic on the cobblestones and the birds in the Jardin and feel the warm sun of summer and freezing temperatures of winter and see the azure skies I miss so. It was with sadness that I finished the last page. I wanted more! My children gave me a gift certificate from Amazon.com for Christmas and I bought the book with it and I must say this was the best gift I have received in an age. Mr. Cohan has but scratched the surface on the eccentrics of San Miguel. I hope one day to write a book of my own that will tell the tale of my spiritual awakening (not to Christianity but to a Buddhist perspective)and all the guardian angels I met along the way and how my ten years there very nearly ended but eventually saved my life. Thank you Tony Cohan for a jewel of a book! END
Rating:
Summary: Pure Enjoyment
Review: I loved Tony Cohan's account of his experiences in Mexico. I realise that this is not an "in depth" look at Mexican culture but for me it was pure escapism. Most of us long to escape to a slower and simpler way of life but are not able to do so - the next best thing is to read about the experiences of someone who has. An excellent example of the genre. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Ex-(clusive) Patriotism
Review: I picked up a copy of "On Mexican Time" recently in Sayulita, Mexico. Being in Mexico for the first time and utterly charmed by the difference in the way of life there as opposed to the rest of North America, I wanted to read something that would give me insight into the cultural sights, sounds and colours that I was newly being exposed to. Overall, I found the book an enjoyable read and an entirely sympathetic view of Mexican life as a contrast to the urban chaos and fear that has marked major U.S. and Canadian cities in recent years. Poets and writers worldwide have a historical tendency to seek romance in agrarian and pre-industrial societies and Tony Cohan succumbs to this not new longing in his charming account of life in Mexico. However, the author himself notes that in American literary circles, the tendency is to place a pre-eminant position to Americans and their interpretation of the world through the lens of an American worldview. Sadly, I noted several alarming indications that this is also true of the author's biases regardless of his efforts to put U.S. prejudices behind him. The most jarring examples of this are a number of references to "North Americans" in a way that is obviously refering to Americans only . To quote from page 281: "Mexicans, unlike North Americans, consider technology a convenience, not a faith or a metaphysic." I can only presume that he also excludes Canadians too, as the majority of Americans have an appalling lack of knowledge about their northern neighbours. Furthermore, the statement itself is a sweeping generalization that the book could have done without. This is not the only time the author slips into this type of language. Perhaps unintentional, it still clearly displays an attitude that Americans of all persuasions take on when dealing with the "lesser" nations of North America. Need I explain that Canada and Mexico are also part of North America? I can't help but get the sense that as a literary type married to an artist, Tony believes he is somehow a superior class of expat. Sorry, that doesn't wash here and I imagine it doesn't in Mexico either or frankly with other Americans doing business with Mexicans that is actually leading to a growing middle class in Mexico with expanded educational and work opportunities for the previously disenfranchised. That being said, I think he is right to be concerned about Americans and other foreigners importing their attitudes into the charm of Mexico. He'd best look at his own first as they may be subtle but are definitely present in his account. Let the Mexicans decide what the future of their country holds - good, bad and/or indifferent. Change is inevitable and it is not for the rest of us North Americans to dictate what that change looks like, however well-intentioned our ideas and attitudes may be.
Rating:
Summary: Ex-(clusive) Patriotism
Review: I picked up a copy of "On Mexican Time" recently in Sayulita, Mexico. Being in Mexico for the first time and utterly charmed by the difference in the way of life there as opposed to the rest of North America, I wanted to read something that would give me insight into the cultural sights, sounds and colours that I was newly being exposed to. Overall, I found the book an enjoyable read and an entirely sympathetic view of Mexican life as a contrast to the urban chaos and fear that has marked major U.S. and Canadian cities in recent years. Poets and writers worldwide have a historical tendency to seek romance in agrarian and pre-industrial societies and Tony Cohan succumbs to this not new longing in his charming account of life in Mexico. However, the author himself notes that in American literary circles, the tendency is to place a pre-eminant position to Americans and their interpretation of the world through the lens of an American worldview. Sadly, I noted several alarming indications that this is also true of the author's biases regardless of his efforts to put U.S. prejudices behind him. The most jarring examples of this are a number of references to "North Americans" in a way that is obviously refering to Americans only . To quote from page 281: "Mexicans, unlike North Americans, consider technology a convenience, not a faith or a metaphysic." I can only presume that he also excludes Canadians too, as the majority of Americans have an appalling lack of knowledge about their northern neighbours. Furthermore, the statement itself is a sweeping generalization that the book could have done without. This is not the only time the author slips into this type of language. Perhaps unintentional, it still clearly displays an attitude that Americans of all persuasions take on when dealing with the "lesser" nations of North America. Need I explain that Canada and Mexico are also part of North America? I can't help but get the sense that as a literary type married to an artist, Tony believes he is somehow a superior class of expat. Sorry, that doesn't wash here and I imagine it doesn't in Mexico either or frankly with other Americans doing business with Mexicans that is actually leading to a growing middle class in Mexico with expanded educational and work opportunities for the previously disenfranchised. That being said, I think he is right to be concerned about Americans and other foreigners importing their attitudes into the charm of Mexico. He'd best look at his own first as they may be subtle but are definitely present in his account. Let the Mexicans decide what the future of their country holds - good, bad and/or indifferent. Change is inevitable and it is not for the rest of us North Americans to dictate what that change looks like, however well-intentioned our ideas and attitudes may be.
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